Thread: KTM 690 Supermoto

The supermoto market is tiny, to an even greater extent than the Duke, and there are few places you can really make full use of one. Yet ironically I had more fun on the roads on the Supermoto than I did on the Duke itself. The Supermoto has slightly less top-end power, mostly because its exhaust is more restrictive as it's based on the high level Enduro bike's system an underbelly one like the Duke's is impractical on anything with off-road pretensions.

But if the small lack of horses isn't noticed, what you do find immediately is the bike's mad willingness to hoik its front wheel in the air at the slightest provocation. If ever there's a machine to perfect them on, it's the SM, especially if you switch the engine mapping to aggressive mode. The bike is sprung more softly than the Duke, although comfort is worse because this seat is only earable for a short time, but its cornering ability suffers little and once you're used to the front end diving hard under braking it stops just as quickly too.



Like the Duke, the Supermoto uses top quality components, meaning if you decided to go for club level supermoto racing you could have a fair crack at it on this bike without making any modifications. Jump on and race, yet it's just as capable of everyday commuting as the Duke. The price is the same so it's worth considering if you were thinking of a Duke and only want a bike to be a hooligan on: but beware, even if you didn't, you'd probably end up as one anyway.