A Life Of Adventures - Before It's Too Late: KTM 690 Enduro R 2014

So the machine has just drunk its first tank of full and surprise surprise its not close to the 80 mpg claimed by some of the bloggers , writers or KTM.

It used 10.55 Ltrs for 215km. Which is 57 Mpg. The trails were steep rocky and often dragging away in 1st and 2nd. A pretty tough intro for the poor machine

But my riding has been typical of how I would want to use the bike ongoing 50/50, i.e. loads of time off-road and using hardtop to link the dirt sections. I also have been following the running in guidelines and have kept it below 6000 rpm (for the first 1000km)

So unladen and not run in, on typical ground and some riding above 2000m close to 60 mpg is pretty good. However on a long day out, I think the range is short without a refuel.

So what to do? I am looking for 300km between fills minimum.

The rumour mill has long suggested that KTM will make a 690 Adventure with fairings, better lights and crucially a long range tank, but they don,t. and there is no signs they will. So best get on with what we have.

I have looked at many, if not all of the options available and though I would wait a few weeks before looking seriously at after market tanks etc.

Here are the options as I can see them.

Rally Raid UK - Front tanks adding 9.5l in total
Pros - keeps the look of the bike
Cons - very expensive and may never really need the full range provided

Rally Raid UK - Single 4.5l rear tank
Pros - Small and simple to install, would add 100km
Cons - Sits exposed on the rear of the bike - not the cheapest

Safari Tanks - Single 14L Front Tank
Pros - huge range - 26L in total
Cons - Ugly, and heavy, apparently can affect handling more than Rally Raid.

Meca System - 7l Rear Tank
Pros - looks great and a good size
Cons - Can,t find a right hand side version - unknown by UK riders

Fuel Bladders - Desert Fox 5l - http://www.bikegear.co.za/
Pros - Super Cheap
Cons - not legal in the UK

There are quite a few hard plastic tanks, Rotopax http://rotopax.com/ and Fuel Friend for example. www.fuelfriend.de/

I think these are great for adding and emergency 50km but I don,t really think is a permanent solution. So I bought a Desert Fox Bladder from South Africa

When it arrived from South Africa, It was much wider than I thought it was going to be. Shame as it will hang very close to the hot exhaust. Not a great look. So as a full 5L option its not great but with 3L folded in half it will be stiffer and not flop onto the hot pipe, I hope. So its only a temporary solution in limited circumstances.

Time to think again...

Here are some range workings...

215 kilometres = with 10.55 litres
133.50 miles 2.32067 Uk gallons

240km with 12 litres on hard off-road.
340km with 17 litres