- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
First off I have to say... I never thought I'd own one of these. For me, this is the end-all, be-all bike. This bike is a '07 KTM 990 Adventure with 14,830 miles on it and it looks to be well taken care of.
The reason I've ended up here is simply because I wanted a bike that was better built for traveling and touring, while still being semi-capable in the dirt. I want to make more multi-day rides and cover lots of ground, paved and dirt. My previous bike was a '08 KTM 690 Enduro and while it was brilliant in the dirt, it lacked comfort and protection on the highway. It would slab it down the freeway alright, but it was tiring and wore me out quickly.
The new-to-me 990 it well outfitted by the 2 previous owners, it has many of the mods I did to my previous bike, so it's nice not having to spend that money again. Here's a list of what it came with.
- Renazco Racing seat
- Crash bars
- Black Dog skid plate
- Driving lights
- EarthX Lithium battery
- 2" Bar risers
- Hepco Becker racks and panniers
- KTM tank bag
- G2 throttle assist
- Heated grips
- Foldable offroad mirrors
- Rear Heidenau K60 Scout tire
- Front TKC80 tire
The front tire is shot, so I have another TKC on order. Rear tire is brand new and more street-friendly, which is perfect.
I don't know that I'm going to go crazy with mods on this one, but I do have some plans.
- Folding highway pegs
- Different/better windscreen
- Rotopax tank
- High front fender
Pics of the bike-
My opinion of the bike so far...
I thought a 100 horsepower V-Twin would be way too much power, but it's very smooth and manageable. The power fits the bike quite well, the V-Twin makes gobs of low-end torque. You can cruise around at low RPM's and it's easy going, I noticed that in 6th gear at 55 MPH the motor is chugging along at a leisurely 3,500 RPM... but if you drop it down into 5th and open it up it's a matter of seconds before you're passing 85 MPH! :freak: At lower speeds, if you open the throttle the front end unloads and the bike rockets forward! No wheelies... yet!
Size wise, the bike isn't as massive is you'd think. You can feel the weight just rolling it around, but once you let the clutch out and start riding, the bike feel MUCH lighter and smaller than it really is. It's an impressive feat to make something so big feel so small. It's very comfortable at speed, the size of the seat, the suspension, the engine, etc... it all makes for a bike that I could spend hours on.
The gas tanks only hold 5 gallons of gas, more would be better. Average MPG's seem to be around 40-42 and most people are lucky to get 200-220 miles out of a tankful. Aftermarket tanks are stupid-expensive, so a Rotopax will have to do the job. I considered other similar bikes that got better mileage, but the tradeoff was less capability offroad.
I took a longer ride after getting it home tonight and headed up on the twisty roads over the Colorado National Monument to get to know the bike a little better... it's actually very impressive in the sharp curves! Very easy to lean over and rally right around a corner, the roll on the throttle and haul ass out of the corner! Again, it feels much smaller and lighter when it's moving. Overall, it's so different than the 690 Enduro, but similar in a strange way.
The exhaust is factory and it's very quiet... I actually love how quiet it is and don't think I'll make any changes there. My 690 had a FMF muffler on it and it sounded great, but was almost too much noise.
I took it on a rough dirt road for a few miles to get a feel for how it does and it's impressive... it's pretty confidence inspiring, despite the size. I wouldn't want to get into a rocky, rough trail, but so far so good. I need plenty more seat-time to feel comfortable, but that will come with time. Standing up on the pegs, the distance to the bars and the size of the bike just feels 'right', the proportions are ideal for me.
Oh... and ABS on a motorcycle is weird.
I'll add more over time... can't wait for my first big trip on this thing!
