In my progression from a Ninja 400, to a Ninja 1000 and now a Ninja ZX-14R with a KLR650 on the side, it's apparent the disease is as bad as guns, hunting and reloading.

I rode a KLX400SM a week ago to compare it to my KLR running Shinko 705's and it was more fun but I went over to Austin to ride a Duke 390 this past Friday, and that booger was a hoot, seems almost as quick as my Ninja 400 and is fuel injected with ABS and both a plus over the KLX/DRZ400SM.

The KLR is transportation but far from fun around town.

Looking for input.

Although I would gladly snag another N400 which is a badass "little" bike for around town eventually I will do some track days, the KTM has a lot less plastic so should I go down it would be less painful.

Word is all the cool guys are riding a Ruckus... just sain
The fat chicks love em

I have no interest whatsoever in scooters, mopeds or fat chicks...never banged one in my life and I sure don't want to attract them now

If they ain't fit to sit on this for a day they won't be riding with me LOL

Hey..... let's not be knocking fat chicks.... winter is cold up here....

I bet Outdoors in Texas will make a video in a couple days about his nuts falling off.

(The other Texas guy) 😃

RDW,

I will offer my opinion despite your caustic and mean spirited comments about women and Ruckus's's's's

The KTM Dukes kick ass in my opinion and I think you'd find that particular model to be superlative to your Ninja. But I also think you'd be better off sitting back and hoping to find a 690, because there is nothing more fun in the city than a 350lb, 700cc, thumper.

Deflave that is straight up grade A bike porn right there. You are also correct.

True that! If you don't crash occasionally you aren't trying hard enough.


mike r

RDW's words were hurtful.

Don't you have to be a Shriner to ride one of those?


mike r

How far can you ride a wheelie on that thing?

OP,
Your Thailand manuf KLR will run 3X the distance @ 1/8th the cost of any KTM in existence.

Once you've removed the plastic internal engine parts to the steel DooHickey & installed a ther-ma-bob other than NOT being able to keep chain/sprockets & wheel bearings on you Ka-wa-sa-ki it's miles ahead of any piece of machinery from Austria
(ditch the KLR for a Suzi DR 650 & don't look back-Thank me Later)

KTM electrical systems & clutches are JUNK.

Swiss Motor-Ex synthetic engine oil products-decades ago the Swiss made watches & laundered money.

KLR is reliable but probably most boring bike I’ve owned.

KTM 950 Adventure was never a problem for me however it was a 2004 and had carbs.

You recycling pics now, boss? C'mon, man! OP, I've had something of a love/hate and live/die relationships with Kawis going back to '86. I lost 2 of 3 lobes of my right lung in a 80mph plus drunken I wonder if I can survive this one wreck at 16. At 30 or so I blew the engine on a decked-out '87 ZX-10/GPZ/Ninja 1000 doing 140 on I495s on a sweeping left hander. God I love those 70s-80s Japanese street machines. I still own a '78 Suzuki 750GS E, a Yamaha '76 RD 400 w bored, stroked, jetted with chambers and a bone stock '84 Honda VFR 700 Interceptor. Remember the Knight Rider when you look at the night sky!

Your brain stem is rotting.

Nice, good to have a backup when you want ride without the distraction of all the chicks trying to jump up in your lap

No doubt, 75hp in a 350lb chassis should be a wheelie machine, I may need to take a test ride before pulling the trigger on a 390.

Kamo,

My apologies for the rehash. I was born not-Japanese so I do not have 936 stock photos of every fortune cookie or bowl of rice that I ordered one day.

I am only trying to help my friend RDW with his question.

Is that dealership pretty well stocked? Some Husquavarna's have the same motor as mine and weigh the same.

Anybody that has ridden them agrees that they are about the best bike you can get for city/town riding.

The shop over in Austin had a good number of KTM and Husky but I was not looking beyond the 390.

There are six 690's within 250 miles but double the price of the 390 so ~8K

Yep. You can also go to Procycle and get you a 790 kit for a DR650 and rip it offroad also.
https://procycle.us/model/suzuki/dr650

It's only money.

The suspension may be fine for the dirt, but it's horrible for my use on the street other than getting from point A to B.

You have had both correct?

Is the engine buzz better managed on the 390 over the 690?

Well, mine had a tuned suspension, so I'm probably a bit biased. The stock suspension sucks.

No I only have owned the 690 and ridden a 390.

The 390 seemed smoother but I don't know that I'd feel the same way if I had ridden it extensively.

The 690 truly rips. The 390 is just cool.

I can't speak to the DR but I was fully prepared to jump on a 450L.

Until I rode it in the city for an hour.

Fugk that thing.

I had a bevy of motocross bikes in the late 70s through the mid 80s, from 125s up to fire breathing 500s.
This Honda CR 250 could wheelie until I ran out of gearing.

Impressive White Claw capacity.

Every family should have one.

I've been riding since I was 7 years old. I've had a z50R, XR80R, Yamaha DT50, Kawasaki KDX 200, Honda Nighthawk 750, Yamaha R1 and the latest was a KTM 300XCW that I bought to ride with with my son. I've always enjoyed bikes but with the advent of cell phones, I don't think I'll be getting back on the street any time too soon. I had looked at a KTM 790 not too long aog but the price scared me away as well as the aforementioned. The Duke looks fun.

