KTM 890 R

[dave h]

The latest evolution is on its way,



dave.

[bikenav]

He appears to speak quite honestly there, not really rode one to make a judgement but my guess is technically these things are at the sharp end of the class, would I have one in a perfect world probably yes, but only if I was in a position to have a similarly classed bike next to it in the garage . Would I be able to use it to its limits not very often, would I need all the capability very rarely, would I be riding in a place to allow the use of it to anywhere near its high end performance without potentially and rightly so pissing off many other countryside users? I have a problem with this, I as many others it appears keep an eye on the TET facebook page, this by its nature is a largely cross European plateform there are continuely queries on there of "how many days to do this section"? and an alarming amount of pics of apparently new closed trail signs. I am sure many can see the simple connections that I can see. KTM, Mr Riemann, etc I really do like watching these videos but how about balancing out the message a little bit or us ordinary riders without KTM paid airplane tickets or more than likely private Austrian forests to play in, will only be able to experience the joys of the trail second hand via youtube. Thanks for the link, sorry about the tame rant.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

It looks less ugly than the previous one.

Keep thinking I ought to chop my 950 as it is getting old, then I ride my 950, and think...will I ever find another bike that is so comfortable I can ride it for any distance, and is so happy to go faster than I dare?

Answer...probably not.

Anyway, the dear old girl probably saved my life when a van stuffed me onto the central reservation last week, so I feel I owe her one.

Don't want to feel like I did when I sold my DR350, then realised that the new bike I'd traded it for was a poor second-best even though it was 'cool' and modern.

[Chris S]

Did 1200km on one the other week in Morocco.
Didn't expect to gel with and I didn't.
But a lot of folks love them!

More: https://adventure-motorcycling.com/2022 ... n-morocco/

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

rode an 'S'...nice gearbox, shame about the face.

Newer one looks better

[dave h]

strange review,

you tell us it has 105 hp but you would rarely use half, why bother with this bike [you do realise to put 105 hp through the back tyre offroad these bikes have to be robust]

you say the ride is too firm [but don't say what settings you have] I'm guessing because it don't have a knob to adjust,

you say the gearchange is harsh and also you presume it has a quickshifter +[but don't look in the menu to see?]

I got bored at this point,

tip- when you review the BMW 850 lets hope the chain don't need adjusting,

dave.

[qcnr]

Was this the new 890? Also are the pictures of the same bike? May just be the angles but looks like there are two different
front tyres on the bike in the pictures. Or did you get a new front fitted?

[Crossrutted]

New or not, it's still fugly.

The characterless engine is not for me, but each to their own.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

This looks like a way of improving the appearance of the current to date bikes

[Chris S]

I got the same rental 890 back for another week when the huge 800GS I was on started playing up.
What a relief that was. Much nicer engine in the BMW but did not feel right. Tyres probably at 50psi.

Made a bit more of an effort meddling with the 890 second time around (another 1200km) and liked it a bit more.
Really quite good off road for 210kg on worn Karoos. Great brakes, ABS and notably seamless TC.
Turns out quickshifter and other features are all fitted and enabled from new, then disable after a month at which point you are invited to pay £800 (or so I was told by an 890 owner in the group).

I'd still take a 310 GS for what we do out there, but good fun to try twice.