Originally Posted by tomhalsall1991 (Post 161911)

IMO, the two cannot really be compared - The XT has 47 (ish) BHP, the KTM has 63bhp, I have followed one before on the road and i got smoked pretty badly on the straights, however - I did have one thing on him - cornering...whether it is a heavier bike and more difficult to lie down in corners or whether he was just a poor rider i dont know.

Would be interesting to see if anyone has ridden the two bikes though!

Originally Posted by chester0_1972 (Post 161917)

Brand loyalty does make me shake my head. I'd love a KTM but the engine issues do worry me.

Originally Posted by jurassic (Post 167966)

I'm currently bikeless but a Tenere may be on the horizon (tbh if the Tenere had been on the market in 2007 I would have bought one instead of the Katoom). Cheers, Chris. :039:

Originally Posted by JMo (Post 167970)

I have just the bike for you...

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...n/IMG_6684.jpg

Seriously - �4995 and it's yours. WP front end, Ohlins shock, Talon/Excel wheels (18" rear), Braking Wave discs, Power Commander V, custom map, DNA airbox mods and Ti single can exhaust...

Sure it might have been to Dakar (and across the USA, twice), but it still rides very much like new, only with sublime suspension and 15% more power!

I do need to sell this now, as I need to get my Dakar 2013 entry in in May...

Jenny xx

Originally Posted by jurassic (Post 167966)

Hi guys, I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd reply as I had a 690SM up to July last year and my mate has a (standard) XTX and I've ridden them back to back. My KTM had a non standard exhaust and remap so it was probably making a bit more power than standard (and was quite a bit lighter as the standard exhausts were HEAVY).
I expected my mates XT to feel pretty flat and a bit dull compared to my KTM but overall I was quite impressed with it. There's not much difference at the bottom end, the XT felt nice and torquey and pulled as well if not better than the KTM. Midrange and the KTM felt marginally stronger but not by a great deal but at the top end there was no comparison, the KTM feels much more revvy and pulls a lot harder as the XT starts to run out of steam (that's what you'd expect though right?) The KTM motor is a lot smoother and less vibey than the XT and you don't get any of the high frequency buzz through the bars and pegs like the you do with the XT (I used to have an SV650S and I reckon the 690 engine is smoother and almost as powerful at the top end as the SV was).
Chassis wise, the XT is waaaaaaaaay softer than the KTM, the suspension on the KTM is much taughter. The other big difference was the brakes, the KTM brakes are miles better than the XT (but again its a radial 4 pot Brembo so you'd expect that).
All this sounds kinda negative but as I said I was pretty impressed with the XT, I enjoyed riding it and would be happy to own one (why else would I just have joined this forum? :unibrow:). The XT is nowhere near as focused as the KTM but depending on what you're looking for that might not be a bad thing.
I had no mechanical problems with my KTM and I genuinely believe that the 690 engine is pretty strong but the service intervals are quite short compared to a Jap bike. I did have a few electrical problems with it and that was one of the reasons I got rid. The 690 was the most entertaining bike I've ridden in 35 years riding but I never completely trusted it.
I'm currently bikeless but a Tenere may be on the horizon (tbh if the Tenere had been on the market in 2007 I would have bought one instead of the Katoom). Cheers, Chris. :039: