KTM640 duke2 opinions?

I am thinking of selling my gixxer1000 and getting a road biased supermoto and a trackday bike(179mph on a B road other day,gonna get banned,hurt or worse at this rate) I have had a mint, black, 04 reg low mileage duke 2 offered for 3K. I used to have a rotax640 ccm s/moto about 4yr back and it did nothing but fall apart and I swore i would never have another supermoto! Are these any better?

Well my uncle swears by KTM, but then he sells them so he would!

Had a test ride on the new 690 prestige a couple of weeks ago and loved it, but so different to ride than the SV. The KTM felt very well put together quakity wise, I could see where the extra 2k had gone

[northwind]

I love the Duke 2... You'd probably find it a different kettle of fish to the CCM (though I only know CCMs by rep), the Duke's got a lot of the rough edges taken off, it's not exactly extreme. Which IMO, is good, you're not likely to be racing it Even so, I still found myself properly misbehaving within minutes of getting on it. I can't wheelie at all normally either. Just a total laugh to ride. I don't think it'd be too dreadful over distance either, certainly not brilliant but not horrendous either. I only did a short NSL stretch though.

I imagine there's a Duke 3 on the way with the new motor in it... And KTM don't really mess things like that up. But either way, that should mean cheaper 2s on the market. The 690's probably already dropped the duke's prices a bit.

When I did my leg in, it really looked like I'd not get enough bend back in my knee to ride the SV... And instead of thinking "Oh no, no more sportsbikes", I was thinking "Eeeeeexcelent. Duke 2 for me".

Originally Posted by ukgooner

Well my uncle swears by KTM, but then he sells them so he would!

I don't

If you just want a Supermoto, the DRZ400 SM would be worth a look...

The new Ducati Hypermotard look awesome...

I had a KTM 950 SM & to be honest it was the best handling bike I have ever ridden, but having all the problems with the dealer & KTM UK, I wouldn't own another one if they gave one to me (well, perhaps I might )

[quote=Cloggsy;1287996]

If you just want a Supermoto, the DRZ400 SM would be worth a look...

quote]


Thats a big fat NO.....

gixer 1000 to a drz lol

if you serious about a supermoto, then you hneed to think about what you want to do with it....

ask youself a few questions,

How much hassle your happy with looking after it?
doing any track days on it?
using it daily?
happy to twist some spanners on it yourself?

basically the race supermotos are far more fun than any road based moto, but require loads more spanner work to keep in fine fettle that siad oil changes etc take no time at all and are really not that hard to do. so my money is on something more race biased otherwise you might feel a bit underwellmed coming from a gixer 1000.

easy going lack luster supermotos DRZ, KTM LC4's, KTM Dukes and CCMS XR650's

more sporty race pepped ones are: Berg 650's, KTM SMC's, KTM Exc's, CRF 450's and Aprilia SXV's

Ive got a 550 Aprilia SXV fooking awsome bike, needs constant looking after but its one of the best supemotos out there and i love it to bits, It's not for everyone as like i said its a full on race bike so you need to be half handy with some spanners.

Get out on a few and look on here..

http://www.visordown.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=22

But DRZ's and KTM LC4's CCMs etc.. are not really supermotos in the true form, there more road going supermotos with some manners and way less poke..

Like i said, you need to think of how you want to use it, as there not just things you hop on and ride day in day out then service every 5000 miles like a gixer...

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Devine

But DRZ's and KTM LC4's CCMs etc.. are not really supermotos in the true form, there more road going supermotos with some manners and way less poke..

Understand where you're coming from here, but it seems a bit like saying that a CBR1000RR isn't a sportsbike because it's not as fast as an RC211. A race-oriented supermoto would be as bad on the road as a road supermoto would be in a race...

Originally Posted by northwind

Understand where you're coming from here, but it seems a bit like saying that a CBR1000RR isn't a sportsbike because it's not as fast as an RC211. A race-oriented supermoto would be as bad on the road as a road supermoto would be in a race...

Your missing the point.. DRZ and the likes are built on a budget, with cheap parts bin parts and heavey steels instread fo lighter trick bits, you dont get cheaper heavy stuff on a CBR1000RR.

Best way to look at it is like a GSX-R600 and compare it to a GSX-F600 night and day in comparison.

I'm speaking from experiance, I've had a CCM and an KTM LC4 then moved onto the more race biased bikes, KTM SMC and Aprilia SVX

I'll put money on people coming from GSXR1000 to a DRZ and LC4 will be thinking about what they can do to make it faster in a very short time. If you then start to spend money on the mods to make it quicker your choice is flawed in picking one of those bikes to start with... a more race supermoto would have been a better choice to start with.

Anyway each to there own i guess, i'm Just giving some advice from someone whos been there and done that... and i'm guessing again that if someone has gone and got a GSXR1000 then they will have a mind set of wanting the best not making do...

and the money involved here is a lot less but soom ets expensice if you have to change everything, then end up selling it at a loss anyway to buy something better

[northwind]

Duke 2's not especially built on a budget, it's just not built to be particularily light, the components used are pretty high quality and the build quality's ace. A lot of the weight differences are for usability and durability, longer service intervals, etc etc, which is all really neccesary.

The original poster did say he wants a road-based supermoto, and that he had a ccm and couldn't live with it Seems pretty clear.

I was only trying to help him as i've been there done that... and went through the same thing myself.

Duke 2's are built on budget most of the parts are heavy... in comparison... and not upto the spec of the SMC's brembo gold line brakes etc...

The fact hes comig from a Gixer 1000 gives me a fair idea he will want to make it faster, The fact remains and you cant change it... There are loads better supermotos out there for your money, and a DUKE 2 is not really a true supermoto.

He needs to get out and ride a few to have a good idea of what type of supermoto he wants, as a CCM is not a good yard stick. The Duke would win hands down against it, but that dont make the Duke good either ... old bike old, engine desgin, with loads of engine vibes and cast wheels.

anyway i could go on, the fact remains its heavy and not as good as other things on the market, dont limit your self until you have tried the rest....