James Whitham tests KTM's latest offerings

Whit gives it the berries on KTM's latest

FOR ‘08 KTM have introduced three new bikes based around their phenomenal 690 LC4 motor that first appeared to much acclaim in the ‘07 690 SM. The head of the family is the new Duke with its two brothers being the 690 SMC (Supermoto-competition) and the 690 Enduro.

690 Enduro

With the 690 Enduro KTM wanted to create a bike that bridged the gap between their successful range of pure competition enduro machines, like the 450 EXC for example, and the softer, bigger, road-going-only Japanese trailies like the Yamaha XT660R. I reckon it would make a great town or short commute bike that you could venture onto the odd green lane with occasionally without any trouble at all. As a genuine dual purpose bike you won’t find better, but if you’ve ridden pure off-road competition bikes you’d probably find it a bit ’portly’ on the dirt, and lacking a little suspension travel, especially if conditions got tough.

690 SMC

The SMC, or ‘supermoto competition’ is basically the same bike as the enduro. The only major differences being the wheels, brakes, gearing and the forks. The SMC is a little belter as far as I’m concerned and I enjoyed pretty much every minute I spent on it. Sure you wouldn’t want to be doing big miles on one, but that wasn’t what they were designed for. As far as I can see they were designed for having fun with, and for that it was hard to fault. A simple trip to the shops will have you grinning like a yank politician.

690 Duke

With an extra 3bhp (taking it to 66bhp) thanks to a new airbox and exhaust the Duke was perfect for smooth and twisty mountain roads I rode it on and I reckon would make a really practical commuter bike. The steering and handling are sharper than any of the previous Dukes, but if your mates all have 600 or 1000 sports bikes then you need to pick the roads carefully or you’re gonna run out of steam trying to stay with ’em. Saying that you’d probably have as much fun

The Enduro costs £5,895 while the SMC and Duke costs £6,195.