INCOMING, Happy 50th to me.... Yeah, it's a Yamaha... it's the easy option.

[Yorick]

Fairing mounted mirrors are the best option

[weeksy]

Fairing mounted mirrors are the best option

That'd make it an R7

[weeksy]

I was meeting up with @dern at Premier Bikes this morning and chatting to Darren. Parked up was their new shop/service bike, an 890 with 2 miles on the clocks. Thinking i'd shoot out when Dern was testing his new potential purchase i grabbed the keys and took it out.



It was in this scheme i think.

It felt brilliant actually. Riding position felt spot on and even the knee bend was better than the MT07s and easier to feel happy on it.

Down the first straight bit i opened it up a bit in 3rd and wham... wow... I don't recall either the 790 or the 890R feeling like this. It felt really grunty and fab performance.

Being critical, it's VERY KTM, in terms of gearbox feel, even the brakes, somehow it always feels like they have a bit of warping even straight out of the box lol. The gearbox the lever couldn't feel less Japanese if it tried... there's a clicky/clunky thing in each of the gears, feeling almost stiff and not right, but it's how it's been on all of the 790/890 range. It's just 'different' to the Japanese bikes though, not exactly a criticism, but an observation.

Handling, i guess the best thing i can say is, i didn't notice it, not at all, it just turns, goes and rides how you want. I was very conscious of it having 2 miles on teh Conti rubber, so cornering i wasn't trying much.

Throttle response was good, wasn't jerky like some bikes from KTM, smooth, but very responsive on the throttle, it spins up well and goes from low to flying very quicky.

It still disappoints me you need to pay for the QS and blipper.... that would sting a bit for sure.

All in all... i was very surprised by it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Bye bye MT07

[Skub]

Bye bye MT07

Inevitable really.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Bye bye MT07

Inevitable really.

I'm surprised it's lasted this long

[Skub]

Bye bye MT07

Inevitable really.

I'm surprised it's lasted this long

Me too. I think SwingarmGate was the clincher.

[weeksy]

You're getting very much ahead of yourselves.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You're getting very much ahead of yourselves.

We're bracing ourselves for the week of indecision

[Skub]

You're getting very much ahead of yourselves.

We're bracing ourselves for the week of indecision

A week of dry weather will do it.

[Nordboy]

Week of "shall I', 'shan't I' followed by the '07 being sold and a KTM 790 being bought with the 890 is a bit much for what I want?

But either way, the MT is gone I think!!

[weeksy]

There's the rub... in the ideal world it'd be a bit of both... Both do what they do really nicely... but both have things about them that could be better.

I prefered the ergonomics on the knees of the 890, but the clutch, gearbox etc of the MT07 is night and day better. The MT07 doesn't have the slipper clutch, but you don't really use the slipper on the 790 as you blip on the way down anyway, so it's either that or you get the auto-blipper and it does it for you.

Before making even slightly anything like a decision, i'm going to see if @Taipan 's seat gives me that little bit more easing in the knee.

But i can't help thinking that some of the 890s things would irritate me a touch anyhow longer term.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Easier to change the ergos of the Yamaha than to improve the KTMs clutch and gearbox.

But you'll still buy a KTM, because you want to eat KTM toast

[Supermofo]

I love KTMs and I'm sure I'll probably have another at some point.

But not yet. The GSXS is just easy and lots of fun too.

[Taipan]

There's the rub... in the ideal world it'd be a bit of both... Both do what they do really nicely... but both have things about them that could be better.

I prefered the ergonomics on the knees of the 890, but the clutch, gearbox etc of the MT07 is night and day better. The MT07 doesn't have the slipper clutch, but you don't really use the slipper on the 790 as you blip on the way down anyway, so it's either that or you get the auto-blipper and it does it for you.

Before making even slightly anything like a decision, i'm going to see if @Taipan 's seat gives me that little bit more easing in the knee.

But i can't help thinking that some of the 890s things would irritate me a touch anyhow longer term.

I went for the higher seat on my BMW and was amazed at how much difference a seat could make, hence why I jumped at getting one for the MT as I felt too cramped from the first ride. Again I found it made a big difference and was pleased with it. Hopefully, it'll do the same for you? If it's not there today it'll be there tomorrow, so you'll soon know!

I still miss the 690 in some ways, but I don't think I'll go KTM again any time soon. I preferred almost everything about the MT against a 690 except the actual riding position. If Yamaha built a XT700X using the CP2 engine I'd all over it as I suspect you would be too!

[weeksy]

If Yamaha built a XT700X using the CP2 engine I'd all over it as I suspect you would be too!

It'd already be in my garage as we typed. TBF that would arguably be my absolute ideal motorbike really.

The MT07 is pretty damn close as it stands though. As i implied on the other thread, if anything, the 690SMCR would be the KTM i'd swap/change to/for. But even 690s have well, issues.... Go to any KTM forum and there's multiple users with multiple issues on them.

Sure we had Swingarmgate, but that was my mistake and i don't make the same mistakes more than once, so it's a non-issue now.

[weeksy]

If it's not there today it'll be there tomorrow, so you'll soon know!

If it's not here today, i'm leaving for Belgium at 5am tomorrow until Monday afternoon

But thanks man, i didn't think it was coming until after the weekend.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

What about the Tenere 700, surely it has the riding position and engine you want?

[weeksy]

What about the Tenere 700, surely it has the riding position and engine you want?

It's a decent point...I've not ridden many things with funny sized front wheels.



I'm not against the looks too much. But the only one i can really think of close was @G.P Triumph 800 which I absolutely HATED and couldn't get round a single corner when i rode it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Decent tyres on 21" front wheels make a big difference, Bridgestone used to make 21" Trailwings that were pretty much road tyres, my DRZ400S came with them, I could corner fine on them but it did require a different riding style to get the bike to turn, I've no idea what it would be like on something as heavy as the Tenere.

They're definitely weird looking, the front end is very high compared to the seat.