Oryx 690 Impressions

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Kamanya

Andrew to most
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Feb 6, 2006
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Location
Cape Town, deep in the lentils
Bike
KTM 990 Adventure
There’s been a lot of noise about these Oryx’s.

I have had opportunities to ride the 690 in its enduro form. It is potent but I didn’t like it much less even want to own one. It is a race bike and touring would be tough; wind protection, range, luggage capacity, seat, gearing, pillion capacity, etc. Also, the suspension is setup for charging seriously hard and again I couldn’t see the point if I was to go DS’ing with it. Lastly since I only have space for one bike, the 950 has been, by a long way, “it”. Anyway, in the last 6 years of ownership I have not even remotely been interested in any other bike.

I took a demo bike of Ashley’s from KTM Cape Towns creation for a really good workout. It is in high demand, but he asked me for input on the suspension and concept and gave me the nod for an extended burn. I did a bunch of mileage that gave me more than enough to get a real sense of the spirit of the thing.

Charl handing it over for a bit of gentle DS’ing



Much has been written about the ability of the 690 and it has ability in spades, I’ve been with people who really make a mockery of the toughest stuff. I’ve seen in person what Alfie Cox and Marc Coma and co can do with it. I can appreciate that, but what I want is a touring capable adventure bike. My 950 has been that with no other realistic alternatives for me. I know the big twin is a bit on the porky side for some of the more hectic adventure riding, but I’ve learned to just trust the bike and plough on. That engine gets it into and out of a lot of places it really has no right to be and for that, I’ve loved it.

When news of the Oryx came along, I just rationalised that it was still the enduro bike I hadn’t got on well with just with a tank and screen stuck on. But, I am curious and Ashley was willing to lend me the bike for the day. What could possibly go wrong?

First impressions;

It’s not just a screen and tank. Someone has done some serious design and fabrication. The adventure kit is really high quality. Cnc’d metal and great mouldings for the screen and tanks. Nothing looks half arsed. I poked around the bike for a good hour. The Rallyeraid adventure kit is very high quality. It’s turned the 690 into a great looking bike. For some reason, I don’ really see the bare 690 as eye catching but this looks the part. It has all been clearly thought out. Small things that ooze quality like the fuel quick disconnects and billet adaptor plates onto the fuel pump. I can’t deny, it spoke to me seeing that it was not just any screen and headlight on it, they’ve lifted the LC8’s one and stuck it in there.

As for the rest of the bike, getting up close revealed typical high quality components, it should last well.

How does it ride?

First few moments with it… What an engine! I didn’t even have the R that has another 8hp packed in. I do really like the shove that the 950 can give, the 690 is more snappy and is not embarrassed by the big twin. I had my brother in law Jim along with me. He was riding my bike so I had a direct comparison when jumping between the two later in the day. I’ve drag raced a 690 before on the 950 and I only just had the advantage till about 130 then it gets unfair. I believe that the bike has been given a one tooth larger front sprocket, as far as I can tell, the gearing is spot on.

A big bugbear for me was the suspension in the enduro. Ashley has been working with Hilton Hayward to create something that suits the purpose of the bike. At first the suspension, to me, was plush in the first bit of the stroke and then really harsh further down. On tar it seemed to jar on bigger ruts or holes, not a good sign for the gravel and offroad.

The ergonomics felt a bit wrong to start with. I felt cramped and there was outward pressure on my wrists (the bars are straighter than the 950, less sweep). The seat to footpeg height is greater and that was fine. Standing there is no interference with my knees as even though it has the additional tanks, it’s still a narrow bike. But sitting or standing I felt too far over the bars. In looking at it for a bit I moved the bars forward by a few degrees. At full lock I had to be careful the bars didn’t touch the screen, but I got 3 extra degrees in. It made all the difference. I left it there for the day.

I’ll say right now that it is a hooligan induction machine. It is terrifically quick in traffic and a wheelie slut. It is very precise. It is happy to sit at 130-140 or so but has absolutely no issues getting up to beyond 170. It was rock solid everywhere, not a wobble anywhere. That motor is really smooth for a thumper. This Oryx has an Ackropovic on and it talks through it beautifully – a bark that really advertises the bite. It is maybe a tad loud for good neighbourliness. I’d keep the Db restrictor in…. maybe. The brakes are right up to the job with great feel and power, just brilliant. It was growing on me dammit!

