JacquesM
Race Dog
There might be some owners of previous generation BMW 1200's considering the move to the Austrian stable.
Some of my observations after my first ride on the KTM. I'm writing this now, because later it might be less objective.
Me and my wife did nearly 300km yesterday of which about 80km was on gravel.
What I liked about the KTM:
. It feels smaller than the BMW which helps with handling the bike off-road. It feels more like an 800GS than a 1200.
. The bike handles so well on tar. It's in quite a different class.
. The mirrors work very well. They are different to the ones on the Adventure R.
. The computer/on board info system is as good as it can be. The "favourites" screen is an excellent idea. You can select any 5 lines that are important to you.
. There's lots of information on the dash, but somehow it's just enough and well laid out.
. The gear changing is streets better/smoother than the BMW.
. The brakes feel like they are proportionate in ability to the difference in top speed between the 2 bikes - 210km/h compared to 270km/h.
. Selecting the driving mode "off-road" and the damping mode "comfort" works well on the gravel road.
If you select "off-road" or "rain" it apparently limits the power to 100hp. You can leave it there, even on tar, it still pulls all the dogs out of all the bushes.
. The KTM is lighter on fuel than I thought. We rode between 110-130km/h on tar and 60-90km/h on gravel and the consumption was 5.1l/100km. This is less than 5% heavier than my BMW.
. The KTM has a much more comprehensive tool kit.
What I prefer on the BMW:
. It was mentioned before, but the BMW somehow feels more solid, nearly "better" built.
. I'm a low revs guy, probably because I'm a truck driver at heart, and all my cars are diesel powered. I understood it to be so "last millenium" to ride a bike with a boxer engine. I really thought the engine in the KTM was going to be the real answer to world peace. I am kind of dissapointed in the engine at low rpm's. Running at under 4000rpm it's not as smooth as the boxer engine. There's quite an amount of un-eveness. Past 5000rpm it obviously becomes what people like the V-twin for. I think I'll need a re-programming to ride the bike at constantly higher revs.
. The BMW feels better suited for standing while riding off-road. The KTM might need handle bar raisers. (The KTM Adventure R will be a different bike when it comes to standing, because of it's size).
. I think the hooter on my KTM has a cold. I'll have it checked out.
. The wind protection on the BMW is better than on the KTM. I'll try the KTM touring screen when it arrives.
. The side stand of the KTM is going to lead to many an incident.
Some of my observations after my first ride on the KTM. I'm writing this now, because later it might be less objective.
Me and my wife did nearly 300km yesterday of which about 80km was on gravel.
What I liked about the KTM:
. It feels smaller than the BMW which helps with handling the bike off-road. It feels more like an 800GS than a 1200.
. The bike handles so well on tar. It's in quite a different class.
. The mirrors work very well. They are different to the ones on the Adventure R.
. The computer/on board info system is as good as it can be. The "favourites" screen is an excellent idea. You can select any 5 lines that are important to you.
. There's lots of information on the dash, but somehow it's just enough and well laid out.
. The gear changing is streets better/smoother than the BMW.
. The brakes feel like they are proportionate in ability to the difference in top speed between the 2 bikes - 210km/h compared to 270km/h.
. Selecting the driving mode "off-road" and the damping mode "comfort" works well on the gravel road.
If you select "off-road" or "rain" it apparently limits the power to 100hp. You can leave it there, even on tar, it still pulls all the dogs out of all the bushes.
. The KTM is lighter on fuel than I thought. We rode between 110-130km/h on tar and 60-90km/h on gravel and the consumption was 5.1l/100km. This is less than 5% heavier than my BMW.
. The KTM has a much more comprehensive tool kit.
What I prefer on the BMW:
. It was mentioned before, but the BMW somehow feels more solid, nearly "better" built.
. I'm a low revs guy, probably because I'm a truck driver at heart, and all my cars are diesel powered. I understood it to be so "last millenium" to ride a bike with a boxer engine. I really thought the engine in the KTM was going to be the real answer to world peace. I am kind of dissapointed in the engine at low rpm's. Running at under 4000rpm it's not as smooth as the boxer engine. There's quite an amount of un-eveness. Past 5000rpm it obviously becomes what people like the V-twin for. I think I'll need a re-programming to ride the bike at constantly higher revs.
. The BMW feels better suited for standing while riding off-road. The KTM might need handle bar raisers. (The KTM Adventure R will be a different bike when it comes to standing, because of it's size).
. I think the hooter on my KTM has a cold. I'll have it checked out.
. The wind protection on the BMW is better than on the KTM. I'll try the KTM touring screen when it arrives.
. The side stand of the KTM is going to lead to many an incident.
