KTM longtermers

We just took delivery of our 3 KTM Longer-termers with one major difference over traditional long-term units.

We own them! Yes, in order to truly live with a bike, a few days or even weeks is not sufficient so we negotiated with KTM and voilå, we now have a small commuter, 390 Duke, large road bike, 1290 Super Duke R and an Adventure style bike, the 1290 S.

Off we went to KTM in Kyalami Park to uncrate the bikes and watch the pre-delivery inspections. Many years ago, most bikes came with the front wheel out plus handle bars off etc in the crate and this involved major reassembly prior to adding liquids etc.

Not so in the modern times, the bike come almost complete and strapped with tie-downs ( we took the tie downs as well!) and then the assembly of the units is minimalised.

The most important thing is a pre-delivery inspection is the checking of all major anchor bits and nuts plus safety check on things like fluids including oil. Modern motorcycles, such as the bigger KTMs come with all sorts of electronic gadgetry and option extras wich can be activated at this time or even later, should you wish. Things like anti-wheelie, quick-shift, Blue-tooth (linking to the brilliant KTM MyRide app) plus others are available for activation. No extra hardware necessary!

An interesting fact is that all KTMs are electronically locked at the factory and can only be unlocked at an Authorised Dealer who must have the KTM XC_1 Diagnostic system to activate each unit. This is good because imagine new bikes are stolen etc, in the crate or from a showroom floor, then they won’t work or can be switched off when the bike is connected back on the system.

The extras are loaded via the computer as per the screen below applicable to the selected model.

Starting the bikes up, running them until the engine cooling fan comes on ( to auto tune the electronics for altitude etc) and then you’re good to go.