New bike day.... Is it orange ? Is that a stupid question? Well... only a little bit.

[TrickyDicky]

Shouldn't be if the Cat remains in place

Yeah thats what I thought- its not though on these- cat doesn't seem to silence anywhere near as much as , for example, an MT-10, and it is F. loud IMO with a straight through race can- my Wings can is too loud for me without the dB killer in.

Twin AR set up looks and sounds nice...

Yeah, agree, I like that and if I didn't use mine as a road bike, I'd be tempted by that

[Weeksy]

Done the Trickydicky overflow bottle mod, just picked up a brushed silver one to match the engine as none of the ones I tried from house fitted correctly.

I was debating the KTM shoei helmet but decided instead I'm going to get the bike up to Hilltop for a session when the weather allows. Possibly after Xmas week and talk tricky into a day out in the big yellow van! . The moreci see on fuelling, the more the bottom end seems weak in A/F so getting it fuelling better along with a bit more low/mid end punch makes sense.

[Yorick]

I was debating the KTM shoei helmet

My mate bought a KTM Enduro lid a while ago. Was over €300. This morning his bike fell over, onto the helmet, in deep sand. The chin piece snapped

[Druid]

I took a demonstrator out for an hour this afternoon, fitted with a load of Powerparts - Akra, seat, bar end mirrors, bits of anodised bling and garish decals...



It feels small and light (compared to my Brutale) and the back of the tank is really narrow, it feels like your knees are almost touching. The exhaust was surprisingly quiet, but the cat is still there which will go a long way to explaining that. It does look much better than the original banana shaped example though. The seat was really slippery due to applications of polish by the cleaning monkeys at the dealer, which unsettled me a bit. It felt quite flat below 5k so I switched from Street to Sport which improved things a bit in the mid range but made it quite jerky at low revs when I was riding through villages. Over 5k it really takes off and pulls well up to the red line (even though it only had 300 miles on the clock). A run on a dyno would make it a much nicer bike to ride at slower speeds. Front brake had loads of travel which was a bit of a worry, and shorty levers which I don't like anyway.

I can see why they call it the scalpel, it's light and precise and so well balanced, it feels planted even on cold and sometimes greasy roads.

It needs a flyscreen

I was all prepared to sign on the dotted line for one of these, it seemed like an ideal bike for me and I was hoping it would be a keeper but I was a bit disappointed tbh, a few niggly little things that needed sorting and a session on a dyno on top of the £8.5k purchase price and less than I wanted to px the Brutale so I don't think I'll be joining the orange club...

[Yorick]

I'd insist on proper brake levers before I bought any bike. I want the best brakes possible.

[Claude]

I took a demonstrator out for an hour this afternoon, fitted with a load of Powerparts - Akra, seat, bar end mirrors, bits of anodised bling and garish decals...



It feels small and light (compared to my Brutale) and the back of the tank is really narrow, it feels like your knees are almost touching. The exhaust was surprisingly quiet, but the cat is still there which will go a long way to explaining that. It does look much better than the original banana shaped example though. The seat was really slippery due to applications of polish by the cleaning monkeys at the dealer, which unsettled me a bit. It felt quite flat below 5k so I switched from Street to Sport which improved things a bit in the mid range but made it quite jerky at low revs when I was riding through villages. Over 5k it really takes off and pulls well up to the red line (even though it only had 300 miles on the clock). A run on a dyno would make it a much nicer bike to ride at slower speeds. Front brake had loads of travel which was a bit of a worry, and shorty levers which I don't like anyway.

I can see why they call it the scalpel, it's light and precise and so well balanced, it feels planted even on cold and sometimes greasy roads.

It needs a flyscreen

I was all prepared to sign on the dotted line for one of these, it seemed like an ideal bike for me and I was hoping it would be a keeper but I was a bit disappointed tbh, a few niggly little things that needed sorting and a session on a dyno on top of the £8.5k purchase price and less than I wanted to px the Brutale so I don't think I'll be joining the orange club...

I forget, which Brutale do you have again?

[Druid]

i forget, which brutale do you have again?

990r

[Weeksy]

Laguna Maidstone have one with 5 miles on for £7800 if that helps?

[Druid]

Laguna Maidstone have one with 5 miles on for £7800 if that helps?

