Hi All,

Brit living out here in Sydney, Australia and just arrived back at the flat with my new old 660x. I've just sold my 2014 Yamaha Bolt to help pay off credit card bill for a trip back to the UK next month for me, wife and newborn. With a baby now here I was after something cheaper and more 'every day' and remembering the fun i had when still a learner on my MZ 125 SM i had decided on an SM.
Came down to the KTM690 or the 660x and in the end my wallet won out. Got a black unmodified 2004 in fantastic condition with 10K on the clock and I'm the third owner. It's amazingly tidy, the only items are dry crispy peeling decals, grubby spokes and there's some sideways play in the break pedal, not a lot but you can see at some point it's chipped paint off the bottom of the casing. First impressions after the ride home...

* This thing is tall! I know i'm coming from a cruiser but wow! I'm pretty tall but on this thing i feel like i can see everything!

* Surging, yes i feel it but was expecting it after doing all my research, I almost think the need to tinker a bit has perhaps swayed me further in my buying decision will look into the various fix options.

* Clutch, ow! hard work it's like those hand grip exercise things!

* Steering, it could just be me adjusting to the style but i found the steering very very light at extremely slow creeping speeds - staying up and waiting for the lights to change. I'd much prefer a bit more resistance (not much just a bit).

* Side stand, this is a ******, my garage is sideways onto a sloped road, I normally swing it round in front of the garage so i can get off, open the door and roll back in. This involves getting off the bike with the side stand on the high side of the slope. Did not like doing this on the xt one bit, doesn't seem like it would take much to knock it over.

Fun fun fun, for $5000 I am a very happy bunny and am glad i went down the SM path, a few dollars spent and i get the feeling a few tweeks and shiny things and i'll be beaming Planned first mods are:

* Thinking of a name to call her
* Surge fix?
* Remove the old crusty decals and give her a paint job.

Later on after research:

* Better side stand
* Sort out the break pedal sideways play
* Better pipes
* Tail tidy / fek

First question - does the cross section between the two sides of the bars do anything other than support the airbag or can i get rid of it so i can mount my satnav to the centre of the bars?

Thanks guys, find these forums fantastic so thanks in advance.

Chris