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2009 KTM 690 ENDURO R RIDE REPORT

This was pretty much the maiden voyage for the new 690 Enduro R other than just commuting back and forth to work. We planned a weekend dual sport ride from Elkhorn, WI to Clark County which is about 250 miles north west. There would be four of us lead by Craig Johnson who has spent a fair amount of time on the Clark County trails and would be our guide. Jeff and Harrison rounded out the group. They were all on KTM 950 Adventures and I was on my new 690 Enduro so it was going to be an interesting comparison as to how each bike handled the various terrain and road sections of the trip. We left on a Friday afternoon in mid May and had sunny warm weather for the ride to Black River Falls where we stopped for dinner. This first section was pretty much just freeway so we could get to our destination before it got dark. At least that was the plan. After dinner in Black River Falls it was threatining rain and we were hitting gravel roads for about the last hour of our ride which ended up in the dark and spitting rain. Just wet enough that it made mud of the dust kicked up from the bikes in front and made it so we couldn't see anything! We all made it without incident to our lodging which was provided by Craig's Parents who live in the area and treated us like royalty - go figure, a bunch of dirty bikers show up and they were great hosts. The 690 handled everything so far with no problems. It was comfortable running down the freeway at 75+ and did great on the gravel roads. The 950's run without even breathing hard in those conditions so they had no issues whatsoever. This first evening was about 250 miles.

Friday night brought steady rain and we woke up Saturday morning to significantly cooler weather, mid 50's temps, and wet trails. But before we headed out we were treated to a great breakfast at Craig's Parents - Pancakes, eggs, bacon and orange juice. The only issue was the caffeine free environment (no coffee) that left some of us with some cobwebs but that all cleared up quickly when we hit the cool air. The gravel roads and trails start right outside their door so we geared up, aired down the tires and headed out. Craig led the group since he's spent a lot of time on these trails and knows where the good riding is. I quickly figured out how the day was going to work once we hit the trails. The mud puddles seemed to have magnets in them that made Craig accellerate through them and splash as much mud as possible on the rest of us following him! Once that had been established we knew to duck when we saw Craig headed for the mud.

The rain actually was a good thing because it kept us from eating dust all day and made the sand sections a little more set up. This was one of my first times in any significant sand and the 690 handled it well. It was fairly easy to keep the front end light and use the torque of the motor to chug on through the loose sand. We found a fun play area that was basically a big sand bowl with some berms and jumps that we all got to test our sand riding skills in. We all managed to drop our bikes at least once except for Craig who managed to keep it upright. Not bad considering he has the tallest, biggest and heaviest bike out of our group - the "Super Tanker". Craig's 950 Adventure is fitted with an Aqualine Safari fuel tank and it holds 12 gallons of gas when topped off! For this trip he only had a few gallons in the bottom of the tank which actually lowers the center of gravity on the bike. But his extra fuel reserve would come in handy later in the day.

Nearing the end of the day we came to a river crossing that Craig had done last fall and he figured it would be about the same deal as before. Ends up that the spring snow melt and rain had brought the water level up about a foot and the water temperature was only in the 40's, and the air temp was in the fifties. Well, Craig charged right in and found some pretty deep water and some big rocks on the river bottom that nearly sent him over, but he managed to save it and make it to the other side. He was very close to getting water in his air box, which causes all sorts of problems, one of which would be a engine full of water. We all sat and watched him do this and decided we weren't going to test our luck at drowning our bikes in 40 degree water. So we made Craig come back across! He survived the second crossing but had two boots full of water and had to wring his socks out before heading back down the trail. Cold feet for the rest of the ride!

Nearing the end of our day on the trails we had nearly 200 miles on the odometer and I was running low on fuel but we were still a ways out from any gas. Craig had one more trail he wanted to check out so we headed out knowing that I was probably going to run out of gas. This was a good test to see how far I could run before actually going dry. So I took the lead and made myself as aerodynamic as possible and took it easy on the throttle but I still ran out about 3 miles from the gas station. So that meant that we got to test out Craigs latest invention. As I mentioned before, Craig has 12 gallon tanks and he rigged up a fuel transfer pump that is piped into his tank and semi-permanently mounted in his (also custom) storage tube. So when I ran out he just pulled the "Super Tanker" up alongside my bike, pulled out the transfer hose and pumped a gallon or so of fuel into my bike. Problem solved!

