I picked up this KTM Starship on Friday. Its the R version which can do this if you are an Alien Ninja from another universe. In the real world it's a heavy bugger (slightly heavier than the Multistrada I belive) and going to be quite funny trying to do proper off road on it. I wanted a bike that was tough, one I wasn't afraid to ride in all weathers and put serious miles on. Whilst I really like the look of the Multistrada for doing the miles, it's very much a road bike and I didn't think it would like winter abuse too much either. I'm tired of being restricted by what I can do due to bike choice. I dont take want to use the Panigale in the winter salt and the dirtbike is a 250 two stroke so not suited to any distance or regular commuting (fun when I do use it for work though!). Every time I wheel it around I'm still struggling to get my head around the sheer size of it after always going for light weight machines, but the moment you get going all that is completely forgotten. Quite honestly this bike is as good in the fast twisty roads as any racebike I've ridden including the Panigale, I've genuinely blown away by it's performance. I did 800 miles between saturday evening and sunday evening visiting the family in Cornwall and returning up the A39 north Cornwall and Devon coast road which is as good as any road I've been on in the UK and as good as most abroad. The only slight negative about the bike is that it gets head shake at autobahn speeds which goes away if you drop into a corner where it's completely stable at any speed. Incidently I test rode a KTM 690 Enduro which is basically a big dirtbike that will actually go around the world but that was only comfortable for cruising to about 80mph at a push and I wanted more than that. I also went out on a 1290 Superduke which was almost the perfect commuter/hooligan bike bar the wheelie electronics intervening which I couldn't work out how to turn off. The dealer reckons you can turn it off but reading on line I'm not so sure. That said I think I'd rather have a Monster or Hyperstrada than the 1290. I reckon the KTM is probably faster around a track but I'd still prefer the Ducati.
I cut the wig after the earlier Yamaha thread slaughter as well, but now the bloody thing has grown back again back to the wig maintainer this week.
How tall are you dude? Friend of mine is 6"6 and rides one of these very well. Same power as my Multi but vastly different power delivery and gearing. The KTM is much more refined and smooth for a big V-Twin.
6ft. It's taller than the standard Adventure 1190 due to the offroad slant of the R. MissPineapple can't even reach the footpegs let alone the floor haha.
Great bikes the 1190 As. I nearly bought one myself (standard road-going version) but ended up with an SMT instead because it was such a hoot and 4K cheaper. Went back a few weeks ago and had another test ride on an 1190 to see how it compared with the SMT after a few months of ownership and the 1190 felt much bigger and heavier and softer sprung than I remembered, and under-braked. But then the SMT is a supermoto not an adventure bike so its going to feel super-agile. The punch of the 1190 is addictive though. (And I'm pretty sure the seat height is a touch lower than the SMT). I noticed a high-speed shake as well. I reckon you can get rid of that with suspension adjustment. On the 1290, the TC can be turned off quite easily. I test rode one back to back against my Streetfighter to see how they compared. I wanted to turn the KTM's TC off from the start to make it a fair comparison but the dealer wouldn't tell me how to it. KTM policy, I reckon. I had to pull over and work it out for myself (a lot easier to figure out than the Multistrada I thought). I remember you have to hold the button down for a few seconds before it gives the option of turning it off. You can customise the various settings to your preferred options and the bike will save them but if you turn the TC off altogether it resets itself to the factory settings every time you turn the ignition off and back on again.
The 1190 and 1290 adventure ktm bikes are very highly rated, I think it'd be a great laugh hooning around on one in all conditions
I've got a 1290 Super Adventure.Pretty comfortable,and outperforms my buddies BMW 1200GSA in every department except fuel consumption.But he does have shaft drive of course. I'm very happy with the Katoom so far:3200 miles since April,and not got a single complaint.
Went out for a bit of an offroad shakedown last weekend on the Conti Trail Attack tyres the bike came out. It didn't do bad considering they are not knobblies and will do 150mph. They definitely don't like the mud but they handled anything else ok. It's a big old machine for sure but I've ordered some tck80 knobblies to have a proper go at it. I'm thinking about having a go at some proper rallys on it? I took my go pro but accidentally set it on time lapse so only have a couple of screen grabs. I bought a set of Givi side boxes with the bike and have just received the KTM top box. Whilst it's nice to have a way to lock stuff away I can't see myself ever using the side boxes in particular as they turn the bike into a truck. Without the boxes the bike is pretty throwable in London traffic with a nice standup ride to work but the moment those things go on they're taking out wing mirrors left right and centre. Its a monster next to my mates Minamoto 1098s! Every day is a wheelie day
The KTM hard panniers are even worse, especially the double skinned ones with the water compartment built in. They make the bike over a meter wide and they touch down on bends, even on a bike as tall as the Adventure. I've given up on the idea of boxes, I'm going for throw-overs. Don't know which ones yet but Mosko are looking good.
