KTM 950 Supermoto - Impressions
Today was the first day of commuting on the orange beast. Approximately 30 miles in heavy traffic. The commute consists of carpool lane splitting, regular lane splitting and street riding (not more than 20% of the whole commute). And today the beast was unleashed.
First of all - WOW! As I said earlier I could not wipe the smile off my face. Actually when I got off the freeway on my way from the office and stopped at the light I yelled “wow” right in my helmet. Obviously no one heard me. And I know that was a little … (insert adjective of your choice here). But I could not care less. I was in a zone. This was fun.
Now let’s get a bit more technical and less emotional. The bike handles flawlessly. The suspension is a bit too stiff (the previous owner is 6′9″ and weighs 280 lbs). Luckily the bike comes with adjustable suspension. So if the stiffness becomes annoying I can tweak it to my liking. The Brembo brakes are excellent and actually reminded me of the way the Aprilia Tuono’s brake (also Brembo). The Akrapovic slip-ons sound nasty. You are never underpowered on this machine. It feels really fast and is in fact really fast.
As far as commuting goes I reckon supermotards are the best commuting machines. After shuffling through a couple of bikes and demo riding a few more I truly believe that nothing can beat a supermotard in the convenience and the level of fun they provide for your daily commutes. I routinely beat a couple of sport bikes today without even trying to push it too hard. I think Motodisiac was right when he commented on this post “Just wait until you get that orange beast…”
The first impressions of the orange beast were absolutely right on - the bike begs throttle action. There is absolutely no way to steadily ride this bike. I was changing lanes because I could not resist. Normally I would split in between two lanes throughout the whole commute. Not today.
It has been over an hour since I got home and I am still trying to settle down my emotions. I hope all this madness gets flushed out of my system in the next couple of days and I calm down. I am possessed by the beast!