I had filled up halfway through the morning. I was keen to see what the extra fuel does to the feel. I managed to get 20 litres in. As to the feel, I couldn’t tell, it felt the same. Nice!


On gravel, I really like drifting into and out of fast gravel turns using the rear to steer. My big twin is really good at this. All the power makes it really easy. The trouble is that that beast picks up speed very quickly but sheds it about as fast as I am trying to lose my extra 15kgs. It’s a dangerous combination. I thought with the smaller engine, I’d miss the power to slide around. Not a chance! Plus it is really flickable, I could throw it all over the road and be exactly where I wanted. Even when crossed up and close to a highside because I had gone a bit too far, it didn’t feel out of control. The big plus being that overcooking a corner was much less drama because unlike the twin, this bike slows down when the anchors get thrown out. It is a hoot on the gravel, the gripe I had earlier about the suspension disappeared, it was now working with me than against me.


Tick another box!

We ended the day in Macasser. Well! What a stunning bike. I was lofting the front at will, charging over whoops sections that would have been impossible on the 950. I rode all over the sand quarry, it went everywhere. Just point and it climbed and flattened everything. The suspension made complete sense now. Interestingly, Jim who is a sand novice and did exceptionally well preferred the 950 to the 690 in the sand. He felt that little bike was more twitchy and the power and stability of the 950 felt easier. I think the 690 is far more responsive and quick handling. Jumping between the two in the quarry, some things stood out;

You sit in the 950 and on the 690.
The 950 has more sweep to the bars, its more comfortable especially for touring. The wrists are not extended.
Pulling on carb cables is far less delicate than on FI cables.
I was amazed at how similar in some strange way they felt. Must be a KTM thing.
How good the 950 is compared to a fairly high performance race machine.
The amount of energy spent picking up and manhandling both bikes – That 950 is a haemorrhoid tester.

I entered up a power line path that I normally ride the other way. I’ve been up there on the 950 but it is hard work. This just made it stupid easy. There is a good pile of rocks at the top and I purposely aimed at the biggest hardest line. I had to do it 3 times just to make sure that I hadn’t imagined the ease with which  it did it.

My initial gripe about the suspension was forgotten. I understand now what it does; It is set up plush in the first bit of the stroke and the transition to the harder part of the valving is just a tiny bit abrupt for the street. But once offroad, especially the more hectic stuff where the full stroke gets used, it soaks it up feeling really easy and controlled. I know that the suspension is a work in progress - they are close. The rear is a bit too plush and maybe just because of my weight could do with a bit heavier spring, especially if I was to load it up for multiday trips. Speaking of loads, the soft luggage option would be ideal with this bike. I know that you can get hard luggage but that might be a box too far for this bike. At most a topbox maybe. It has the adventure part of the touring bike formula very heavily weighted towards the former, hard luggage would be oxymoronic. (is there such a word? Well, you know what I mean)

There is only three areas that I have an issue with. Two, to me, are really nothing. The other is huge.

It is not intended for pillions, there are no pillion pegs. Not a real biggie for me as my wife is not keen at all on bikes. But, for those passengers that bravely tag along, they are either going to have to learn to ride their own bike or sadly stay at home.

The other small one… It’s tall! I was on tip toes and really battled to get the sidestand up whilst seated on the bike. I am 1.78cm, 100kg’s fat and stocky. When on the move it was not an issue, but once whilst turning in a tight path the wheels were on either side of the banks and I was left pedalling in thin air for a second before I came crashing over. I think with some luggage on it might bring the height down a bit and I know that there is a lowering link available. Personally I’d leave it and just deal with picking it up more. On that note, it crashes pretty well… Sorry Ash.

The big one… It is a proctological torture tool. As a tourer, that seat would have even the hardest arse begging for mercy after a few hours. No matter where I sat towards the end of the day, it hurt.

But, that’s not the worst of it. I had wondered earlier, what could possibly go wrong? From the moment I got my big twin 6 years ago, I’ve had no eyes for anything else. I am currently refreshing my bike from stem to stern, I intend to ride it for at least another 6. Over the last two days I have been playing garage tetrus in my head trying to create more space. Also, I have been doing quite a bit of surfing in the thumpers sections of the net, places I seldom go. There is, I fear, an insidious betrayal looming.





In the rumour mill a twin 7 or 800 is in the pipeline for 2013. Really, they should just do one of these.

Click on the picture to watch. Sadly my helmet cam is not in commission at the mo and I was having such fun we really didn’t do the video and photo’s of the thing much justice.





 
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