I have two iconic adventure bikes. One in the 250 cc. and 800 cc. spectrum. That being the Yamaha WR250R and BMW F800GS. I've done most of the Rockies, Baja, and MABDR all on my WR250R. Probably 20K on WR250R alone. When I was India last year, I first heard about the KTM 390 Adventure. I also road with a couple who ride their KTM 390 Duke everywhere. I mean everywhere. From northern Ladac region all the way to south. Impressed with that little engine. So, I think we have to see. My little " mule " is geared, sprung, and moded out for adventure riding. Somewhere in Baja California.
The R Rally models are supposed to be a limited run of 500. Are you suggesting KTM might turn around and say, "When we said 500 it was only the 790. Now we are going to do another 500 Rally bikes with the 890 engine."? Can you imagine the howling from those who bought an R, then traded it against a 790 R Rally? Where's the popcorn? As an adventure tourer (on/off-tarmac) I am more interested in the rumours about the 490 twin, see https://auto.ndtv.com/news/ktm-to-develop-new-500-cc-parallel-twin-engine-1962710 Outside of Europe and North American you rarely need anything over 500cc.
Even though that is a reliable method of reducing pull by increasing leverage, wouldn't that result in a smaller friction zone, due to a shorter radius, and therefore arc length (cable travel length)?
My bike is in the shop now for warranty replacement of shock seal. It is leaking shock oil onto catalytic converter. Makes a nice sizzle.
I’m a little disappointed that in all my years of riding and racing I don’t have any good or funny crash photos. I’ll have to work on that.
Im not a mechanical engineer, but I think, the clutch lever acts as a fulcrum. The farther from the pivot point one pulls the longer the movment will be. Angel of pivot will be the same but distance of pull will be different 1" from pivot as opposed to 5" from pivot. Cable movement will be the same as will the movment within the clutch plate assembly. The cluth lever by the handgrip is simply a longer lever than the one attached to the connecting rod going the the clutch actuator arm. Or so I think. My spelling also sucks.
Hey Ron, What a small world! I recognize that bike, helmet, other two inmates, and place. Hope you're well. Ready to trade that 950 for a 790 R ;-) i am hoping to test ride the 790 S and R models this fall. If it makes my F800GS feel lighter and shorter, I am all in.
So would a 690 adventure R sell? If it had the 790's low slung 5 gallons, R suspension and at least the 790's wind protection? The issues I had with my back in the day 690 were fuel range, soft suspension and no wind protection. Also a bit of vibration which I hear is fixed now with the second balance shaft. I also didn't like the airbox design where the 790's is working great. Not sure if a 690 motor is much lighter than the 790 twin but a lighter less powerful 790 may have it's place.
Just catching up here. Glad you are mostly ok. Quite the adventure indeed. Yes, strength in numbers. My bike would still be in that stream without helping hands.
You're joking right? I do that sort of thing on my WR250R pretty regular... know one guy who rode his up to Alaska and back.
Hello! Need advice! I need to adjust my steering head play. In order to do that i must raise the front wheel. I dont trust the skid plate for lifting the bike. With the KTM workstand partnr: 62529055200. Is that for lifting with the help of the footpegs?.? How do you guys lift off the front wheel?
The bike is actually surprisingly decent to maneuver in even tightly overgrown single track. When I got back down to the bike I walked the front wheel into the bush as much as I could, and then just leaned the bike towards my body while repeatedly wrenching on the lower grab handle to swing the rear around. You have to lift and swing, but the rear slide pretty good. The trick was to try and keep the minimal degree of lean so you weren't suddenly having to catch the bike from falling on you. I'm sure on flat dirt, after doing on a grade, I could drag the rear about the front wheel 360 degrees if I wanted to. It's all about balance. As for picking it up, yeah lesson learned .. my failed lift/injury inducing dead lift was brought on by inexperience in that circumstance (the grade). Like an idiot I elected to try lifting the bike on the down slope side as it had gone down 45 degrees to the left on the hill. Had I dragged the front and rear wheels first to rotate the bike 45 degrees to the right and THEN try lifting I would have been positioned on the UPhill side and the lift would have not only been a success without pulling a muscle, and I would have had a huge advantage - first off gravity would have worked for me after the initial tug, and secondly once upright I would have had the great advantage of standing over the bike in a sense, and not below it. By lifting on the upslope side you have several inches to a foot of added height making mounting the bike so much easier, even with small luggage on the rear. And lets not forget it's just plain safer to be uphill of a 790... So yeah, a live and learn situation. But you never learn much staying in your comfort zone. Better to get in a bit deep (no matter what that means in terms of personal thresholds) to see what you can work through. I think I broke one of my cardinal rules somewhere along the way during those repeated lifts .. that of always stopping, resting, and 'thinking' my way out. The uphill lift strategy eluded me for some reason (exhaustion?). I say everyone should find a nice grassy hill of any grade and practise laying the bike down, and then working the problem of lifting it back up. Gradually increasing the angle of the grade, and the bike position on the hill - work up until your bike's seat is downhill, perpendicular to the hill. Then first work to rotate the bike so the seat is on some angle uphill instead, and only then try lifting it, and ride the rest of the way up. And mounting it on a grade on different angle is useful as well to practise. Thats another shortcoming - I decided I was better off walking the bike up in the boulders versus riding, and while the 790 is relatively easier to make controlled bursts forward and up compared to even my 300 for some reason, I would have been better off mounting the bike and riding it the phuck out. I think in some spots I felt is was too difficult to balance the bike in the rocks while mounting it. I should have thought through and past that hang up and gone for it...which is what got me out in the end. The terrain was very doable, but the trail was severely overgrown so I was always forced to centre, making line selection less than ideal. And branches were still at chest level forcing me to duck blindly hoping they would deflect up and over me. So once I was able to lift my head again .. surprise .. off my line, and oh look another f'n boulder. lol Thats why I love more open tracks .. you can avoid the boulder/drainage rut drama usually and head to the sides here and there to keep momentum going. @TarMack don't ever count yourself out. Work the problem...first emotionally (ha), then mentally and then finally execute your well thought out plan physically. Accept the situation, get motivated, don't stop thinking...
I doubt that the weight increase will be much if any. They will probably add a little bit of stroke to get the bump. Honda is doing the same thing on the AT as part of meeting Euro 5 emissions as well.
@Nowwhat were you practicing endos, or is the launch not in the photo. Or do you have an affinity for squashing bugs in the desert?
I'm thinking this is a situation that couldn't be resolved if you had a rekluse without first screwing down the allen head to return it to a typical clutch function. Based on your descriptions, without drivetrain braking in gear, the bike would have been uncontrollable.