Phumba
Pack Dog
So, I recently bought a KTM 950R SE and thought I’d share my reasoning behind buying this bike as well as my impressions so far.
As a youngster I learnt to ride on a friend’s plastic bikes in the bush and after going through the high school 50cc (MB5 Bobcat) phase, got back into biking during my mid thirties. I started with an old Yamaha Tenere followed by an 855 Tiger Triumph and a KTM 950 adv in 2005. During this time I managed to do long off-road trips, regular local out-rides and the BMW beginner and intermediate courses (on the KTM).
My riding mates were on superbikes though and I eventually caved under the pressure, switched to sport-tourers (Triumph 955 and 1050 sprint) and spent the past 4 years doing the breakfast run and bike rally thing. I did however briefly own a KTM640 enduro as a second bike.
Last year (largely due to Bud500’s influence) the Dual-sport bug started biting again and I found myself spending more and more time on this forum and after many hours of reading trip reports and KTM vs. BMW comparisons (aka brand bashing) thought that it was about time I added a dual-sport to the garage. (Midlife crisis – gotta love it).
So I went into the process of choosing my DS bike with an open mind and started by identifying my minimum criteria, being:
1. Had to be a pre-owned bike with less than 40 000km on the clock.
2. Although it would predominantly be utilized on gravel road rides I still wanted the convenience of being able to cover long distances on tar efficiently (i.e. fast) and do at least one long tour per year.
3. Be able to carry my handsome frame (140kg).
4. Be capable off-road although I did not expect it to do any real technical stuff.
Fuel range was not really a concern as most rides would be short local rides and the old “Red Addis fuel can” trick would add to the range when necessary. Aftermarket service and brand loyalty was also not going to play a part.
After some serious research I eliminated most of the popular single cylinder bikes from my list. I’ve ridden the Dakar, XT, KLR and owned the 640E so was familiar with this category of bike and it simply wasn’t what I had in mind. Don’t shoot me but I believe I’m simply to big (read heavy) for them. The XT 660 Tenere certainly looked the part but was also disappointingly underpowered. The available African Twins all appeared to suffer from high mileage and both the KTM 950 SE and BMW HP2 were dismissed as being to off-road orientated. The new Super Teneres were still to expensive.
This left me with the BMW GS‘s (1200 and 800), the KTM Adventures (950/990), Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and the KTM 690 enduro, which despite being a single, still managed to hang in there.
As further re-search into the above mentioned bikes progressed I found myself constantly returning to the BMW HP2 and KTM 950SE. I must have spent hours drooling over pictures and video clips of these bikes and after reading everything I could find on them it dawned on me that I simply had to have one of these bikes. Any attempts to rationalise the decision by referring back to my initial criteria proved futile. Let’s face it - I didn’t come from an enduro/motocross background, my riding ability would not enable me to utilize the bike to its full potential, my feet could not even touch the ground properly and I’d probably end up killing myself on it. Yet some 3 months later I bought a SE (loaded with farkles) via Runner.
I am the first to admit that despite my initial intentions of buying a bike with my mind, the purchase was motivated 100% by my heart. (Is this not the case with all bike purchases?)
I took delivery of the bike on a Tuesday afternoon in PTA North and slabbed it down to Bethlehem for an overnight and the next morning took the road to East London, doing mostly gravel from Aliwal North. A trip of just over 1100 k’s.
My impressions (vs. my criteria) so far:
I bought the bike with 6500km on the clock and compared to the available BMW’s and KTM’s for sale was more than happy with the price (did I mention the farkles :ricky
. Criteria 1 – check.
I expected to be hurting after the trip but was pleasantly surprised how comfortable the bike was. With a Hyde Screen fitted I experienced no wind discomfort at all and the helmet buffeting was less than I use to experience on my 950 Adv. The seat also proved bearable and I did one stretch of over 300km’s without stopping (did I mention it has a camel tank fitted :ricky. As for speed, I sat comfortably at 145km/h – 150km/h for most of the way. The highest I saw on the clock was 183km/h but at anything over 160km/h experienced an annoying headshake on deceleration (Which I attribute to a combination of the off-road tires, high rear pre-load setting and the screen mounted to the bars). The guys weren’t lying- this bike functions just fine as a touring bike. Criteria 2 – double check.
The suspension and engine handled my weight just fine and I even managed to pull off little power wheelies in third gear. To be fair though, the other liter bikes would also handle my weight and I remain conscious of the rumored weak sub-frame but yes Criteria 3- check.
There is no need to comment on whether the SE is capable off-road. I didn’t buy the SE because I wanted to go where the other DS bikes could not. I have to admit though that I like the extra advantage and confidence gained by the lower weight, better suspension etc. especially when approaching those muddy or sandy patches a bit to fast. Criteria 4 – double check.
So it appeared that I bought exactly what I set out to buy. I just didn’t bargain on getting so much more.
And yes – this bike really puts that silly (fyndraai) grin on your smile every time you accelerate.
And no – this bike is not so powerful that you need to be an expert to ride it.
But yes – like most big bikes it will kill you if you try to ride above your limits. Don’t be fooled by the bikes forgiving handling and performance that you are the next Marc Coma or Cyril Despres.
And finally (before I get asked), Why not the HP2?
In the HP2’s favour was the tubeless tires and shaft drive. Of concern was the reliability of the rear air shock, the high cost of replacement thereof and the ridiculous cost of the BMW twatsuitot:. On the other hand I considered the replacement costs and risk of replacing chains, sprockets, water pump and fuel pumps on the KTM. But in the end, none of these factors had any influence on my choice. In the end I went with the KTM because it is so much prettier.
