Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1536769
P112 COMPARISON I MIDDLEWEIGHT NAKED-BIKE SHOOTOUT The motor begins to run out of steam if you really begin to search for the top end of the rev range, but that's only when speeds really start going north. For the rest of the time, the KTM has an abundance of perfor - mance that will satisfy 90 percent of the riding you'll do. The 990 does not come stan - dard with a quickshifter, nor does it come with cruise control. These are add-ons via the $1027 Tech Pack, which also gives you ac - cess to KTM's Motor Slip Regula- tion (MSR—which works with the slipper clutch by slightly open- ing the throttle bodies on heavy deceleration to reduce engine braking and stop the rear wheel from locking up) and the Adaptive Brake Light that flashes when you slam on the brakes to warn driv - ers behind. The absolutely necessary (in our books) Tech Pack pushes the MSRP to $13,526.99, making the KTM the most expensive of the lot, but only by a touch over the Triumph. The more dirt-focused riders in our test didn't like the KTM's stiff, race-style quickshifter. Ryan and Nathon found it notchy, a com - plaint Brandon also echoed. For me, I liked the directness of the short-throw gearshift, but you had to make decisive gear changes with the throttle open. You can't be lazy on the KTM, and it doesn't shift gears as easily as the Ya - maha at low revs. The Ready to Race moniker that KTM so proudly proclaims even extends to its gearboxes, seemingly. The chassis is graced with WP's simplified suspension settings, which feature only five clicks of compression and rebound from fully open to fully closed, so that gives each step a meaningful im - pact on performance. Simplifying the often-bewildering suspension equation is a plus for the KTM, es - pecially as none of the bikes here come with electronically adjustable suspension. The looks are no doubt polar - izing. I'm not a fan of the Predator- looking headlight, and neither is Nathon. "It's the ugliest of the lot, by far," he said, but the performance outweighs the looks substantially. Another plus for the KTM is they've done well to package all the settings in the dash and make them easy enough to navigate to. Not having cruise control and a quickshifter as standard is a bummer, though, but it won't be a deal-breaker if you've got your heart set on the orange beast.