Had a chance to ride a KTM Super Duke GT again today. Got to do about 50 miles on a variety of road conditions.

Went from smooth high speed highway to rough tight twisty mountain roads.

The Super Duke is an amazing bike. Very raw and visceral. Torque like there is no tomorrow. That being said it does have a lot of low fequency vibration below about 4k RPM. Compared to the FZ-10 I rode last month I gotta say I like the FZ's crossplane 4 better than the V-twin. It has just as much power as the KTM but is way smoother and more usable.

Regarding suspension the Super Duke is in another world compared to other sport bikes. Their WP components have found the magic blend of firm and yet plush. My buddies FZ-10 that I rode has very good suspension but lacked the plushness of the KTM.

Riding my little V-650 home from the dealership gave me a fresh opportunity to make a comparison, while the Duke experience was still fresh in my mind. I gotta say I felt zero disappointment back on the V. It is such a comfortable, great handling, fun to ride bike even though it has 100 horse power less than the beast I had just ridden.

Kawasaki truly hit a home run when the designed the V-650.

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I just gave one of those a test ride at Americade and though my time on the bike was very short, about a half hour, I agree with you about the vibrations. It was definitely coarse but I loved the motor and handling. I wouldn't give up my Versys for one of those either but there is a bike I tried that has the Versys comfort and handling and seemingly endless power and sublime handling. If you get a chance try a BMW S1000 XR. You'll also need about $20k to buy one new.

Hey Turk. Our local BMW dealer had a demo day last year and one of the 2 bikes I rode was the XR. Sweet bike. Great handling, very comfortable, super powerful, but I found a vib problem at around 5k RPM. After a 15 minute test ride my hands were numb from the vibs. I have since talked with others that said the same thing. Kinda sad considering it's such a great bike.

I thought that a company like BMW would have discovered this early in their program and done something to fix the problem.

Cheers.

Yea, I've read quite a bit about the vibration issue. Most reviews say it happens around 6k rpm, I noticed it too but it wasn't very strong or bothersome on my ride. Then again, mine was a demo ride and we didn't get many chances for constant high revs.

Back in '11 I went to a Kawasaki demo event and rode many bikes. The Concours experience was damn this tank really splits my legs and this bike is huge! I could see buying this for cross country touring and little did I know at the time that I would be buying one a year later and touring 24 states on it.

When I hopped on the Versys, which was the last ride of the day for me, and kinda an "what else do I ride?" afterthought, it put the biggest smile on my face! I felt like I could jump curbs and wheelie and just be a hooligan on that bike! I had gone to the demo day thinking I would replace my Ninja 650 with the Ninja 1000, but I was disappointed with the '11 Ninja 1000. I bought my Versys a week later.

I bought a 2011 KTM 990 SMT with ABS and only 6300 kilometers on the clock about a month ago. I kept the Versys as it's still a really great bike, but damn does the KTM go. Snatchy as hell throttle and incredibly heavy engine braking, but after a couple of rides you learn to use the clutch. But damn, does the bike feel light. Rides like a much lighter and smaller bike. Looks fantastic as well.