We all had a great day riding a variety of trails with mud, sand, rocks, tree roots, and some gravel roads. The 690 Enduro R handled everthing very well and even the big 950 Adventures made it through the day with no issues. We held a good pace all day to where we were challenged but not pushing so hard that we felt out of control or riding over our heads. We had good trails, good scenery and a good group of guys to ride with. And the hospitality was great again back at home base. A big thank-you to the Johnson's for the use of the facilities and feeding us.

Sunday morning we woke up to a sunny but cool day and loaded up our bikes with all our "junk", aired up the tires and headed back south. The first 65 or so miles we hit gravel and sand roads and wound through the northwoods on some pretty amazing "off-the-grid" roads. We stopped near Mauston, WI to fuel up and get some lunch and planned our route from there. We decided the longer but much more fun route would be the way to go, so we headed south and picked up Hwy. 33 headed southeast. Hwy. 33 is a great road that winds through the hill country and it was absolutely beautiful on this late may weekend. This was the super moto section of the trip and we spent the afternoon chasing each other through the twists and curves of hwy. 33 and several other little roads that branched off from there.

I had a permanent grin on my face by time we got to the ferry at Merrimac over the Wisconsin River. The gravel roads all morning and beautiful curvy roads all afternoon on the way home, on a nice sunny spring day, riding a KTM 690 Enduro - life doesn't get much better! We split on our seperate routes home just south of Madison, WI and ended up with a total of just under 700 miles for the weekend. About 300 miles off-road (or gravel roads) and 400 on pavement getting there and back. I have to say that the KTM 690 Enduro is one of the few bikes in the "dual sport" category that actually excels at both parts. It was a decent road bike that can run at freeway speeds without any fuss and then performed extremely well off-road and left me ready for the next trip. Besides my regular riding and short trips I hope to do the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail this summer or early fall. The 690 Enduro will be perfect for that trip!

Just a couple of notes: Before leaving on this trip I installed a set of C J Designs enduro foot peg extensions and a set of Rox pivoting bar risers. Both of which were huge assets in the off-road riding where I spent 90% of the time standing. I would strongly recommend both for taller riders and the pegs for anyone.

I was lucky enough to get a few days off and go motorcycling with a few friends around the state of Wisconsin (literally around) and test out the brand new KTM 950 Super Enduro.....What an amazing motorcycle! It really does do it all. We left Elkhorn, WI on Thursday morning and headed west to the Mississippi river and followed that up to near Minneapolis, MN where we spent our first night. That day was hot (mid 90's) but ok when riding and we saw some beautiful scenery in western Wisconsin and the bluffs along the Mississippi river made for a nice 400 mile day. We hit some heavy rain in the afternoon and had a chance to try our rain suits - they worked for the most part! Day two destination was Minoqua, WI and we had more hot weather ahead of us. Minneapolis was predicting 100 degrees for the first time in 11 years! But this was the "Super Enduro" so we weren't going to let a little hot weather slow us down. So across north-western Wisconsin we went and the closer we got to Minoqua the better the scenery got. We rolled into town about 3 pm and stopped at the local motorsports store for a quick look around and then to the lake to cool off and wash the hot day off our sweaty bodies. That night as we rode back to our cabin after dinner it was raining and looking pretty ominous in the distance. Some severe thunderstorms rolled through that night and put on a great lighting show. We woke up to pouring rain and decided a slow start was the best course of action. So we rode into town for breakfast and waited for the rain to slow down a bit. By the time we ate and rode back to the cabin it was clearing off nicely and turned out to be a perfect riding day. So we headed to Marquette, MI in the U.P. on lake Superior and what a beautiful ride. Lots of State Forests, good roads (a few twisty ones finally), great scenery (a lot of downed trees from the storm the night before) and nice cool temps (around 72 for most of the day). Marquette is a cool town right on Lake Superior and the views are amazing. After lunch in Marquette we turned back south-east and made it to Oconto, WI for the night. The last two days were about 300 miles each. Once again we woke up to heavy rain and 50-60 mph wind gusts and looking at the run for home. We found a little bubble in the storm and headed out, rain gear in place. We actually timed it pretty well as we only hit light rain for the first couple hours and then it started to dry up. When we took off in the rain we decided to take the direct route so we did some freeway time (boring but effective) and made it back to Elkhorn, WI shortly after noon. Overall it was a great trip that took us roughly around the perimeter of WI and we put on a total of 1,253 miles in about 3 1/2 days, saw some beautiful scenery, had some great riding and spent time with some good riding buddies. We were all on very different styles of bikes and we all switched around to try each bike - my KTM 950 Super Enduro, a Triumph Sprint 1050, a Yamaha 1300 cruiser and a Harley Fat Boy with a lot of mods. I was very impressed with the 950 S/E. It would run with the Triumph in terms of speed and acceleration (flat out the Sprint was faster but the KTM would hang right with it) and the Super Enduro would run through the twisties right with the sport bike. The two cruisers got left behind in those sections (actually I was leaving all the bikes behind when the roads got fun - it might just be a personal problem!). It wheelies with ease and runs down the highway comfortably at 80+. Very little vibration or buzz it just hums along in 6th gear. When pushed hard in the curvey sections it just unloads gobs of mid-range power and rips out of the corners. This was a road trip so I didn't get much off road time on it (around the cabin and a few gravel driveways was it) but I have no doubt of it's off road ability...it's a KTM after all ! I can't say enough about how good it was on a long trip on the road and I can't wait to do some off roading with it as well. If you're looking for a dual sport bike that can do it all, the KTM 950 Super Enduro is the answer!

