2012 KTM SMC-R 690 VS 2012 KTM Duke 690
Which bike is better, the 2012 KTM SMC-R 690 or the 2012 KTM Duke 690? It is a question I have been wondering since I first saw the bikes in the Kiska studio last year. It is a question I have been asked more times than I can remember, and it is a question which I can finally answer after riding the Duke for almost 6 months and after a month spent on the SMC-R.
There is a catch though, and this is that the answer really depends on who you are and what you are looking for. To explain that a little better, I have two reviews for you. One from me, and one from my Colleague at Kiska Bjorn Shuster.
PSP:
Riding the SMC-R is perhaps a bit like spending a night with a hot stripper. She makes you feel great and you get a serious buzz, but it also feels a little sketchy at times. It is invigorating and intoxicating, but at the end of it you don’t really mind parting ways. She looks amazing, a little edgy but with some nice aftermarket parts and promises of guaranteed fun, but as an everyday ride, it’s just too much.
She is just so hot and excitable you know it’s going to end in trouble.
The Duke is like finding a gorgeous girl who makes you relax straight away. A girl you would like to spend a lot of quality time with. A girl you could live with every day.
I am writing this after just returning the SMC-R and arriving back home with the Duke (1 hour drive each way), and I can without any doubt at all say I was happy to be back on the Duke. You sit in it, rather than on it. The seat is super comfy, the ergonomics are brilliant and you can grip the tank nicely with your knees.
It feels like it has more power but it is also much smoother, perhaps partly aided by the Akrapovich pipe. Whereas the SMC-R is nervous and jumpy with most of the power up top, the Duke is refined and has an amazing spread of power all the way through the RPM’s. The SMC-R is epic for wheelies, and on the tight and twisties I actually preferred it because you can flick it from side to side so fast.
I live at the foot of the mountains in Salzburg but even so, less than half my time is spent on roads that are really perfect for the SMC-R. The Duke is great on the mountain roads, but is also happy cruising over 100km/h for an extended period of time. Long Journeys on the SMC-R are really not that comfortable. The SMC-R also has no ABS which at times is good, and times bad. Good for fun, but bad for safety.
You can turn the ABS off on the Duke anyway.
So in summary, which bike is better? I am surprised because I come from a background of riding MX and had always thought the SMC-R would be much better, but I genuinely had more fun and felt safer and more comfortable on the Duke. I imagine that it would be a better option for most people, unless you like strippers.
Bjorn Shuster:
I’ve just been handed the keys to the 690 SMCr!!…Having been 2 years since I knocked myself out, and wrote off a 450smr during a amateur supermoto race, one might say I’m seriously under qualified to give any meaningful critique on this bike….Being a yank, it’s exciting to throw a leg over something that’s not available stateside. Walking around the thing, one can’t help but drool over the abundance of anodized metal. It looks the business, you won’t have to spend too much time customizing this one, Ktm’s taken care of the looks, just turn the key and start misbehaving…
First impression is that it’s quiet, I’m missing that nasty bark that upsets your stomach a little and makes you a little uneasy about the machine your about to mount. So if you’re like me and an angry engine turns you on, plan on forking out a little extra for something that sounds off like it’s got a pair ( or a single in this case..)
So I ride out of the parking lot under the pretense that I will behave myself. A. I’m dressed like a squid..B. I’m on roads I don’t know.
C…Its not mine, and who knows if my US license is really even valid over here……oh and D. I’m older and wiser now, or at least a lot slower…..
Well that philosophy lasted about 15 secs…..The bike might be a little heavier, perhaps a bit mellower, than say, a rip snorting 450 smr, but its still very motarded. It won’t take you long before you are acting like a teenager again, doing rolling stoppies, jumping off curbs, wheeling all the way across the Salzach in front of the police…whoops. I could go on and on about how well it handles and brakes and so on…but the real point here is this thing makes you feel like a kid again.
The price of teenage immortality? About 10k, and a few points of your license, if you can manage to keep it