I had it bad for a long time; owned and rode a lot of bikes. Sold the last of them in 2008 and missed it badly. I wouldn't even go into a bike shop for years. May get back into it someday when the kids are out but we'll see.

It was in the 30's yesterday but I took a roadtrip to ride a 690, the 390 is off the list.

Too hard to pass up 73hp and 55ft-lbs of torque in chassis 3 lbs lighter, the 390 would be fun in town but I doubt on a track where I would like to ride soon, for fun and the experience. The 4-piston Brembo front caliper grabbing a 320mm disc was miles ahead of the 390. It was amazingly quick hitting 80 on a 1-2 pulls easy, I kept hitting redline around 9,500 in first and it lays down fast, I would learn to shift it correctly after a few rides.

The only annoyance was low speed turn in was way too fast for my taste with 26.5 degrees of rake vs 23 on the ZX14R, 24.5 on the Z1000SX and 25 on the N400 predecessors. It was equally annoying as the KLX400SM I rode a month ago.

As far as the appearance, the fugly breadbox has to go.

There was a 2020 SV650 in the showroom for 6,500 and 1,500 less than the KTM. And no way would I pay more for an '18 KTM 690 than I forked over for my '15 ZX14R that was a good deal for that bike...but I have a plan

Did ya trip your 690?

Picked it up Sunday, a ton more fun than the KLR and especially when only about 500 more than the average price of a 2017+ Duke 390

Veddy, veddy nice!

My only KTM was a completely different genre.
It could however wheelie a mile.

You got my attention 'Flave. I have been looking at new bikes for some time. I'm in no hurry to buy as I have 2 now. But, you never know.

kwg

kwg

The 690 has been a [bleep] ton of fun, great torque, light and the sharp turn in compared to my Ninja's is now appreciated. I changed front and rear pads to EBC HH, replaced the brake fluid with DOT 4.5, oil and filter and a manual cam chain tensioner but it's a great ride totally stock.

I am not as comfortable in the curves as my ZX14 but that has more to do with seat time and trusting the tires.

It pulls easily to 115 and possible more but I am going to drop a tooth on the drive sprocket for more low end.

I plan to ditch the bread box and add a PC-V and fuel dongle but keep the stock can.

We were just at COTA for two days. Come do a track day and you'll be a changed man.

Never doubt 'flave.

No I've held on to it.

I've pretty much decided that it's too cool to sell. Any time somebody else rides it they go on and on about how cool they are. If I had long commutes I probably wouldn't like it as much but I'm never more than 20 minutes from where I take it and I think they're flat unbeatable for that.

I will go to my first track day Monday, Cresson 1.7 but on my ZX

Cresson was fun although I was nervous compared to riding the streets, even all over Houston where riders crash and die almost weekly.

The ZX was great but a little heavy through Rattlesnake but so far beyond my abilities even on the street/touring Roadsmart III's all I thought about on the way home was a dedicated 600 for the track. I was overly concerned with laying down and having to repair the ZX that I thought a 600 would be the ticket but found nothing but junk for upwards of 5K. Over the last month I realized what I wanted, a full electronics package was really a liter bike feature so I continued to read and research, S1000RR, R1 and CBR1000RR.

We went to HMRC a week ago and after one ride at Cresson I had a much better understanding of what to expect and conceptually what I needed to do different, mainly power out of the corners and get ahead of the riders behind me since I was holding up the riders at Cresson. I was really focused on following the race line and not speed to be predictable to other riders. Other than the first ride on the wet track slip sliding constantly when the track dried I did just that, I put crashing and other riders behind me out of my head and rode as hard as I could and it was epic, hooked and hopefully will be able to do this for a long time.

I picked up a nail in my near new RS III a few days before the ride so ordered a new Battlax RS 11 and used my buddies almost new front tire and really liked the feel. I also removed the Apex 4" risers and went back to the factory bars with 3/4" risers and the position was so much better.








After HMRC I went shopping and flipped the Duke 690 for a '17 R1 for a 90% track bike, 10% street bike. A few days later we trailered multiple bikes to a tuner in Austin who set up my suspension and then I rode to and through Houston to visit friends and family and back to College Station, 325 miles and through that freak storm that rolled through Texas on the 28th. I was a bit sore but not bad considering the riding position is far tighter than the ZX.

We are booking a spot at MSRH in June and COTA sometime between August and November.

Youngest kid took the utility trailer and brung a Duke 390 home about 6 weeks ago. Only seen him occasionally since...

I believe it!

Starting 10/19

Ninja 400 ~7,500 miles
Ninja 1000 - ~7,500 miles
KLR 650 ~ 1,000 miles
ZX-14R ~5,200 mile
Duke 690 ~ 1,000 miles

21,200 miles in 18 months

huh ?

Good stuff RDW.

Thanks

As a kid out of high-school I had a a bike I could do seemingly endless wheelies on.
I did about a half miler once and had to set it down for lack of realestate.

I suck at clutch up wheelies so I don't even try but the ZX14R front wheel will hover a good stretch in a power wheelie, I expect the R1 will do the same.

I had a 1996 Duke 620cc the yellow and black year. Funnest bike I ever had . They were really the first super moto, Im sure KTM has only gotten better since.

My bike

650 ABS

Nice RAS

Nice work!