Bike Of The Month Report
MODEL: KTM990SMT
DATE: 24/04/09
DEALER: LAGUNA, ASHFORD
RIDER: TONY ROWLINSON
OWN BIKE: VERADARO XL1000
AGE: MATURE
HEIGHT: 5’ 10”
INSIDE LEG : 29”
WEATHER: DRY WITH SUNNY SPELLS
Having waited for a good
part of last year for this
bike to appear I must say
that I was not
disappointed. Clean sharp
lines, modern looks,
certainly looked the
business. This is the
touring version of the
“KTM Super Moto” (SMT).
Seat and suspension have been modified
and a small screen added. There are
brackets fitted to the exhaust heat shields
ready to accommodate soft panniers
(extra). It looks though, that if you don’t
want them you are stuck with the
brackets, or holes in the shields if you
remove them.
It has upside
front forks
adjustable for
different
types of
terrain.
Stoppies are
powerful
Bembo brakes, giving
powerful deceleration. An
excellent WP Monoshock
gives excellent ride quality
over bumpy surfaces and is
also fully adjustable. The
power plant is the proven
LC8 115HP twin giving
plenty of power when
needed it and is also quite
happy to bimble along if the mood takes
you.
When you look at the bike from the front
end on, it has the appearance of a
buffalo, very wide across the shoulders
and handle bars that stick out like horns
from the top. However,
when you sit on the bike
it takes on a very
different appearance,
taking on a slim profile.
All the controls are well
laid out in the
conventional style and
easy to read. The digital
speedo is easy on the eye and no
problem to read on the move. I don’t
normally like digi Speedos but I had no
problem with this one. The Tacho is a
conventional
dial and there
is a small
digital clock
just
noticeable
along the
bottom of the
front facia (you don’t realise how much
you miss a clock when you don’t have
one). All the information lights are there
and easy to see. Turn the ignition on, wait
for the dials to do their thing, whatever
they are, then a press
of the starter button and the engine fires
up no problem.
Sitting on the bike you wonder how KTM
have managed to get the seat so low (sit
on the adventurer and you will know what
I mean). I’m quite short in the leg but I
had no problem planting both feet on the
ground at stand still - that was a pleasant
surprise. The lightness of the bike instils
confidence before you even get going
with the centre of gravity quite low down.
Operation of the
throttle showed
smooth brisk
acceleration with the
bike picking up speed
very nicely. The
sound of the big twin
was a joy to hear
(assuming you like twins that is).
Gear change was clean and positive
although I personally found that in the
initial stages I had a problem with the
change lever. I’m used to having my left
foot planted on the pedal and changing
up and down using the front of my boot.
It may just be me but I found early on
that I couldn’t get the travel in the
movement of my boot to change gear
cleanly and I kept missing the gear. After
a while I found that by lifting my boot
completely off the pedal I got good clean
gear changes then I had no problems. I
will have to find out if there is any
adjustment on the lever. However, the
actual gear change was flawless. May
be I’ve got a funny foot.
While we are down that end of the bike I
have a small niggle about the side stand.
It looked to me that the angle could have
been a bit steeper and it might not take
too much for the bike to come off the
stand if it rolled ever so slightly forward,
a bit like the BMW 1200GS were prone
to. The other thing was that on this
particular bike, when you kicked the side
stand up it sometimes only went half
way.
Twisties were great fun with the power of
the big twin throwing you out of the
bends. Brakes were first class with no
sign of fade. The small
screen I had my doubts
about, but to be fair it
seemed to keep all the
wind off me, but I
would be interested to
see how it performed in
inclement weather. I
didn’t get the chance to
ride it in the dark so I cannot comment
on the effectiveness of the head light,
but lights on bikes nowadays are
