This is a collection of experience and incidents, and what I can remember of my misspent youth and thrash through my later years.
The beatings will continue until moral improves.
Preparing the 2010 KTM 990 Adventure R For Sale
The first bit of a walk around the bike:
As expected cleaning up the bike has led to a conundrum. I like this bike. I like it enough to have kept it for eleven years. It still makes me smile. It is relatively simple in terms of today’s sophisticated Adventure bikes. Entirely sorted manually adjustable suspension. Cruise control is via throttle lock. There is no ABS or traction control beyond my brain and my right wrist. Wheelie control is my right foot, right wrist, balance and brain. It is nearing 15 years old. The dash buttons cracked over the winter and I noticed some wiring hardening up. The front spokes are corroded, but have been since I bought the bike. If I keep the 990R, at some point the speedometer is going to fail thanks to the cracked buttons on the dash. The replacement part is $642.17. Then there is the issue of the ignition switch. I’ve changed out the hardened and broken wires to tinned copper marine grade wire, changed the connector to a waterproof connector and cleaned up the contacts inside it. That part is likely a dealer only part. The big ticket item is the hardening wiring harness. That part is around $1,100. And I’d have to perform a major disassembly over several days to remove and replace. I would also lower the bike. That will cost money and time. And I’d need to modify the stands. That would cost as well. I can get wheels re-built semi-locally. I’m not worried about that. But, again it is more money into a nearly 15 year old machine.
On the other side of the equation, the suspension is full sorted, but quite tall, but as noted, nothing money can’t fix. The seat is perfect as is the wind protection. For me at least. I know how to work on it and own the tools I need. I have plenty of spares. I have a factory shop manual and diagnostic set.
When we left off at Part II, I was pretty certain the BMW R1300 GS was the bike. I’m not so sure anymore. I’m not quite back to square one. I’ve added the KTM 1290 Super Adventure R back to my choices.
- My choices are:
- Sell the 990R and quit riding.
- Keep the 990R and keep riding, maybe drop the suspension, maybe not.
- Sell the 990R and buy something else.
- Sell the 990R and buy a Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally. that will cost around $29,995
- Sell the 990R and buy a BMW R1300 GS, that will cost about $28,425
- Sell the 990R and buy a KTM 1290 Super Adventure S. That will cost around $23,308
Added to either purchase would be taxes, license and insurance. I haven’t looked at those costs yet. For either bike I would outfit with Touratech hard luggage racks and a rear rack of some simple design to support my tail bag. The BMW doesn’t have turn by turn navigation interface to the dash. The KTM app is sketchy for this, but looks to have been slowly inching toward improvement. BMW use over the air updates. KTM? The KTM has nearly infinite variations between ride modes, levels of rider aids and suspension settings as well as preset choices. BMW only have presets. At this stage I’d do the heated comfort seats for each. I need to understand the various packages for the KTM and if there are subscription costs. If there is, that is a no. BMW maintenance would be quicker just because access is better. The BMW Navigation mount has a wireless charging smartphone adapter which is also vibration isolating and solves my navigation question. The KTM has similar, but in Quadlock-type design. I’m not certain it is wireless. The BMW fly screen comes in a few different sizes. the stock is far too small, but the next step up seems about right. I’d want to look at the options. It is also electrically adjusted. Where the KTM is manual and once size as far as I can tell. The KTM website is awful.
I have stood beside and looked over the BMW R1300 GS. I like the compact size. I’ll need to ride it. The 1290 SAS I sat on was a used 2019 model and it felt huge. Even with the screen in the lowest position it seemed over my head. My next steps are first finding a 2024 1290 Super Adventure S to see in the flesh and sit on. Answer my questions regarding the various options and confirm a closer ballpark cost. A semi-local Honda shop is holding an open house one afternoon. I plan to stop by and look at the new Africa Twin. I plan to use the morning to run down to a KTM shop that is supposed to have a 1290. See if I can learn a bit more. I’m pretty certain about my ideas of configuration as far as the options go.
KTM 1290 SAS Luggage mounts: $300, Rear rack: $72, heated seats: $220 + $190, Crashbars: $336, The navigation mount: $200, (guess).
BMW R1300 GS Luggage Mounts from Touratech: $400, Alt Rider Rear rack: $240, Upper protection bars that fit to the BMW engine protection bars: $440, Phone adapter for navigation mount: $595.
I like the Trophy too, maybe more than the Triple Black.
