Joined
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54 Posts
I hate threads where someone says "help me decide"...but alas, I find myself in a position where I need to solicit advice from my fellow motor heads. Unless you have a best friend who rides, nobody else can appreciate these types of problems :wink:
I've found myself dreaming about another bike. Here’s the thing, I love sportbikes, always have and always will, but it seems like all of the manufacturers have made it their sole mission to try and physically shrink the size of the bikes to a point where someone > 6’ just doesn’t fit…sure it can be done if you don’t care about how it looks or that it doesn’t feel like anyone designed it with you in mind.
Anyway, back in August I traded my 690 enduro (which I owned for 7 months) for a 790 duke. I realized I was a street rider at heart and even with a supermoto style setup on the 690 it just wasn’t planted enough on the street. I’ve really been enjoying the 790 – and at the time I had been contemplating a 1290, but the price gap was ridiculous. The 790 has performed really well on my trip to North Carolina this past September, and I couldn’t have asked for better handling and light weight bike for those twisties. All was good in 790 land :grin:….
Fast forward to this past weekend and I'm doing my typical Saturday morning browsing of Kijiji motorcycle ads, just checking things out and then…wait, what’s this? OMG I totally forgot about this bike…the KTM RC8R! :surprise: Not only is there one for sale nearby, there are two (a 2015 and a 2014) within 1.5hr drive from me. This is the holy grail sportbike for taller riders!:smile_big:
Flash forward a few days and I’ve contacted both dealerships…it was like something was making me do this :devil:. I'm within a couple of hundred bucks of my self-imposed limit on what I would spend on the trade to make this work, so let's just assume an agreement on price could be reached at this point.
So here are my pros and cons for the RC8R:
+ Drop dead gorgeous bike (IMHO) – angular, muscular, svelte yet significant in size at the same time
+ Adjustable ergos for taller riders (pegs, bars, sub-frame – all adjustable from factory)
+ V-twin torque with lot’s of power
+ Light – pretty similar weight to the duke 790 but + 70hp.
+ Stock componentry is great (WP adjustable suspension, Brembo brakes, forged wheels etc.)
+ Somehow it’s $500 cheaper per season on insurance vs. the 790 :shrug:
+ Doesn’t need to be rung out to make power
+ Looks amazing…did I already say that?
- 5 year-old bike
- No ABS, TC, quickshifter etc.
- Not too many were sold, parts aren’t cheap (OEM or aftermarket)
- Dash isn’t nearly as informative or nice to look at compared to the 790
- Having to explain to the wife why I can’t keep the same bike for more than a few months….again 😊
What to do??? I have a bike that I really like, the 790 does everything I need it to…and it looks good. Not as good as a sportbike, in my opinion, but cool in that naked bike way. The power is more than sufficient for the street, it’s comfortable to ride for hours at a time and it’s packed with newer tech. It does everything I need …now I see the RC8 and it’s pressing the everything I want button.
Option B of course is keep the 790 and invest what I would have been willing to spend on the trade to create a really top end 790 (suspension, brakes, carbon bits…). Option C, keep the 790 and buy the RC8, isn't really an option in my mind. I’ve had multiple bikes in the garage at the same time before and you can only ride one at a time. Doesn’t make sense, for me at least, unless they’re each unique enough in their purpose – i.e. dirtbike + streetbike. I’d likely pick one that I’d ride more often than not and then wonder why I’m paying insurance for both.
Maybe after typing all of this I’m not really asking what should I do…maybe I’m just looking for someone to say “it’s ok, you’re not any crazier than the rest of us”, lol.
I've found myself dreaming about another bike. Here’s the thing, I love sportbikes, always have and always will, but it seems like all of the manufacturers have made it their sole mission to try and physically shrink the size of the bikes to a point where someone > 6’ just doesn’t fit…sure it can be done if you don’t care about how it looks or that it doesn’t feel like anyone designed it with you in mind.
Anyway, back in August I traded my 690 enduro (which I owned for 7 months) for a 790 duke. I realized I was a street rider at heart and even with a supermoto style setup on the 690 it just wasn’t planted enough on the street. I’ve really been enjoying the 790 – and at the time I had been contemplating a 1290, but the price gap was ridiculous. The 790 has performed really well on my trip to North Carolina this past September, and I couldn’t have asked for better handling and light weight bike for those twisties. All was good in 790 land :grin:….
Fast forward to this past weekend and I'm doing my typical Saturday morning browsing of Kijiji motorcycle ads, just checking things out and then…wait, what’s this? OMG I totally forgot about this bike…the KTM RC8R! :surprise: Not only is there one for sale nearby, there are two (a 2015 and a 2014) within 1.5hr drive from me. This is the holy grail sportbike for taller riders!:smile_big:
Flash forward a few days and I’ve contacted both dealerships…it was like something was making me do this :devil:. I'm within a couple of hundred bucks of my self-imposed limit on what I would spend on the trade to make this work, so let's just assume an agreement on price could be reached at this point.
So here are my pros and cons for the RC8R:
+ Drop dead gorgeous bike (IMHO) – angular, muscular, svelte yet significant in size at the same time
+ Adjustable ergos for taller riders (pegs, bars, sub-frame – all adjustable from factory)
+ V-twin torque with lot’s of power
+ Light – pretty similar weight to the duke 790 but + 70hp.
+ Stock componentry is great (WP adjustable suspension, Brembo brakes, forged wheels etc.)
+ Somehow it’s $500 cheaper per season on insurance vs. the 790 :shrug:
+ Doesn’t need to be rung out to make power
+ Looks amazing…did I already say that?
- 5 year-old bike
- No ABS, TC, quickshifter etc.
- Not too many were sold, parts aren’t cheap (OEM or aftermarket)
- Dash isn’t nearly as informative or nice to look at compared to the 790
- Having to explain to the wife why I can’t keep the same bike for more than a few months….again 😊
What to do??? I have a bike that I really like, the 790 does everything I need it to…and it looks good. Not as good as a sportbike, in my opinion, but cool in that naked bike way. The power is more than sufficient for the street, it’s comfortable to ride for hours at a time and it’s packed with newer tech. It does everything I need …now I see the RC8 and it’s pressing the everything I want button.
Option B of course is keep the 790 and invest what I would have been willing to spend on the trade to create a really top end 790 (suspension, brakes, carbon bits…). Option C, keep the 790 and buy the RC8, isn't really an option in my mind. I’ve had multiple bikes in the garage at the same time before and you can only ride one at a time. Doesn’t make sense, for me at least, unless they’re each unique enough in their purpose – i.e. dirtbike + streetbike. I’d likely pick one that I’d ride more often than not and then wonder why I’m paying insurance for both.
Maybe after typing all of this I’m not really asking what should I do…maybe I’m just looking for someone to say “it’s ok, you’re not any crazier than the rest of us”, lol.