2016 KTM 690 Enduro R

Well...It seems that the 690 Enduro R will remain unchanged for 2016. Rumours about a twin powered 690 E may well be true, but not for next year.

Traditionally new stuff on the KTM's big single engines first appear on the 690 Duke. Within a year these changes have trickled down to the Enduro and SMC models. For 2016 the Duke will have a new cylinder head and a second balancer shaft. These changes will bring more power and reduce vibrations. IF and thats a big if, the Enduro will remain a single, the 2017 690 Enduro R will most likely feature these upgrades. That said, the twin engine featured in the spy shots will no doubt be mounted on something. Will it be the next generation Enduro R or something else, we will see.

2016 KTM 690 Duke

Mr Scheffer and his 690 Enduro at the Alps

Photo courtesy of Peter Scheffer

Check out a fellow 690 rider Peter's trip report from the Alps! Peter and his friend Roel did four day rather epic ride in Liguria and Piemonte and the photos sure are awesome.

Go check it out! >  http://allroad-in-liguria-and-piedmonte.blogspot.nl/

Husqvarna 701 Enduro

As expected Husky has introduced an Enduro version of the 701 Supermoto. It's essentially a white KTM 690 Enduro R with a ever so slightly larger tank. What this means for the 2016 KTM 690 Enduro R... I don't know. No info of the 2016 Enduro R has yet been released, but people have apparently succesfully placed orders for the 2016 models. Rumour is that the 2016 690 ER, will have little changes compared to 2015 model. I suspect we will see something new from KTM sooner than later. For 2017 the latest. There is no point two marques having the same bike, just rebadged and recolored.

KTM 690 Enduro R 10000 km review

Two summers and 10000 kms ( or 9930 kms to be exact) later it's time to do a small review update. I have ridden the bike enough now to form a proper opinion. Me and the 690 are no longer newly weds and the rose tinted glasses have been off for a while.

Two years later the 690 E is still occupying a space in the motorcycle market that no one else has taken a proper stab at. The Husky will most likely make an attempt, but so far the Huskys competing models appear to be rebadged 690s.

Likes

I still like the things that originally made me buy the bike. It's light, made out of quality components and as I said offers a combination of qualities no other dual sport does. With some tinkerking this bike can be turned into Rally bike, extreme adventure bike or a supermoto AND it's pretty darn capable and versatile bone stock too.

Niggles

The gas cap location is not ideal but other than that there is not much to complain about. I personally still don't like the agricultural noisy engine, but thats my personal problem. As a functional machine the engine works very well. I really can't complain about touring comfort or tall seat height etc. as they arent things that would not be blatantly obvius before ever doing a single mile on the bike.

The head shake is that often gets mentioned when one reads about the 690 E was absent until late summer of this year. A simple adjustment of tire pressure fixed it, but I suspect that the TKC 80s also played a part as the issue never came up with the OEM tires.

Reliability

The bike has done "only" 10000 kms so maybe there are some major mechanical issues that appear later on, but quite frankly the bike has been very reliable and relative trouble free. The fuel breather hose issue is the only thing that has caused any grief and all things considered that's a rather minor issue. People riding the bike harder and/or in harsher conditions can of course encounter issues that candy **sses like me will never see.

Comfort

Other than the narrow hardish seat comfort can't really be criticized too much. It's about as comfy as a 150kg dual sport can be. Vibrations never were nor have they become an issue for me.

Caveats

The 690 E is a bike that shines when you have to ride the more challenging places. In other words if your adventures limits to pot holed gravel roads you MAY be better of getting something a bit more touring/asphalt oriented. The light weight and nimble character does not work in your favor on those long asphalt stretches. While the middle weight "adventure class" is somewhat crowded and varied,people with somewhat limited access to good adventure territory will likely get more bang for buck with a less hardcore bike.

For more in depth opinions, read my one year review.

