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Which brings me to the bike you see here. This is a KTM 690 SMC, my third Supermoto example, and replaces my aging 2005-year 640 LC4. There’s no doubt it’s a very special machine in its own right, and I intend to use my new toy everyday. But I decided to make this one a little more special since, like my previous KTM, I will also be using it on the racetrack. Not for racing, but for track days. Some might laugh at that, but that’s probably because they have never had the pleasure of riding a KTM.
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My 690 comes as stock with around 68hp and White Power suspensions with every possible adjustment you can think of. At the front there is a 320mm Brembo brake disc, clamped by a Brembo Radial caliper and the absolute best combination you can ask for. It comes with Pirelli Supercorsa tyres, seven different set ups of the ECU, a 690cc single cylinder engine fed by a modern injection system, and a six-speed gearbox comes as standard. Like I said, a very special machine!
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The key to it all is weight: everything has been designed and built in a way to keep the 690 SMC as light as possible. This also means that the agility is much better than any sports bike, despite the compromise to top speed. It is, effectively, a Lotus Super Seven of the motorbike world.
The list of mods is endless. I have gone through every possible combination to add more aggression, more noise, and more personality. The whole exhaust system has been replaced by a full titanium Akrapovic system, which is both 7kg lighter and an awful lot noisier! That required a custom-made re-mapping of the ECU and a different camshaft, and tuning to the fuel injection. When this baby – now weighing 132kg – finally hit the dyno, it registered 74hp at 8100rpm: that’s the equivalent to having 700hp in your Porsche 911 GT3.
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Now some of you might think that is the be all and end all of the changes to my KTM, but you’d be wrong. To save another couple of kilogrammes, I have ordered a new set of Ergal nuts and bolts for the chassis and engine. I’m also expecting a new oil radiator from the USA, which will prove particularly helpful in keeping things cool here in the Middle East.
