• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands

March of Progress

April 21, 2015 by Team Bike India Leave a Comment

KTM 690_3_YM_2014_01 web

KTM have revamped their LC4 range this year, with the 690 SMC R supermoto and the dual-purpose 690 Enduro R both getting updated chassis and the dual-spark, ride-by-wire engine that powered the Duke R
last year. To show them off, KTM laid on a “triathlon” near Barcelona

Story: Roland Brown

If any firm knows how to build sporty, light, single-cylinder bikes, it’s surely KTM. The Austrian company was Europe’s biggest bike manufacturer last year (with over 1,23,000 sales, up 15.6 per cent); and its total number of world champions — most on singles — is fast approaching 250, the dominance stretching from Moto3 to the Dakar Rally (KTM singles have won the last 11), via enduro, motocross and supercross.
Street-legal singles powered by the LC4 engine have been an important part of the picture ever since KTM began their road-going range 20 years ago with the original 620 Duke. This year the LC4 range is revamped, with the 690 SMC R supermoto and the dual-purpose 690 Enduro R both getting updated chassis and the dual-spark, ride-by-wire engine that powered the Duke R last year. To show them off, KTM laid on a “triathlon” near Barcelona, comprising road riding on all three models plus kart-track laps on the SMC R and an off-road trek on the Enduro.

KTM_690SMCR_08 web

690 SMC R

Supermoto street singles are hardcore, polarising motorcycles. Most motorcyclists either love the way they provide maximum thrills at relatively sane speeds, or dismiss them for being useless except for tall people riding short distances. The 690 SMC R was already arguably the best of the bunch because it maximises the advantages and minimises the inescapable drawbacks pretty well. With this latest update it does both of those things better than ever.

It’s a classy looking bike, its many neat touches, including the orange-finished chrome molybdenum steel frame tubes, and matching anodised parts, including the fork yokes and wheel rims. The new 690-cc, SOHC liquid-cooled engine is borrowed straight from the Duke, its maximum output of 68 PS at 7,500 revolutions per minute reduced by a single horsepower due to a smaller airbox. The SMC is also updated with new WP suspension at front and rear, and with an ABS brake system that’s fine-tuned for supermoto use, and has an anti-stoppie function as standard.

KTM_690SMCR_17 web

The SMC R isn’t a pure race bike like KTM’s 450 SMR, but it’s a very focused machine with plenty of competition breeding — and it feels pretty serious when you get astride a long, thin and not very comfortable single seat that’s a dizzying 890 mm off the ground. At least the long-travel suspension — there’s 215 mm up front and 250 mm at the rear — compresses enough to allow average height riders to get a foot down. And at just 144 kg wet (without fuel) the KTM is light enough to be manageable as soon as you pull away.

KTM_690SMCR_26 web

It’s also entertainingly quick, helped by that lack of weight plus the punchy engine. That lost single horsepower is more than compensated for by the SMC’s shorter gearing, due to two extra teeth on the rear sprocket. There wasn’t much doing below 3,000 RPM but cracking the ride-by-wire throttle open with five grand showing on the analogue tacho sent the bike leaping forward, its front wheel in the air if given the slightest encouragement with a dip of the clutch lever or front suspension.

bikeonline@nextgenpublishing.net'

Team Bike India – who has written 897 posts on Bike India.


Email • Twitter

Related posts:

Spec Comparo: Vida V2 Pro v Chetak v Rizta Z v VLF Tennis

TVS iQube ST 5.1 kWh Review - The Price of Range

Aprilia Tuono 457 Review - Hardcore Naked

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Filed Under: First Ride, Review Tagged With: 2015, 690, adventure, bike, duke r, enduro, India, KTM, latest, new, off-road, Orange, review, SMC

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


* Copy This Password *

* Type Or Paste Password Here *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

LATEST ISSUE

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

19TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Bharat Mobility Visitor Registration

Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS Review | The Best Street Triple Yet

Ducati Diavel V4 Review | Devil of the Mountain

Royal Enfield Hunter 350 first ride | Aspi Bhathena

SPECIAL Featured Story

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid

Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid Launched

The Yamaha FZ-S Fi Hybrid has been launched at Rs 1.45 lakh (ex-showroom). Yamaha claim that this is India’s first sub-150-cc hybrid motorcycle. 

More about this.

Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025

Recent Posts

  • Spec Comparo: Vida V2 Pro v Chetak v Rizta Z v VLF Tennis
  • Brixton Crossfire 500 XC v Royal Enfield Interceptor Bear 650 Spec Comparo
  • MAY 2025
  • TVS iQube ST 5.1 kWh Review – The Price of Range

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Footer

Latest News

Royal Enfield Hunter 350 Updated

Updated TVS Apache RR 310 Launched

Details of 2025 ARRC TVS Asia One Make Championship Revealed

Indian Supercross Racing League Season 2 Rider Registrations Now Open

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Pulsar NS400Z – CHALA APNI

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2025 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·