highway speeds

[qwer]

Originally Posted by Clay

.....It's been great, but from my perspective, want something a whole lot lighter. Am I crazy to be thinking about a 690 Duke?

Here I am, another couple of months later too....first to the OP question, even if a bit late: a Duke 690 can be driven all day long at 80 mph. At that speed you're barely over 5000 rpm. It's more the question if your rear and yourself will.

@ Clay: I own a Duke 690 R and the only thing the KTM falls short is stop and go in the City. Also, if you want to travel two up there are better bikes. For everything else I can recommend it. Great fun, light weight, fantastic brakes, great suspension, powerful engine, low fuel consumption etc..
I've bought the KTM Touring Screen for longer trips. It takes away a great deal of wind pressure compared to the tiny stock item. I've done 600 miles/day and was less fatigue than with some "touring" bikes.

[bimduke]

Duke III has enough power for highway speeds, stable (not planted) up to top speed. You can average 80 mph no problem and still have enough juice to speed up when you want to.

But everytime I have to go on the 4 lane straight motorway I hate myself for squaring off that rear tire

2 up riding can be done but only for short trips to the local ice parlour or a quick errand. Long distance travelling is not what they had in mind when KTM designed this bike. It's a big toy for big boys (and tough girls) that just want to have a blast through the narrow twisties.

[tolou]

Originally Posted by bimduke

But everytime I have to go on the 4 lane straight motorway I hate myself for squaring off that rear tire

A bit OT, but are you saying that continous cruising wears the tires significantly? What about either hard breaking or accelerations? Wonder actually which of these are rubbing of the rubber most?

[anzhsb]

Originally Posted by tolou

A bit OT, but are you saying that continous cruising wears the tires significantly? What about either hard breaking or accelerations? Wonder actually which of these are rubbing of the rubber most?

I have a solution for this .. in case you didnt notice my posting on BT023 ...

NT023 should able to give you the kick of BT016r and last for 6k-7k miles

[Roadrogue]

Are you kidding, Anz? I've been killing rear tires at under 3000 miles. Stock tire got 1800, Shinko 005 Advance got 2200, Conti Road Attack got nearly 3k. I just mounted a Pilot Road 3 hoping to get at least 4k and still have some semblance of road stickiness.

I guess the strong, widely spaced power pulses of this bike kill rear tires. My 130 hp, 500 lb. ZRX1200 gets better rear tire mileage on the same roads. The fronts last well.

[anzhsb]

Originally Posted by Roadrogue

Are you kidding, Anz? I've been killing rear tires at under 3000 miles. Stock tire got 1800, Shinko 005 Advance got 2200, Conti Road Attack got nearly 3k. I just mounted a Pilot Road 3 hoping to get at least 4k and still have some semblance of road stickiness.

I guess the strong, widely spaced power pulses of this bike kill rear tires. My 130 hp, 500 lb. ZRX1200 gets better rear tire mileage on the same roads. The fronts last well.

my ex z750 can on BT016 can last for 3k miles without any problem but the duke III with less HP only last for 2.5k miles on BT016 .. I think it was due to 1 piston with high torque .

trust me ! go for BT-023 ! it feel like BT016 but it will last as BT021