RTW with Noah on a KTM 690

just caught up, BEER. im a home brewer on waiheke island NZ. gotta come here noah you'll love nz, and now finally getting some decent beer, got to find it though. im an ex RTW biker to, now ktm dirts and 990.plenty of room to camp at my place or in a real bed. just keep my email. simonhantler@gmail.com
off to whistler in jan, ill toast a beer to ya.

Sweet update Noah, but I just wanted to pop in and second this dude's post. NZ is awesome and the diversity of the landscape over small distances is awesome (in comparison with Australia)... You could also think about wintering down on the South Island and get some snowboarding in, in Wanaka or Queenstown. Can't say enough good stuff about NZ... except for the food... and the mountain parrots that steal your shiny gear...

I have been reading the ride reports and general reading through the different bike threads here for awhile, originally because i bought an xt550 and there is good info on it in the thumpers section.My old man bought a 14 500exc and i love that thing , but i can only afford one bike at a time having wife kid work 2 cars ect.My current trusty steed is a well modded 2011 gsxr 750, having come from a mountain bike racing youth the call of the dirt has always beckoned me, occasionally getting those wtf is a street bike doing here looks from the locals.Then at bike night a buddy of mine told me about the 690, after a few minutes of research i knew it was on the ( list). I am waiting on a call from my local ktm dealer as they are looking for a 13 model for me.If they cant find one They will get the 14 models in come November,I will trade my beloved gsxr in on one when that time comes.The wunderfest thread had me worried about this looming decision but i found a link to your rr, I started reading it about 3 days ago and finished about 5 minutes ago ( the time it took to type this ). Thank you for giving us the good bad and ugly of the bike the trip and dl on the shit that breaks on these, currently my xt has the coil wire zip tied on after it broke in the woods, so i can appreciate the creative repairs! I look forward to the rest of the rr. yes i wrote a novel and dont expect anyone to read the whole thing lol.

While nobody may have suffered an immediate death directly connected to the nuclear incident at Fukushima, it is myopic to not consider the long-term implications of releasing radiation into the Pacific Ocean. A prudent and reasonable person would stay away from seafood caught off the coast of Japan for quite some time.

I wouldn't disagree, but ya can't live forever and depending on flow of water, one could be OK. It's San Francisco who's in danger now

But I don't live there, so carry on.

http://chriskresser.com/fukushima-seafood

see link for some 'reasonable' info on the matter

Have been looking around myself for the same reasons and motivation - this thread! (I've learned there are two types of KTM dealers) There is a 2013 model on the floor at Sloan's in Murfreesboro, TN. Timing is slightly off for me having just closed on another house today. If you're close, go get it! Seems to have been "test" ridden by the tell-tail signs of the rear knobs. They could be looking to move it with the 2014's soon to arrive.

Love the discussion. We get radiation from everything we do. I suppose if people stop eating tuna and fish from the pacific.. maybe it will take a few more years to be fished dry. Its not a question of if.. its a question of when. Back to the radiation talk. This is cool. For those of you who don't know XKCD.. its a nerds dream. http://xkcd.com/radiation/

Ring-ring-ring-ring

Banana phone!

Glad you like it. Sorry for wasting the last 3 days of your life. Now you can get back to your family Sometimes there is a nice 690 in the FleaMarket section with some tasty mods.

Might be a good bargaining point to get it cheaper. I'm a big fan of picking up last years stuff. Especially with motos and snowboards.

Papi are you calling Juanito?

Noah stopped by my place today. We went to pizza.

Noah also helped to install my new Scotts steering damper and the Rally Raid UK sprocket cover.

Thank you Noah!

That bike is far, far to clean Gen.

No problem Gen! You have the cleanest 690 I've ever seen... you need to get that girl dirty!

Noah said the same thing, lol!

I live in the concrete jungle...

THANKS!
hmm I may have to call em, tn is a drive from me ( im in st louis by the airport) But i got a good deal on my gsxr buying last years model in February first ride included snow and ice on the way home from the dealership. its 5.5 hours from here.

Went to a KTM dealer to check out the 690 in person. LUCKILY they didn't have any otherwise somebody owes me $10K!

wanted, I would have both if things were different money wise, I posted up in the midwest regional thread, mayb il get lucky and snag a test ride, hard to commit to a bike youve never ridden, altho i never rode a newer gsxr 750 when i bought mine, i had ridden similar bikes.