The KTM 690 as daily ride.

[Omninorm]

I'm interested to know, for the people who own one or have owned one previously.
How many of you use(d) it for your daily ride / main form of transportation?

[SlowMo]

I used mine as a daily ride (for a short while).

Is the bike good for that? Well,  "how long is a piece of string"? I know this is not part of your question but if I may comment...you will find 10 different views from 10 different riders.

In my view its a pretty good "everyday bike". I commuted on mine (pta-jhb) and also did a couple of long one day rides (+-1000km) and I found it to be surprisingly good under all these circumstances. In fact I had a lot of fun at the same time...

Are there better commuters, tourers (daily rides) out there? Probably. Are there better pure dual bikes with off road emphasis out there? Probably not...

[Dwerg]

I'm interested to know, for the people who own one or have owned one previously.
How many of you use(d) it for your daily ride / main form of transportation?

I usually ride on full off-road tyres and I try not to waste them on tar. I only use mine on the odd Friday, sometimes 20kms both ways and sometimes 120 if I have a meeting in JHB. I don't see any reason why you can't use it every day. It's has reasonably good fuel consumption and it's fun to ride, service intervals are 10 000kms (although I do mine about every 5k km). Just be careful, you'll pop wheelies a lot and might get into trouble  

The height and turning circle just make it tricky to manoeuvre in slow tight spaces if you have short legs

And as SlowMo said, no other bike on the market bar proper dirt bikes will stick to it in the rough stuff

[Buff]

Best bike I've owned for getting you around town, hooligan machine of note. Only major problem is like Dwerg says, you want to pop wheelies from every robot 
I wouldn't recommend it for daily commuting for longer distances though, the wind protection isn't too good unless you have a rally fairing fitted.

[Omninorm]

I've ridden a 2009 and a 2012 and the 2012 had more 50/50 tyres on and was less "fidgety" than the 2009. But I also put that down mostly to the tyres.

Sideways wind and that type of thing on the bike since it's so light?

What I actually am trying to figure out -which one makes the better all round bike.
KTM 690 or BMW 650 Xchallenge with some suspension work done. (I'm looking also from a price difference perspective - I know the KTM is a better performance bike with better suspension and the like.)
Commuting, the odd long distance trips, lots of short trips (+-300km round trip)

I know the long distance will make me wish for my current 800GS though.

[Dirt Junkie]

I've ridden a 2009 and a 2012 and the 2012 had more 50/50 tyres on and was less "fidgety" than the 2009. But I also put that down mostly to the tyres.

Sideways wind and that type of thing on the bike since it's so light?

What I actually am trying to figure out -which one makes the better all round bike.
KTM 690 or BMW 650 Xchallenge with some suspension work done. (I'm looking also from a price difference perspective - I know the KTM is a better performance bike with better suspension and the like.)
Commuting, the odd long distance trips, lots of short trips (+-300km round trip)

I know the long distance will make me wish for my current 800GS though.

The 690 will make both BMW's feel boring

[bomber]

I commuted (60km both ways) on my 690 for 4 years. Every single day rain or shine. Was a total blast

[sidetrack]

I commuted (60km both ways) on my 690 for 4 years. Every single day rain or shine. Was a total blast

87 600km, impressive  

[wolf skaap]

It depends on the use case.
I had to make the same decision a couple Months back.

In my case, I'm commuting 99% of the time and having owned XR's before, I didn't feel like sitting on the N1 with a big-ass dirtbike  (which is exactly what a 690 is)

So I travel in style on tar, dirt and get a decent exercise in the rough stuff (which is maybe 1% of the time)
But I'm pragmatic..

[ahlbebuck]

I've ridden a 2009 and a 2012 and the 2012 had more 50/50 tyres on and was less "fidgety" than the 2009. But I also put that down mostly to the tyres.

Sideways wind and that type of thing on the bike since it's so light?

What I actually am trying to figure out -which one makes the better all round bike.
KTM 690 or BMW 650 Xchallenge with some suspension work done. (I'm looking also from a price difference perspective - I know the KTM is a better performance bike with better suspension and the like.)
Commuting, the odd long distance trips, lots of short trips (+-300km round trip)

I know the long distance will make me wish for my current 800GS though.

The 690 will make both BMW's feel boring

The 690 has 7 kW and 5 Nm torque over the X-Challenge - not enough to make the XC boring.

I will put money on the fact that the XC is much more economical on fuel and that motor will outlast the KTM by many many miles.

I think the XC is the better commuter although my next bike will be the KTM 690.... 

[Dwerg]

I've ridden a 2009 and a 2012 and the 2012 had more 50/50 tyres on and was less "fidgety" than the 2009. But I also put that down mostly to the tyres.

Sideways wind and that type of thing on the bike since it's so light?

