steve,

what model year is your 690? fortunately, the "known issues" you mention do not seem as serious. but is good that you are customizing your bike little by little. what matters to me most is motor reliablility. have you had any issues in that regard? also, do you have a link for the 'TT stainless racks'?

thank you,

elrockers.

Mine dates from March 2009 and has covered about 6,500 miles, the speedos current running on KMH from the French trip, haven't got round to resetting it yet.

The TT racks are on their website, just look for 690 accessories, they should cost about £201, I bought three sets for myself and two friends for £185 apiece inc. shipping. I looked at several other optins including KTM and Wolfman but decided on the TT racks as they seemed to have the mount mounting points to the rear and twin braced tubes either side mounting to the pillion peg mounts, bracing the tank/subframe in the process.

No engine issues for me, takes EXC oil filters and has EXC style oil strainers, all easy to work on. Just checked the valves on mine, all within spec and easy enough to swap shims if you have a reasonable grasp of four stroke top ends.

The main issues I'm are of are:

Tank mounts: easily resolved.

Fuel pump failure: not sure on this as it seems to affect mainly North American bikes, one theory is this is due to the Ethanol in their fuel, another theory is the pump overheating if run low on fuel too often, the fuel cools the pump? I've read that 2011 bikes have a different pump?

Seat comfort: it's an enduro bike, not designed for comfort. Cheap fix is an Airhawk or sheepskin, expensive fix is a seat built to your spec by Renazco in the US or Rayz in Holland.

Lighting on the R model: it's basically an EXC light, fit an E or aftermarket version.

Fan switch: easily resolved.