First ride

The sea was still frozen

Finally did a short 80km first ride today. Not much, but now I can say that I've actually ridden the bike. I was running the standard map and I obviously had to stay below 6000 rpm too due to the break in period. 

The new ride-by-wire throttle works beautifully. There is no jerkiness anywhere. The suspension worked marvelously on the tarmac. I didn't need to pay any attention to the numerous potholes and bumps. The bike just glided over everyhing. The suspension may be a tad hard for off road though. I haven't touched any adjustment screws yet nor do I plan to for a while. I'll just ride it for a while before touching anything. 

I kept a keen eye on the handle bar vibrations, but came up with nothing. I didn't get past 90 on the small roads so the result is still inconclusive.

What really got my attention was the power! This bike has a serious power to weight ratio and It will wheelie like crazy on first and second. The bike will literally pick up the front instantly if you give it the beans. Gotta pay attention.

Changing a KTM 690 Enduro R broken rear indicator

Oh snap. I didn't break anything else and if the bike wasn't brand new I would fix it with black tape. The cold weather probably played a part in this. I assume the plastic was rather hard at 36F and that might have made it prone to snapping in half like it did.

Anyway, time to switch the indicator to a new one. The connectors are hidden between the rear fender and the tank so the rear fender assembly must come off. That's a matter of removing three screws from the underside of the fender and two from the top.

After unsnapping the connector ( you need a small flat head screwdriver) the nut needs to come off and then you can just pull out the old indicator. The nut is needed for the new one, because a new nut is not provided with the spare indicator.

The two top screws

rear indicator nut

KTM 690 Enduro R rear indicator connector

Nomadic rear rack installation on KTM 690 Enduro R

I finished installing the Nomadic rear rack. The installation was easy, but before you begin make sure you have a big enough drill bit to make the holes on rear fender. The aluminium spacers are 16 mm, but in actuality you need to make 20 mm holes as the holes end up in an angle compared to the spacers.

Installation, how I did it

Remove rear fender 

1. Undo 7 bots, 2 from sides, 2 from top and 3 from under the fender
2. remove fuel cap

3. remove fuel breather hose (just pull on it)
4. lift of fender

Drill holes for bolts on the fender, use dimples under the fender as guide marks
Remove original tank bolts
Reinstall fender, tank cap, and breather hose
Assemble rear rack according to instructions
Insert spacers into holes
Bolt rack into place using bolts provided by Nomadic

The rear fender needs  to be removed. It's held in place by 6 bolts

2 bolts on the sides

2 bolts on the top. Note that the fuel cap and fuel breather hose has to come off too.

Two (of 3) bolts under the fender you need to undo

There are dimple marks for drilling the holes under the fender

The original tank bolts that will be replaced by ones that come with the rack

20 mm hole

the 3 smaller hex bolts will be tightened last

Nomadic rack 6000 kms later

The same one I bought

KTM 690 Enduro R USB GPS power plug installation

This is my third bike I've installed the  USB power plug. It has always performed flawlessly. I opted for a Burnsmoto USB socket because it takes less space than a bulky cigarette lighter type plug AND most devices I use (GoPro cameras, GPS navigators, phones etc.) can be charged via USB. I can also use the same compact charging cable for many devices and storage it under the seat.

The 690 Enduro R has a cable for powering various devices ready and hidden behind the headlight. It us just a matter of unscrewing the two bolts on the sides of the headlight and digging the ends out. The one I used was marked  ACC2 which means it's only hot when the key is turned so there is no chance of a GPS to drain the battery if left on unintentionally. (there is also a an always hot ACC1 plug behind there)

I Shortened the wires of the plug, but left some coiled up behind the headlight in case I needed a few inches of play at some point. I did not bother to fasten the plug end to anything. It stays pretty much put as it is now.

Here is what you are looking for.

You can see the ACC2 marking on the wire

ACC2 wires

Burnsmoto plug

Ram Mount ball for the GPS holder

KTM 690 Enduro R with Bags-Connection / SW-Motech GPS mount

Picking up the bike

The day finally came. Time to pick up the bike from the local dealer. I originally planned on leaving the bike at the dealer's showroom until temperatures rose above 10 degrees C, but due to some unexpected turn of events I needed to get the bike of the floor before mid March. Not a problem really, but the weather was not ideal for the maiden voyage. 2 C degrees or 36 F is a bit too chilly to enjoy riding so I decided to just ride the twenty minutes home and wait for the temperatures to rise a bit.

First impressions

I was overly cautious with the bike due to it being brand spanking new and the potential for icy spots was definitely still there. I really did not get enough time on the saddle to make any kind of conclusions, but I sure did love the feel of the bike!

Some things I did notice first hand:
- the clutch is very light and pleasant to operate
- seat was better than expected
- seat height was not an issue
- smooth throttle
- less vibrations than I expected*

*I did not get into highway speeds, so this is perhaps subject to change