Then the problem arises. I stopped at the Ducati dealer and got to talking. The Multistrada V4 Rally is nice and fits.
This bike starts at $29,995. Comes with bags. Don’t need much to add to it. Maybe an adventure rack of some sort to support my tail bag. I don’t know if my Enduro tank bag will work.
It became clear trying to compare these I needed a spreadsheet. I was inspired first by this piece spreading stuff across several pages, I could never see all at once and a review of the YouTube channel, NothingToProve. I added my current 990R as a baseline.
I added the Honda more as a sort of sanity check. The BMW, Ducati and KTM are outfitted pretty much equally. The notes reflect what the differences are. I think the BMW will actually be about $600 or so less because I think that configuration included the ride height option. I doubt I’ll need that. Fuel economy are numbers gleaned from reviews and tests as well as owners all converted to reflect US measures, (engine capacity in Cubic Centimeters). Everything Touratech in the US is on backorder from what I can see on the website. A bridge to cross later. Maintenance for the three I’m considering ranges from familiar to somewhat familiar to near daunting for the Ducati. I have watched maintenance videos for both the Ducati and the BMW. I’ve basically already dealt with the 1290 valves in that the process is the same for it as my current 990, other than digging from the outside in to get to them.
And then my wife and I took off on vacation for two weeks in Japan. Great fun. Gave me time to think once in a while about motorcycles and travel and traveling on motorcycles. BTW, Japan is wonderful. A story for another time.
Before we left, I’d had a buyer who seemed all in. We were to the point of figuring out delivery/pickup and such. I’d sorted the spares into the luggage and it all mostly fit. A fly-buy or me deliver and fly/visit family and back home sort of thing was a possibility. Anyway we had headed off to Japan with the mindset that I was now bikeless. That meant I needed to consider my direction. I was now at a crossroads between choice number one and choice number three. Those long flights gave me plenty of time to contemplate this. And by the time I got home, I was of a mind to just stop riding. Well, mostly. I was still excited about a new bike. Who wouldn’t be? But, which bike? The Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally was where I was.
My reasoning for choosing the Ducati was it was going to do what I wanted, though all the bike would do that. The Ducati though just from sitting on it felt right. I liked it and it was something different from the 50 preceding years of bikes, yet a little similar to the old 1150 GS Adventure in the feel of the seating for me. So, I sort of had a plan. I still needed to do a final once over and fuel pump service before I was willing to complete the sale. Monday morning after arriving home I got a text from the friend who had helped with the sale telling me the buyer had decided not to buy an adventure bike at all. Oddly I was not upset or unhappy or relieved, I was OK. My friend inquired if he could buy the bike and we went back and forth with that for a bit. I finally convinced him, that for his purposes, he should be looking at fresher options. So, now he is looking at for a lightly used late model 1290R. As for me?
I had to get back to creating a “For Sale” post. And finish up the prep work.
So, this 2010 KTM 990 Adventure R is in fact my last motorcycle. I had figured it would be when I bought it 11 years ago. Now, I can say with confidence that is, well my intent. I finished the prep work, created a post, so now, I’m waiting. I will stop riding motorcycles.
Shopping was fun. I learned a good bit. Mostly I confirmed to myself I’d done all I feel like doing with motorcycles. Fifty years.
My bike sold. Then I sold my tire changing equipment. I’ve sorted the old helmets to donate to a ride training school. Old gloves will go as well. Then maybe stack away or send to the storage pod my Adventure Spec riding gear, good gloves, boots and the last helmet. Just in case I want to rent a bike at some point and take a ride.
After the new owner takes delivery of the bike, I have found the replacement. A bicycle.
This is a 2023 Pinarello F7, Di2 at Velo Pasadena, in Pasadena, California. It is expensive, but not as expensive as a dreamlike could get. I already ride my current bicycle a good bit and have been increasing that over the course of the last months. I’m planning even more riding and a new fairly costly bicycle will be a little more of a push in that direction. I’ll have managed to ride 20 days of July, the most I’ve managed so far this year in any month. I plan to ride even more, further and harder. All the cycling though will live on in my monthly cycling posts, with a few of the “Crank Journals”, becoming more about cycling and less about motorcycling. That is where all the motorcycle shopping and muddling over what and where and why has led me. I prefer my bicycle to my motorcycle and I prefer this new bicycle to any other motorcycle. I figure by next year all my motorcycle gear will be gone as well. Look for my “Cycling Outdoors” monthly updates.
Along The Way 