There are a few used ones available for around £7k, ex demo bikes and the like. They would still need the fuelling sorting though, unless the one I rode was particularly bad.

I was still a bit underwhelmed by it to be honest. I've read yours and Tricky's reports and I thought it was just the sort of bike I needed, a B road scratcher with a decent fuel range and a bit of character but I was just left feeling a bit meh. Maybe I need a bit more time to get used to it but I'm not prepared to spend that much money and then take the depreciation hit in 12 months time, so I'll just hang on to the MV, which I have grown to appreciate a lot more over the past year.

Or maybe I'll wait for KTM to do their usual trick and drop their prices by a couple of grand to shift last year's stock

[Weeksy]

There are a few used ones available for around £7k, ex demo bikes and the like. They would still need the fuelling sorting though, unless the one I rode was particularly bad.

I was still a bit underwhelmed by it to be honest. I've read yours and Tricky's reports and I thought it was just the sort of bike I needed, a B road scratcher with a decent fuel range and a bit of character but I was just left feeling a bit meh. Maybe I need a bit more time to get used to it but I'm not prepared to spend that much money and then take the depreciation hit in 12 months time, so I'll just hang on to the MV, which I have grown to appreciate a lot more over the past year.

Or maybe I'll wait for KTM to do their usual trick and drop their prices by a couple of grand to shift last year's stock

I've certainly not noticed any of the ones I've ridden as particularly bad at the lower end, but I don't often do town stuff and having owned many KTMs I don't know if you just get used to it.
Yes, the 950 I had for a couple of weeks was smoother than 790 at that, but not life changing to me.

A couple of dealers were doing £7999 and 0% but there's not loads and loads of 790s lying about so don't think they'll punt them much lower currently.

The depreciation is only a short term thing, the 1290GTs that were £10500 new are now £11500 used! People sold their cheap 390s for more than they paid. It's just a little waiting game there sometimes.

[Yorick]

Laguna Maidstone have one with 5 miles on for £7800 if that helps?

That shop doesn't like me

[icarus1859]

There are a few used ones available for around £7k, ex demo bikes and the like. They would still need the fuelling sorting though, unless the one I rode was particularly bad.

I was still a bit underwhelmed by it to be honest. I've read yours and Tricky's reports and I thought it was just the sort of bike I needed, a B road scratcher with a decent fuel range and a bit of character but I was just left feeling a bit meh. Maybe I need a bit more time to get used to it but I'm not prepared to spend that much money and then take the depreciation hit in 12 months time, so I'll just hang on to the MV, which I have grown to appreciate a lot more over the past year.

Or maybe I'll wait for KTM to do their usual trick and drop their prices by a couple of grand to shift last year's stock

I would imagine if you're riding a Brutale then the KTM has a hard act to follow.

If I start seeing them for silly money I might have a punt, the reviews have me sold that they're a good bike.
I really want the Caballero but I don't know how practical it would be out here.

[Claude]

I would imagine if you're riding a Brutale then the KTM has a hard act to follow.

If I start seeing them for silly money I might have a punt, the reviews have me sold that they're a good bike.
I really want the Caballero but I don't know how practical it would be out here.

You’d get a b3 Brutale for less
Get the 125Bhp version of you don’t trust yourself

[icarus1859]

You’d get a b3 Brutale for less
Get the 125Bhp version of you don’t trust yourself

I’d get the bog standard Dragster if I was going to get another MV.
They’re almost as good as the fancy version except the paint and exhaust.

They have 790’s here but they don’t do demo bikes, so you just have to put your money down and take a chance.
They’re also more expensive here, the European bikes are always more expensive, the Japanese ones are cheap.

[Weeksy]

I’d get the bog standard Dragster if I was going to get another MV.
They’re almost as good as the fancy version except the paint and exhaust.

They have 790’s here but they don’t do demo bikes, so you just have to put your money down and take a chance.
They’re also more expensive here, the European bikes are always more expensive, the Japanese ones are cheap.

It's quite a short list i've seen of people who've not got off the 790 and thought "yeah, love that"... Although i could possibly see you being like Druid and being one of them, but i think that's partly all of our fault as we've talked them up and expectations are high.... Whilst it's a brilliant bike, it's still just a 95bhp twin.