I live in L.A. as well and you do have a good KTM presence here. Del Amo Motorsports has a troubled reputation but they are a KTM store and carry a wide assortment of bikes and parts, Beverly Hills Ducati just picked up the KTM franchise from the Santa Monica store that closed, after that is BERTS and there is a KTM…

Reliability and price are the big ones. A small displacement, high compression, high revving single cylinder engine designed by a premium manufacturer not known for reliability and built in India...yea... and its $5,500 new. A tiny bit more $$ and you could get a CBR500R/CB500F which I think is a much better bike for…

Pretty much, but wait until another Dakar or Sertao model comes along...otherwise hope the next F800GS goes on a serious diet.

Poor body position and inexperience will crash a Ninja 250 just as easily as an R6, the Yamaha is just more expensive to replace.

I would also advise against the Grom and recommend the CB300F over the KTM, preferably a lightly used one. There is one on craigslist with 2k miles for $3500 in Murietta.

The rear subframe on that bike is plastic and has the fuel tank already integrated into it. The only reliable way to extend the range of the bike is to spend $1,300 on the Rally Raid front fuel tank that needs to be installed and connected to the rear tank and is very vulnerable in a drop OR carry extra gas in fuel…

I have a KLR650 and sold Ducatis for years and I can tell you.

This will likely never happen. A bike with all that kit will cost over $20k, and someone who can pay $20k for a bike will not want it to have less than 100hp for their benchracing discussions at the water cooler with the other mid level assistant managers at the firm. You really have to remember that expensive bikes…

I agree, the 800GSA is silly, the standard GS was already the best it could be and does not need the weight the Adventure adds.

I agree with you in that newer tech should help lower the weight of the big bikes, and it’s truly a shame we don’t see more of that. I also agree that ~400 lbs and 95 hp is a perfect combo for ADV riding...however...a 20 year old Italian bike doesn’t exactly scream reliability to me...

It didn’t get it because it didn’t need it. The 1200 needed it to stay competitive and keep buyers from looking at the Tiger or Multi. The 1200 has always been a halo machine. The F800GS is for someone that knows they don’t NEED the improvements and is ok with a proven formula.

I would guess that when you add all the things the big bikes have to a V-Strom 650 or Tiger 800 there is less difference in weight than we would expect. They are about 75 lbs difference stock.

Hey Sean, I’m a big fan but I’ve got to stop you right there. You COULD do that ride on a Speed Triple, you just would be a fool to try. The Speed Triple can only hold 4.1 gallons of gas, has no wind protection, shorter travel on stiffer suspension, a more forward riding position, more aggressive tires that get…