Test riding the Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec test ride

The Bolt is a nice looking bike, there's no denying that. While the Bolt is not exactly my dream bike, I have been wanting to test ride one for a good while now. As a former Sportster owner I was dying to find out what Yamaha has come up with. I've read several test reports comparing the Sportster and the Bolt and apparently at least the suspension is better along with the brakes. Both of which are not hard to beat on a Harley Sportster.... All in all, most of the reviews seem to come to the conlcusion that technically the Bolt is the superior bike.

The Bolt has been around for a couple of summers now and while I don't know the sales figures, it is interesting that the recently announced 2016 Sportster models now have improved suspension on both ends...

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt R Spec factory cowl at the front (2014)

Ok, let's ride (This particular bike is a used one ridden only about 5000 kms.)

Sound
First thing I noticed was the sound. It has a nice deep thumping very Harley like sound without being too loud. This particular bike has an Acrapovic factory accessory exhaust and while I like all my bikes quiet, this wasn't too bad. I would not feel embarrassed to ride this around town. One thing I absolutely hated on my Sportster was the loud Vance & Hines pipes. TOO loud.

Comfort & ergos
The seat is shaped nicely, but much harder than I expected. Some of the video reviews claim that the seat is very plush, I don't think so and I ride an enduro for god sakes. The airbox cover on the right side is annoying as hell, I don't think I could live with that in the long run. It feels that even if the bike had highway pegs I could not get my legs comfortably extended because of the airbox. (may not be a problem in reality). I'm 5,8, but one would have to be very short legged not to have the right leg hit the airbox. On the other hand, it may be that if you have longer legs the airbox is actually less of a problem.

The left side is not nearly as bad even though the engine protrudes out a bit from that side. Whether I could extend my legs comfortably from this side either is a bit of a mystery. It may bee that the protruding engine would produce a problem.

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt leg ergos

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt airbox

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt engine heat guard 

Yamaha XV950 / Star Bolt engine & airbox

The bars feel a bit thick but otherwise very nice. The only problem is that they are a bit too far away resulting in too much forward lean for my taste. The BIG problem is that neither Star/Yamaha or anybody else for that seems to sell extended cables for the ABS models so changing bars will be problematic. While the ergos are quite ok for short rides, I was not 100% happy with them and especially the apparent limitations to getting them fit me is a bit of disappointment.

Engine
I've read that the engine is solidly mounted unlike the on the modern Sportster that have rubber mounted engines. One would expect a lot of vibrations, but there were absolutely none that I felt unpleasant. The V-twin is supposed to have some. The bike felt alive, but cruising speed at 100km/h was an absolute pleasure. The was enough power for everything one would ever like to do with a cruiser.

Star/Yamaha Bolt with Acrapovic exhaust

Suspension & handling
The Bolt has a good, slightly firm suspension for this type of bike. To me it was plenty comfortable and performed as expected. Handling is cruiserlike with good slow speed manners. At 100 km/h the bike feels planted and engine unstressed. Clutch, brakes and gears all work without drama. Predictable and a bit cruiserish as they should. Changing direction is very sluggish compared to the 690, but then again high speed stability is much much better in return. Scraping the pegs was not really an issue unlike on my old Low Sporty.

Overall
Overall the bike feels very solid and well made. Nothing feels cheap or "out of parts bin". I've read a lot about the speedo being hard to read in the sunlight, but I ques the day wasn't bright enough to highlight the problem. If the ergos were right for me, I would not hesitate to buy this bike as far as performance, handling and build quality.

Ergos part II 

The Bolt ergos bothered me so much that I made a stop to another bike shop that had a Sportster on the floor. I had a Sporty in 2009, but I didn't remember a having that much discomfort on it than I had on the Bolt. After sitting on the Sporty ( 2009 883 R) it was immediately clear that the leg ergos are much better (for ME) on the Sporty. The airbox is still on the way but much less so and the left side is clear of anything that might bother me.

Sportster airbox

Sportster leg / knee room