We don't claim to know any of these guys! They look way to "friendly" - I thought Bikers were supposed to be "Bad Dudes"?

Meet Andre, the wandering Australian! We met Andre when he called us from Michigan looking for a bike to take for a ride. Ended up his ride was going to be up to Canada and across the country to the Western side of British Colombia and then down to California. Or, where ever he ends up (there will most likely be some detours)! And the bike he bought was a 2008 KTM 530 EXC-R. Should be an interesting adventure - that's a lot of seat time on a dirt bike!

Ends up Andre flew over from Australia to Los Angeles and then to Detroit to buy a bike. When that deal fell apart he called Petrie Motorsports and he picked up the lightly used '08 530 EXC we had in stock and modified it with a 6.3 gallon tank, handgaurds, gps, saddlebags, h.d. tubes, and took out the rim locks and balanced the tires. The bike already had an Akropovic exhaust, elec. fan kit, exhaust gaurd, chain guide, J.D. jet kit and some other misc. accessories. Andre set up the bike with all his accessories and packed up all his gear and headed out on the road. We were pretty impressed that a guy comes in from Australia, buys a 530 EXC and takes it on a cross country on/off road trip. Not something we see regularly.

So at this point Andre has been on the road for about 2 weeks or so and we're hoping his trip is going well. We may get some updates along the way if he finds a way to send out some email. Heres to a good trip!

Update: Early September we heard that Andre had made it to California so he really did go cross country on a 530 EXC!

Hello Petrie Crew,

I am finally back in Australia so its time to write some emails.

Firstly thank you very much for all of your help and the use of your workshop facilities. Working on my bike in a friendly, knowledgable environment sure did add to what ended up being a great vacation.

The bike we created was indeed the ultimate extreme adventure weapon. Some of the terrain i encountered required lots of offroad capability and the 530EXC did not disappoint. Anything heavier would have reduced enjoyment and in some cases i would have need help getting the bike out. Certainly something that a solo adventure rider needs is a bike that they can lift out of a tricky situation by themselves. It was not ideal on road but in my opinion this is a small tradeoff for offroad capability.

I will break my trip up into four emails, Elkhorn to Canada border, Canada, USA west coast and Baja.

Leaving Elkorn, i could not wait to hit the trails so since there was none available i had to make use of the horse tracks which left me feeling guilty so i hit the tarmac to head north to find some legal dirt. There seemed to be plenty of snowmobile tracks which were quite overgrown but still provided good riding. The further north i went the better the terrain became. The best i found was the Dead Horse Trail which was a nice challange that let the Pumpkin show its dirt capabilities.

Lake Superior was fantastic. A crystal clear freshwater lake that looked the size of a small ocean is something i have never seen before. Great place for camping and swimming.

Minnesota offered a maze of logging tracks which went through some swampy areas. Stayed a night with some bikers that i had met earlier.

North and South Dakota highlights were following the GPS through wheat fields and Black Hills. I went through Sturgis where they were setting up for some bike rally. Looked tempting to stay for a while but i did not have enough time.

After a rather boring start Wyoming came good with the superb Bighorn Mountains. This seemed to be an undiscovered adventure playground with some of the best riding i have found so far. One particular track which was mainly boulders led me to a beautiful lake which i had entirely to myself. Certainly needed the cababilities of the KTM for this track! A perfect spot to setup camp for the night.

