yep - not sure id believe any journao....i do remember Alastair Fagan (while reviewing the current Panigale of the year...1199 of some sort) commenting on the previous years bike as "handling like a scaffold pipe with wheels connected..." but thats what they all do - standard fair tbh, while reviewing the current one (which is currently the best thing ever) and run down the previous year....happens without fail...
no, not tempted in this configuration but did phone a few dealers last week to get the low-down on availability "for a friend"
I still don't get it. They made a single without the characteristics one associates with that type of engine. It has less power than the old 696 twin and needs higher rpm to achieve it. It's the same with torque. Less of it at higher rpm. Yes it's a bit lighter than a monster 696 although if you changed the wheels and the silencers on one of those it would be much of a muchness even in that regard. The engine looks good, I give them that but I'd want a big thumper so for me it's disappointing.
Seems like I’ve had a lifetime of riding torquey thumpers. This does it for me. Getting old but still crave the power. This will give me that with less weight to struggle with. I’m happy with the HM style as I grew up with dirt bikes & wide bars. I wish it had a proper fuel gauge & perhaps a tank that held a bit more fuel but hey, this will get the adrenaline pumping for sure. And at the push of a button, it will be a back lanes explorer, quite safe on the wettest of country lanes.
I thought the young MCN lad's review was really good. He was well-read on the technical spec and I thought he came across really well. He's just the sort of person to do these, bearing in mind that there is a younger market this is aimed at. It seems the praise from him, Chad and Chris was all pretty high - I can't wait to try one, but am dying for it to be in a more sports bike type frame.
I’ll stay with Bike World reviews having watched the MCN offering. It’ll be interesting to see just how many get sold, my Son might be interested in carrying riding a SM but again at 12K it’s hell of an ask for a 19 year student.
Agree it’s a lot of £ for a youngun. Chris N pretty much said the same. Each to their own on the MCN chap. I thought he gave a good account of himself and I could see him being more relatable to younger riders, of which there are too few nowadays.
Going to look at a Hyper tomorrow or maybe even by the noises the sales person was making a demo ride. I’m deffo not buying one though.
Deffo not, it was a spur of the moment as I have a day off tomorrow and thought I’d go and look at one in the flesh. Wanted to go to DMC Stoke but they were shut today. They’d need to take 2 bikes off me and have one in stock, both of which they won’t/haven’t.
"...ah, would Sir like to buy the demo bike at an advantageous price perhaps and would Sir have, possibly, something to part exchange as Sir obviously had a fucking blast out there today?..."
Went to take a look see a 698 this very morning. Better build quality than the KTM model. Ergonomically much superior, seat more comfortable. Switchgear light years better, TFT screen smaller than expected but again much better than the KTM. Shod with Rosso iv’s, I’m minded to ride into Wales from the dealer and make a day of it. Thursday is test ride day, I had to book in but can have the bike all day, just need to add fuel. approximately 60 day lead times, he said he’d sold 3 so far.
As a Ktm 690 owner for 8 years I'd be very interested in your thoughts if you get a test ride @DucatiScud
Definitely is a test ride, it was booked out for tomorrow but hasn’t as yet been out. Whoever rides it tomorrow(Wednesday) can scrub the tyres in for me.
