Thanks for the feedback Bob. I was looking at them today and they seem (to me) to have a much higher build quality than the Japanese bikes. I asked about the price of parts and they told me that brake levers and fork seal use to be expensive and that KTM is now using another supplier who is much more reasonably priced (in line with Japanese prices). Even with that said though, I'm unfortunately not financially in a position right now to justify the price difference, nor do I intend to use the bike for more than just off road pleasure riding. So I have decided to look at a used Yam YZ4245F tomorrow (seem to have pretty good reviews). I've looked at the 250 and 450 in the showrooms, but if this used one is in good shape I think I'll pick it up.
GWN Daren PS. If I was seriously interested in a dual sport however, the L4 Adventure is a beautiful machine, and I imagine that the L8 Adventure will be awesome too. Seems like a better bike than the BMW GS to me for your buck. > -----Original Message----- > From: GTS-1000 Owners List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf > Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: November 22, 2002 9:17 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: KTMs > > > I DO! Imagine that, RSRBOB with an opinion. :) We happen to be a > KTM dealer, > in addition to YAMAHA of course. Anyhow, they are pretty decent > motorcycles, > but compared to Japanese bikes they are very expensive to maintain. For > example, imagine popping $80 for a clutch or brake lever? That is > retail on > them. Sure you might be able to find them on line for less........ but how > much less? I am guessing that is about 4x as expensive as a > Yamaha lever, if > not more. How about fork seals? I don't remember the specific model but I > believe it was a 250 SX, nothing particularly special about the forks, and > the seal repair "kit" which was one seal and one dust seal was > $90 retail per > leg.... As far as reliability, they are pretty dog gone reliable. Nothing > really noticeably less than the Japanese brands. In the Hare > Scrambles, they > are generally a touch faster than the Japanese bikes, cc to cc. They are > maintenance intensive, esp in the four strokes, but equal to the > maintenance > suggested by Yamaha on their racing 4 strokes. One other thing to think > about. KTM USA is a small company. And dealing with it is not as easy as > dealing with someone like Yamaha. Expect it to take longer to get > parts that > have to be ordered, up to two weeks where it takes us 3 days for Yamaha > parts. Also, customer relations does not have the financial resources of a > Big 4 mc company, so don't expect as liberal attitude when it > comes to grey > areas of warranty coverage. You think Yamaha was reluctant on the > ABS issue? > If you liked that, you might love KTM. As for me, they are not worth the > extra money. They are not markedly superior to the Japanese brands and in > some areas lag behind. If you want something that could be perceived as > exotic, it could be for you. > RSRBOB >
