Any opinions BMW/KTM
 

I am not a seasoned RTW pro but I have done my share of riding. I have owned Suzuki's, BMW's and Kawasaki's. In 2000 I rode a Suzuki 650 Freewind all over Europe and hit the Atlas Mtns pretty hard in Morocco (no problems). I admit the allure of these new beautiful bikes is tough to get around and I am trying to decide between the KTM 990 Adventure and the BMW 1200 GS. any opinions?

For what use, going around Antarctica, up and down K2, or to pick up hot chicks?

Hot Chicks for sure
 

RTW from America down SA to Africa Asia on... Probably mostly tarmac but I do like to find off road adventure. Probably gone for a year plus???

The big bikes will be cushy rides on good, fast roads. And they can haul a bunch of junk along with a rider.
The big loaded bikes can be a pain when trying to explore off road. What usually happens is that the rider realizes it's no fun picking up the heavy bike and/or handling it in precarious situations, and then he/she stops exploring more of the off-the-beaten-path places. If it hurts to scratch your butt, you stay away from that pleasure...:)
What we call a mid-size bike, 400-650cc...?, is known in many parts of the world as a big bike. The reason why is that they do not need a bike of that size to run their local roads. Overkill.
I predict that we will see some mid-size bikes marketed towards adventure riding in the not so distant future. Not a new idea, just new ads for an up and coming market that's been mislabeled.

Hmmmm...
 

I ee your point. As I mentioned I rode a 650 freewind around Europe and morocco and it was fine. I even rode two up for two weeks with a very hot chick that visited me in spain. All my gear and her stuff. I was more of a novice then and it all seemed fine. Now It seems maybe for ego I want a bigger engine. In the 650's are there any better than others in your opinion? KTM BMW Suzuki??? Thanks

"smaller engines"
 

Interesting that the thread has already moved toward the smaller engines: there is lots of support on other forums for the Suzi DL650, but sticking with the theme here, the Beemer and KTM to consider are the 800GS parallel twin (arriving on the market later this year) and the KTM 690 single engine which is getting good reviews as the successor to the 640 single. Far too early for me to have any opinion on the relative merits of these two, but if you are not departing very soon then they are both worth considering?! :rolleyes2:

Life is full of choices!

Dave

ps Get the bike that pulls the hottest chick!!

Yamaha XT660
 

No one mentioned the XT, certainly worth a look. It recently attained the highest altitude ride and then then went on to win the Raid de himalaye !with very little extra prep.

There are compromises with all bikes.
Understanding your travel needs before buying saves from the bike defining what you will be doing.

Have you ever seen a KTM with high mileage, test ride them both for at least half a day and see how you get on.

+1 for the XT660 (R or Z) - if you're living in the US it'll be the Z.

I currently ride a KTM 990 ADV and can say hand on heart it's the best bike I've ever had, but (and it's a big but) there's no way I'm taking it on our big trip next year. It's being sold to make way for an XT660R cos it's too expensive (for carnets & parts), too heavy (no good for softer roads and if you drop it which you will), too complicated (to fix when you have a problem - have you seen the dealer networks for Euro bikes in the developing world?) and is far too flashy.

I'll be selling my KTM and buying the XT for a third of the price, meaning that even after kitting it out I'll still have a couple of grand in the bank for the trip.