Confessions of a KTM Fan Boy

Many riders have an allegiance to a specific motorcycle brand. Whether it's because that was their first brand of bike, or maybe because it was the brand an admired family member had. Maybe they have tried a few brands and just determined that they loved a certain brand. No one answer is right or wrong, it's just personal preference. We all like what we like. 

Over the nearly 4 decades I have been riding, I have developed a certain criteria that bikes must conform to for me to even consider buying them.

1. They have to be reliable. The brand and model has to have a track record of reliability. I'm not spending my hard-earned money on a lemon. I like wrenching, but I like riding more.
2. They have to have that "Bang for Buck" factor. I like bikes that perform. I'm not a coffee shop cruiser or the type of rider that only puts 1K miles per year on a bike. I ride the shit out of them.
3. They have to have that "IT" factor for me. If I don't look back at it every time I walk away from it, it won't occupy my garage.
4. It needs to serve the specific purpose (or purposes) I need it to.       

That's it. If it checks those boxes, it's a candidate that I may lay down my money to buy. Maybe not brand new, but that's another story.

I learned early on that the Japanese brands were reliable as hell. The Japanese 80s and 90s bikes may not have been the sexiest, or best thought out bikes, but they worked, and worked well. When you're young and money isn't abundant, you need a bike that just works. The Honda, Yamahas and Suzukis I have owned have all been rock solid reliable. Not all, in fact very few of them had that "IT" factor, but all of them started every time and never left me stranded.

In 2002 I walked into Redwood City Honda and saw a red and black, '02 KTM Duke II. It didn't look like any bike I had ever seen. I walked past it a few times and found that I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It surely wasn't as fast as the bikes I had owned. After all, it was only a single cylinder motor, but it looked badass and had premium components. I went home and couldn't stop thinking about it, so I went back and bought it the next week.
   

When I rode my first KTM away from the dealership and cracked open the throttle, the front wheel launched into the air and I started to laugh inside my helmet. The next stop light turned green, and BRAAP! Again, an effortless wheelie that wasn't startling or jerky. I knew instantly that I was going to love this bike, and I did. My R6 pretty much sat in the garage except for track days because the KTM was so much better for riding on the street. It was more comfortable, got better fuel mileage, it was less of a cop magnet, and it just made me smile every time I rode it. At 320lbs with 55 horsepower, it was quick, nimble and even with all the abuse I put it through, reliable as hell.

Unfortunately, my relationship with the Duke II was fairly short. I had only owned it about a year when I was taken out by a squid motorcyclist on Hwy 9, totaling my beloved KTM. But I did manage to put about 6K miles on it before it was taken from me, and it left a lasting impression.

After the Duke II was ripped from me, I only owned Japanese bikes for a while. Mainly because I was doing a lot of track days and the Yamaha R6 was my weapon of choice. In fact it was almost every track day junkies weapon of choice because it was that good. I had also bought a salvaged '06 GSXR1000 Streetfighter for commuting and general hooliganism. I loved both of those bikes, and they served their purposes admirably, but they still lacked that "IT" factor for me. Probably because I was so familiar with them and subconsciously I was looking for something different.

In 2014, KTM introduced the 1290 Super Duke R. A bespoke naked bike that was unabashedly raw and immensely powerful. It had premium components, electronics, and it looked fierce as hell. Another KTM I couldn't take my eyes off of. I couldn't afford it when it first came out, but I obsessed over it. When it won the 2014 MOTY Award, and then the 2015 Best Naked Bike Award, I knew it was just a matter of time before I bought one. In early 2016, that became a reality. I negotiated a smoking deal with a SoCal dealership that still had a '15 model on the floor, and I drove down to pick it up.

It was love at first ride. Very much like the maiden voyage on my '02 Duke II, the Super Duke effortlessly lifted its front wheel on demand, but it was also more refined. The Brembo M50 brakes were far and away the best feeling brakes I had ever used. I now understood what all the moto journalists were ooing and awing about. It was comfortable, nimble, and fast as hell. It was compliant in every situation, which is rare for a motorcycle.

17K+ miles later, Beast 1.0 has never done me wrong. I've commuted on it, ripped through the local hills, taken it to the track, ridden to SoCal on it, and gone moto camping on it several times. I even rode about 7 miles of rough dirt roads on one of the trips, and the SDR never complained. It just keeps charging along and lifting its front wheel to wave at people.

Many motorcyclists usually reach a point in their lives when they have a bike they love so much, that they swear they'll never sell it. Beast 1.0 might just be that bike for me. We'll see.

 

Last Fall I had done a weekend ride with a group of friends, and they were all on Supermotos. The fun they were having reminded me of my Duke II. They were ripping through twisties and lofting their front wheels every chance they got. It got me thinking about my Duke II, and yearning for a bike with less weight and horsepower. A bike that was easy to manage on the extremely twisty and bumpy roads. I had the itch and the means, so I recently picked up a pre-owned '17 Husqvarna 701SM. It reminds me of my Duke II, but even better. More power, better brakes, and much better suspension. OK, it's not technically a KTM, but close enough.

I wasn't too impressed with the changes KTM made to the 2.0 version of the Super Duke, and I loved my 1.0 so much I really didn't consider trading up. I wasn't really considering the 3.0 either, but after the reviews came out I got that KTM itch again and took a closer look.

The achilles heel of the 1.0 SDR is definitely the suspension. I had the forks and shock re-valved, but it still wasn't track worthy, and even felt a bit "wallowy" when riding aggressively on the road. When I read the reviews and specs of the 3.0 version, I was licking my chops. KTM had addressed all of the flaws in the first two generations of the SDR, mainly the suspension. Well, damn. I guess I'll have to get one.

I picked up a black 2020 SDR in early April, during the CV-19 quarantine. I was going to wait, but there weren't many in the area and I figured I'd use the down time to ride it a bit and dial it in. Needless to say, everything the moto journalists have said about it is true. It's more refined, the suspension is better, the brakes are stellar, the electronics are improved, it has more power, and it handles better. It doesn't have the "rawness" of my 1.0 and I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad thing, but it's been fun as hell so far. I'm looking forward to getting familiar with it. 

I never thought of myself as stringently brand loyal, and I don't shun most other brands, but I find that very few manufacturers offer models that interest me at this point in my life and stage of riding. They simply don't check all my required boxes.

That being said, KTM has been dominant in the dirt bike realm for decades, and they are quickly becoming one of the best motorcycle companies in the world. Their street and adventure bikes are among the best on the market, and their global sales numbers are proving it.

More importantly, it's like the KTM designers know me, and they design bikes that I want to ride and own. I think this is the best story that sums the brand up for me.

One of the KTM brass rode the prototype 1290 Super Duke, and when he got off of it he said, "This thing is nuts! We have to build it!".

No other brand would take that approach, and that's why I love KTM.

Yep, I think it's safe to say at this point that I'm a KTM Fan Boy.