What I actually am trying to figure out -which one makes the better all round bike.
KTM 690 or BMW 650 Xchallenge with some suspension work done. (I'm looking also from a price difference perspective - I know the KTM is a better performance bike with better suspension and the like.)
Commuting, the odd long distance trips, lots of short trips (+-300km round trip)

I know the long distance will make me wish for my current 800GS though.

The 690 will make both BMW's feel boring

The 690 has 7 kW and 5 Nm torque over the X-Challenge - not enough to make the XC boring.

I will put money on the fact that the XC is much more economical on fuel and that motor will outlast the KTM by many many miles.

I think the XC is the better commuter although my next bike will be the KTM 690.... 

Don't get me wrong , I like the XC but a 690 will MURDER it in all aspects with the outside possibility of reliability

[wolf skaap]

All personal preference.

I used to commute with a Husaberg 550 (which might make a 690 feel like a boring, overweight pig)
As much fun as it was, it felt wrong using it to commute.

Same goes for the 690, albeit in smaller quantities.

[2StrokeDan]

Ask GJ, he practically lives on his 690.

[trevorwb]

I think it also boils down to how you set it up.Mine is geared short and has more Offroad type tyres.I don't enjoy the long tar sections ,but it is not a comfort issue .It sure is lively and quite enjoyable for those around the town trips.

[ahlbebuck]

I've ridden a 2009 and a 2012 and the 2012 had more 50/50 tyres on and was less "fidgety" than the 2009. But I also put that down mostly to the tyres.

Sideways wind and that type of thing on the bike since it's so light?

What I actually am trying to figure out -which one makes the better all round bike.
KTM 690 or BMW 650 Xchallenge with some suspension work done. (I'm looking also from a price difference perspective - I know the KTM is a better performance bike with better suspension and the like.)
Commuting, the odd long distance trips, lots of short trips (+-300km round trip)

I know the long distance will make me wish for my current 800GS though.

The 690 will make both BMW's feel boring

The 690 has 7 kW and 5 Nm torque over the X-Challenge - not enough to make the XC boring.

I will put money on the fact that the XC is much more economical on fuel and that motor will outlast the KTM by many many miles.

I think the XC is the better commuter although my next bike will be the KTM 690.... 

Don't get me wrong , I like the XC but a 690 will MURDER it in all aspects with the outside possibility of reliability

That is good to know - seeing that the 690 is my next toy.  

Not that I have the talent and skills to appreciate the difference!

[Omninorm]

Will be glad to hear his response.
I must say I'm quite the sucker for the big dirt bike feel.
I briefly had a KLX450R and that was awesome in traffic, but it had proper dirt tyres. I'm thinking quite seriously about downgrading to a Thumper mostly to get the weight savings but I still would need to keep up with friends on the longer rides. There is no way in hell I'm paying R25k for some piece of plastic. So if I do go this route.... maybe... eventually... I'll need to be OK with just a screen etc.

From posts you have probably read that I'm not a barn door guy I prefer clean air in my face. But it needs to be off the chest for highway speeds so not to tire yourself out.

I'm not going to lie. The reliability on the KTM is definitely a concern for me,  but I had the same concerns when going from a Suzuki and a Honda to BMW and it has been unfounded till now.

[Dirt Junkie]

Will be glad to hear his response.
I must say I'm quite the sucker for the big dirt bike feel.
I briefly had a KLX450R and that was awesome in traffic, but it had proper dirt tyres. I'm thinking quite seriously about downgrading to a Thumper mostly to get the weight savings but I still would need to keep up with friends on the longer rides. There is no way in hell I'm paying R25k for some piece of plastic. So if I do go this route.... maybe... eventually... I'll need to be OK with just a screen etc.

From posts you have probably read that I'm not a barn door guy I prefer clean air in my face. But it needs to be off the chest for highway speeds so not to tire yourself out.

I'm not going to lie. The reliability on the KTM is definitely a concern for me,  but I had the same concerns when going from a Suzuki and a Honda to BMW and it has been unfounded till now.

The little ktm powerparts screen works great for me,  just takes the wind off off your shoulders, help allot. Similar to this one

[Buff]

How can you not love this bike? 

[2StrokeDan]

All personal preference.

I used to commute with a Husaberg 550 (which might make a 690 feel like a boring, overweight pig)
As much fun as it was, it felt wrong using it to commute.

Same goes for the 690, albeit in smaller quantities.

You may be surprised how well the 690 actually goes in the real offroad stuff, GJ's son Rensie gave us a bit of a lesson the other day on his 690. We were all on plastics.
I know that if he was on a plastic he would have been even quicker.

The 690 is far from a boring, overweight pig, in the right hands.

[Donaldbr]

Use mine often around town, yes it is naughty, but a lot of fun, always have a smile at your destination.

Just got to watch out for pavements,  It keeps jumping on them, also does not go around traffic circles.

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