As a youngster I learnt to ride on a friend’s plastic bikes in the bush and after going through the high school 50cc (MB5 Bobcat) phase, got back into biking during my mid thirties. I started with an old Yamaha Tenere followed by an 855 Tiger Triumph and a KTM 950 adv in 2005. During this time I managed to do long off-road trips, regular local out-rides and the BMW beginner and intermediate courses (on the KTM).
My riding mates were on superbikes though and I eventually caved under the pressure, switched to sport-tourers (Triumph 955 and 1050 sprint) and spent the past 4 years doing the breakfast run and bike rally thing. I did however briefly own a KTM640 enduro as a second bike.
Last year (largely due to Bud500’s influence) the Dual-sport bug started biting again and I found myself spending more and more time on this forum and after many hours of reading trip reports and KTM vs. BMW comparisons (aka brand bashing) thought that it was about time I added a dual-sport to the garage. (Midlife crisis – gotta love it).
So I went into the process of choosing my DS bike with an open mind and started by identifying my minimum criteria, being:
1. Had to be a pre-owned bike with less than 40 000km on the clock.
2. Although it would predominantly be utilized on gravel road rides I still wanted the convenience of being able to cover long distances on tar efficiently (i.e. fast) and do at least one long tour per year.
3. Be able to carry my handsome frame (140kg).
4. Be capable off-road although I did not expect it to do any real technical stuff.
Fuel range was not really a concern as most rides would be short local rides and the old “Red Addis fuel can” trick would add to the range when necessary. Aftermarket service and brand loyalty was also not going to play a part.
After some serious research I eliminated most of the popular single cylinder bikes from my list. I’ve ridden the Dakar, XT, KLR and owned the 640E so was familiar with this category of bike and it simply wasn’t what I had in mind. Don’t shoot me but I believe I’m simply to big (read heavy) for them. The XT 660 Tenere certainly looked the part but was also disappointingly underpowered. The available African Twins all appeared to suffer from high mileage and both the KTM 950 SE and BMW HP2 were dismissed as being to off-road orientated. The new Super Teneres were still to expensive.
This left me with the BMW GS‘s (1200 and 800), the KTM Adventures (950/990), Suzuki V-Strom 1000 and the KTM 690 enduro, which despite being a single, still managed to hang in there.
As further re-search into the above mentioned bikes progressed I found myself constantly returning to the BMW HP2 and KTM 950SE. I must have spent hours drooling over pictures and video clips of these bikes and after reading everything I could find on them it dawned on me that I simply had to have one of these bikes. Any attempts to rationalise the decision by referring back to my initial criteria proved futile. Let’s face it - I didn’t come from an enduro/motocross background, my riding ability would not enable me to utilize the bike to its full potential, my feet could not even touch the ground properly and I’d probably end up killing myself on it. Yet some 3 months later I bought a SE (loaded with farkles) via Runner.
I am the first to admit that despite my initial intentions of buying a bike with my mind, the purchase was motivated 100% by my heart. (Is this not the case with all bike purchases?)
I took delivery of the bike on a Tuesday afternoon in PTA North and slabbed it down to Bethlehem for an overnight and the next morning took the road to East London, doing mostly gravel from Aliwal North. A trip of just over 1100 k’s.
My impressions (vs. my criteria) so far:
I bought the bike with 6500km on the clock and compared to the available BMW’s and KTM’s for sale was more than happy with the price (did I mention the farkles :ricky
. Criteria 1 – check.I expected to be hurting after the trip but was pleasantly surprised how comfortable the bike was. With a Hyde Screen fitted I experienced no wind discomfort at all and the helmet buffeting was less than I use to experience on my 950 Adv. The seat also proved bearable and I did one stretch of over 300km’s without stopping (did I mention it has a camel tank fitted :ricky
. As for speed, I sat comfortably at 145km/h – 150km/h for most of the way. The highest I saw on the clock was 183km/h but at anything over 160km/h experienced an annoying headshake on deceleration (Which I attribute to a combination of the off-road tires, high rear pre-load setting and the screen mounted to the bars). The guys weren’t lying- this bike functions just fine as a touring bike. Criteria 2 – double check.The suspension and engine handled my weight just fine and I even managed to pull off little power wheelies in third gear. To be fair though, the other liter bikes would also handle my weight and I remain conscious of the rumored weak sub-frame but yes Criteria 3- check.
There is no need to comment on whether the SE is capable off-road. I didn’t buy the SE because I wanted to go where the other DS bikes could not. I have to admit though that I like the extra advantage and confidence gained by the lower weight, better suspension etc. especially when approaching those muddy or sandy patches a bit to fast. Criteria 4 – double check.
So it appeared that I bought exactly what I set out to buy. I just didn’t bargain on getting so much more.
And yes – this bike really puts that silly (fyndraai) grin on your smile every time you accelerate.
And no – this bike is not so powerful that you need to be an expert to ride it.
But yes – like most big bikes it will kill you if you try to ride above your limits. Don’t be fooled by the bikes forgiving handling and performance that you are the next Marc Coma or Cyril Despres.
And finally (before I get asked), Why not the HP2?
In the HP2’s favour was the tubeless tires and shaft drive. Of concern was the reliability of the rear air shock, the high cost of replacement thereof and the ridiculous cost of the BMW twatsuit
ot:. On the other hand I considered the replacement costs and risk of replacing chains, sprockets, water pump and fuel pumps on the KTM. But in the end, none of these factors had any influence on my choice. In the end I went with the KTM because it is so much prettier.
