If someone claimed my SAS was supernatural, regardless of my thoughts of that realm, I'd be hard-pressed to disagree. This bike holds some power over me.
I left late yesterday for a short ride. 240 miles and 5+ hours into this quick ride I'm getting close to home. I look at the speedo after the bike touches down from the most recent 4th gear roll-on wheelie and wonder, 'what road can I take next to make this ride just a little longer?' Why does this ride have to end?
Been a while since I've done a mileage check. Hit this mark near the start of yesterday's ride.
17K miles in just under 20 months is hardly an impressive number around here. But for someone who rides just one day a weekend the vast majority of the year, it's not a terrible number. It is enough seat time to say, 'this is my bike', I understand it, what it does well for me, and where it's lacking.
First, all the positive things mentioned over the pages of this thread, are all still hold true. My anticipation for every ride is just as strong as it has ever been on this bike. The number of times I've thought I'd like to take out my 690 Enduro, but realize that will take time from riding the SAS, and I just don't want to miss a SAS ride. The 690 continues to rest another week.
I'm going try to identify conclusions not mentioned here before. In no particular order...
-) I've been a Yamaha fan all my life. I've owned more XT's than any other bike...by far. I judge reliability by my Yamaha (and other Japanese) bike experiences, which have all been positive. After 17K miles on the SAS, my preconceived concerns about KTM have been 100% obliterated. I had more recalls on my Teneres than my KTM (0).
Every mechanical issue in 17K miles has been related to a bolt backing out. The first of these two occurrences appeared around 12K miles. The water pump drain bolt was an annoyance while on a trip, and the shift lever retaining bolt was baffling, but a bolt on a engine eventually vibrating loose is hardly unique to any manufacturer. I know I've routinely snugged up bolts here and there on all motorcycle I've ever owned for any amount of time. As for KTM, the dealer said they've never heard of the water pump backing out. They flushed my cooling system, replaced the coolant, lock-tited the bolt and covered it all under warranty.
-) There is some kind of psychology I don't fully understand about riding the SAS. Time and time and time again, I find I ride the SAS slower than I think I'm riding it. My point of reference is my old FJR, which required me to ride so very fast in the corners to get any excitement from the bike. I didn't want to ride that fast, and quickly sold the FJR. I love the rush of going from 0 to x8 MPH in the blink of an eye as you blast through the speed shifter. After that kick, I'm one who settles close to the speed limit when the road is straight. Takes zero skill to ride fast in a straight line. When the straight ends, everything comes down to judgement and whatever skills I've managed to acquire. If there is no one ahead of me, I almost always enjoy, and have high satisfaction with my run through the twisties. Early in my SAS ownership days I was surprised when I'd look down and realize I wasn't going as fast as I perceived. Now I just accept that is what's happening. My goal has never been high speed. The goal is always high satisfaction with the ride. Somehow the SAS delivers extraordinary enjoyment without demanding extraordinary speed.
-) Off road, the primary limitation of the SAS is the rubber, not the metal. Yes, I'm ignoring the elephant in the room of the cast wheels. Unless it's muddy or in wet grass, I've rarely given any thought to difference of 50/50 tires vs any other tire as it pertains to traction. I had the difference rammed home a few weeks ago when a mildly stony road put a nice big hole in the rear tire. Even though I had installed that tire myself I was still surprised to see how thin that 90/10 tire was at the end of the wear bars. A good reminder.
Putting anything more than an 80/20 on the SAS scares me. I'm hardly some great road rider, but I know how hard I'm twisting my wrist coming out of the apex of corner (that stuff I mentioned about being slow applies to the first 3/4 of a curve. it may not apply to the last 1/4). Could I exceed the limits of an 80/20 tire...? Probably not, but my thrill on the SAS comes from twisties, and excessive acceleration. I'm not willing to sacrifice that enjoyment for better dirt performance. This results in me doing far less dirt riding with the SAS than the Tenere, which always wore E07 Dakars. And what dirt I do ride is much more smooth gravel type roads on newish rubber, not worn rubber.
By the way, on the topic of tires, I finally wore out one of the Dunlop TrailSmart tires I bought for $100 a set (thanks, BMAC). Safe to say this front is done.
Completely spent at 8,460 miles. All the others Dunlops were replaced before launching on a trip, or the one rear that was killed by a stone at 6,782 mile (it was down to the bars as well). The very last tire of those 3 sets will go on to replace this front. Not sure what I'll do going forward. The TrailSmart have been very good at handling whatever I've thrown at them. Wet, dry, high acceleration straight and out of a corner, never once given me concern.
-) I'm so glad I got over my personal objection to having a chain driven, long distance bike. That objection would have eliminated the SAS from my garage. After installing the auto chain oiler the most I ever do is eyeball the sag of the chain. Not sagging too much, don't care about anything else. Yes, the fling is messy. So be it. On rare occasion I will put the bike on the center stand, grab some rags in box, wipe it off and spray it with lube. Do I have any idea what the condition is, or how the sprockets look....nope. Don't care. I asked my KTM dealer how long chains are lasting. They (and the BMW dealer) tell me 10K to and well cared for chain going low 20s. Is that true, maybe, maybe not...don't care. Both our BMW and KTM are in the 17K mileage reading, both go to the dealer for service in the next few weeks, both are getting new chains and sprockets. I don't have any interest in dealing with it. Just give me new ones and I'll continue not thinking about it once the initial stretch is completed. Whatever dislike I have of chains, it is far, far outweighed by having bikes that take riding to a whole new level.
-) At the gas station, people talk to you differently on a KTM. The other day some kid was filling his car. He walked over to me, said 'that KTM F'ing Rocks.' He walked back to his car, never looked at the bike again, and that was that. No one ever asks what kind of bike is that. Those who say something have some preconcieived idea of what the orange bike means on a performance level, or they are already KTM owners. It's different from what I heard on a Tenere.
Bike is going in for its first valve check next week. It is the second scheduled service for the bike. 18K vs 23K for the Tenere does give the Tenere the edge there. But it's really not been a concern for me. I've never lifted the tank on this bike, and I'm okay with that.