Next was Yellowstone National Park which while being great scenically, did not offer much in the way of dirt bike riding although i did have some fun on the smooth twistys weaving the KTM through the tourists in cars. Parts of the park were on fire but most of the roads were open. There were "special rules" regarding bears and one of them was you can not sleep in a tent! Ended up riding half the night to get to some bear free accomodation. With so many warning signs and recent stories about bear attacks i purchased some bear pepper spray so that i could resume camping wherever i like.

The next morning i was treated to the Bear Tooth Pass which was the most scenic mountain road i have ever been on. Great riding too with some killer corners which made me feel like i was on a motard.

Next on the agenda is banging out some miles to make it to a dance party in Canada....

Regards,

Andre

ANDRE'S ADVENTURES! Part 2

Hello Petrie Crew,

Sorry about the delay in completing the story. I have been busy working and saving for my next adventure!

The Canadian border was my first international crossing on a motorcycle so the concern of something going wrong was making my heart beat a little harder. The Customs officer didn't like the size of the bear spray i had just purchased and then took my passport away for 5 minutes while everyone that was in front of me was let through by just flashing their passports. What a relief when he gave me my passport back and said "Welcome to Canada". This tone was certainly resonated all throughout Canada, making me feel instantly at home.

Time was of the essence as Shambhala Music Festival was due to start tomorrow. I had already ripped the knobs off my fresh rear as i motarded my way through Montana between Ronan and Bigfork to make up time. Lesson learnt, refrain from buy crap tires (Maxxis) when no good ones are available. Headed in to Nelson BC, which is a beautiful mountain town with a distinctly hippy flavour. Loading my bike with supplies for the four day party made my previously sporty KTM look like an overworked donkey. As i was hiding the Jagermeister and the Smirnoff on my bike i was approached by a friendly biker lady who was telling me about this great campground up the road. As i turned out it was the Toad Rock Motorcycle Campground which was one of the best i have been to. A warm and welcoming environment for motorcyclists to tell endless stories about their adventures both past and present. Some bikers end up staying for weeks throwing their schedule out the door. I had a party to get to.

Had a great time at Shambhala. Ten thousand of Canada's friendliest people throwing a party out in the stunning forests of the Salmo River Ranch while playing great music on four thumping stages. It doesn't get much better than this!

From Salmo i headed North towards Banff and Jasper National Parks via mainly logging access roads thanks to my GPS which seemed to have every track in Canada on it. Took the 3A to Procter then jumped on the ferry to Crawford Bay. Then on to Gray Creek where i turned East into the forest towards Marysville. The GPS was telling me i need some fuel so i went back to Crawford bay to top up. Im glad i did as there were plenty of black bears which i didn't want to spend the night with. There is a little track which runs along side the main track which added a bit of a challenge to this superb mountain pass.

Hit the tar for a while to Skookumchuck where i once again headed into the forests. Feeling a bit adventurous, i headed down some of the smaller less used tracks which resulted in my first encounter with a grizzly. This thing was a beast. If it wanted to it could have devoured me like a later afternoon snack. Luckily it was scared of the Akrapovic pipe which made it run faster than the scent of my fear following it. Time to put the pepper spray into a easy to reach place and continue down the track. Nice track with lots of those drainage cutouts/jumps on it. Time for a very unrelaxing break while i was scanning the forest for bears.

The further north i head, the more magnificent the scenery becomes as i head into Banff National Park. Then its time to get some supplies from the tourist town of Banff. I was getting tired so instead of trying to find a camp ground i decided to camp in the park in the middle of town. Seemed like a good idea until the sprinklers kept going off at one hour intervals. To tired to move, i continued sleeping until i was woken up by a police officer who insisted i move immediately. Luckily he thought the sprinklers were punishment enough, so no ticket was given. Me and my soggy tent then headed to check out the stunning scenery of Jasper.

Realising that i am running out of time, i began plotting my way down to Nevada for the Burning Man Festival which i already had a ticket for. Instead of going down through Banff and Jasper i decided to try and find a more adventurous route. I turned off at Hinton and headed south to Morely via Robb and Nordegg. Everyone i spoke to said "what are you doing here". Apparently tourists never go down this road. One particular camp that i set up right next to a river had beavers splashing around as i watched the moonlight glistening in the water. Very nice indeed. The service station at Nordegg has some great maps of the local quad and dirtbike trail which came in handy.

Time to make up some time so i took the highway back through Banff then onto the Glacier National Park, Mt Revelstoke National Park and the Okanagans. The bike needs a bit of a freshen up so this will be done when i am back in the United States where everything seems to be cheaper.

Thats it for this update and i promise the next one is not far away!

Next West Coast to Mexico.