Paulvt1
New Member
Looks seriously sweet. Not sure i'd be brave enough to trade the Ten though..
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I read that issue of Bike and I just wonder what KTM had to pay Bike since more or less everything said about the new KTM is extremely positive. I like the bike but I get suspicious if it's not good enough to speak for it's own sake...greg the pole said:bike uk did an extensive review of the 1190 and the 1190r, whole separate print for it and all.
yeah, it seemed biased to say the least, but then again it was a feature in the mag. I think it was more aboutbnjon said:I read that issue of Bike and I just wonder what KTM had to pay Bike since more or less everything said about the new KTM is extremely positive. I like the bike but I get suspicious if it's not good enough to speak for it's own sake...
I think there is some patriotism, Euopeanism and in the case of BMW a propensity to "tweak" test bikes and massive advertising budgets.greg the pole said:I subscribe to BIKE but its funny how much attention they pay to the EU brands (bmw and ktm), rarely do they
mention the yammie, too bad really.
Re-reading this thread, I think the real beef with almost all road tests and reviews is that they comment on the riding experience (as they see it or are paid to see it) but never on the ownership experience. Why would or could they? They get loaned a machine long or short term and thrash it without any concern for the outcome 20-30,000 miles down the road or any experience of servicing or the factory's interest or otherwise in solving prolems. The bike they get is looked after fastidiously by the supplier, snatched back and fixed at the first hint of a problem which probably doesn't happen anyway because it was not just straight off the production line like you and I get. What do they care if the rear drive trashes itself at 50,000 miles. When they do experience a major breakdown even on a brief test, they make very little adverse comment. Motorcycle News tried to film a Lands End to John O'Groats (length of Britain) test including a BMW but it never even left Land's End before it needed BMW to recover it. You'd expect a real tongue lashing over their wasted time and the bike's poor showing but they barely made a harsh comment. They often don't even bother to read the owners manual and then bitch about some feature they have set wrong or could have changed. I've even seen reviews that described the wrong number of gears - that's how witless they can be. I owned an all electronic Ducati Multistrada and was amazed to read road tests that complained about settings that were infinitely adjustable or the lack of features that I knew were fitted. Trouble is - the most important thing to us buyers is that we will own the machine and what wears out or breaks down is as important to us as the riding experience, perhaps more so. The only road test I would trust is something like Nick Sanders' American odyssey on a Super Tenere. If it covers 51,000 miles with nothing worse than a fork oil seal replacement - I'm impressed. Now I will be interested in his or anyone else's impressions of the riding experience. But not a group test that complains of insufficient power but doesn't mention two power settings or appear to know which one they were using for the test!Rasher said:I think there is some patriotism, Euopeanism and in the case of BMW a propensity to "tweak" test bikes and massive advertising budgets.
I have seen a few Second Hand Buyers Guides on the GS where they fail to mention any of the FPC / EWS / FD / Fuel gauge / dropped valve / exploding gearbox problems that plague the bike, yet will hammer a Honda because of an occasional regulator fail, or a Suzuki because a few fasteners furred up after six winters use.
Reminds me of how almost every Tenere reviewer felt the need to trash Yamaha for lack of an ABS switch. I guess if you're used to BMW ABS that decides to stop working if the going gets tough that's one thing. But maybe, just maybe one of the complainers could have tested the ABS to see if Yamaha wasn't as foolish as they were suggesting and possibly engineered an ABS system that actually works. I guess that was too much to ask.viewdvb said:... then bitch about some feature they have set wrong or could have changed. I've even seen reviews that described the wrong number of gears - that's how witless they can be. I owned an all electronic Ducati Multistrada and was amazed to read road tests that complained about settings that were infinitely adjustable or the lack of features that I knew were fitted.