C
onsidering who this is aimed at I was
surprised and rather disappointed that one
basic had been missed – no sump guard!
What’s all that about Kwaka? While I fully
accept and endorse that the bike is not set up
as a rally monster in the next Dakar, I don’t see
KTM losing any sleep on that score but they are
set up for some off road or at least gravel play
right? So stones flicking up at the engine and
pipes exposed like a raw nerve had me
thinking that if I was parting with £7,999 (for
the Grand Tourer) I would be miffed if I then
had to go out and get a guard for my engine. It
is these very little things that can change a
buyer from picking your bike or one right next
to it in the showroom. As I said, I ended up
riding off on a VStrom because all that really
separated them was the front lights at the
time. The bike comes in three basic set ups, the
standard bike comes in at £6749, the Tourer a
£7299 and the Grand Tourer £7999 – all
models come with ABS as standard. Kwaka
have put some thought into the fact that they
are making an exploring touring bike and the
subframe has been given a shot steroids to
carry more weight on tours at the cost of 8kg
but then you do get the extra 5hp to combat
that – perhaps why I never really noticed any
massive change in performance, good effort.
You get a nice new 21 litre tank for more miles
between stops.