Spied! KTM Is Building A Next-Generation 690 Enduro

[advrider]

It looks like big-bore thumpers will continue their run in Europe, with a set of sneaky spy pix running in Motorrad magazine tipping the next generation of the KTM 690 Enduro!

Errr—make that the next generation of the KTM 690 SMC supermoto. But it’s the same thing, basically, and if you see a su-mo in spy pix with 17-inch wheels, you can be fairly certain there’s an offroad-friendly version around the corner, with 21-18 wheelset! That’s how KTM has managed the 690 series for a long, long time.

What tips the next-generation status of this machine? Motorrad notes some minor changes to the outside of the engine, although it is apparently still considered an LC4 powerplant, and it doesn’t look that different from the current machine. The changes could be as simple as a simple bore or stroke change, along with some minor tweaking of the intake, exhaust and fuel injection systems.

Why mess with a good thing? KTM’s current 690 engine has lots of jam. It makes about 75 horsepower at the crank, the most power ever made from a production single-cylinder motorcycle engine, on par with Ducati’s old Supermono race bikes. But just as time and tide wait for no man, emissions standards wait for no machine. The KTM 690’s LC4 motor is Euro 5-legal, but will have to be updated to meet Euro 6 soon. KTM sells a lot of these machines in Europe (it’s basically the only new high-quality big-bore thumper that you can buy over there), so it makes sense to bring it forward. But as emissions updates often reduce horsepower, expect the engine to grow in size to maintain power output.

Maybe when it comes out, it won’t be called the 690 anymore. When KTM canned the 490 project, we started to see chatter about a new parallel twin series carrying the 690 badge. Good grief, Charlie Brown, are the Austrians going to repeat that GS650-naming fiasco that BMW ran a few years back? Hopefully not.

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