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Originally Posted by ku69rd I would like to differ on the better engineered product. Yes for a single cylinder product, it does work well. They have upped the ante. But as an overall product I do not think so.
PS: Am still looking forward for the KTM 690 but I do not think it will ever come |
I think you are mixing engineering with quality here. The KTM engineering in the bike is great. It is the quality churned out by Bajaj that's bad. The great engineering reflects not just in the engine, it is reflected in handling too. Also, I do not know what made you think that the RC does not throttle or brake in a way that a rider wants to. If that was the case, would it have earned the 'best track bike in the segment' title consistently? BTW, rims have cracked in KTMs only with big potholes, they haven't cracked for accelerating/braking hard, at least till now. Again, about the rim cracking, KTM is not the only one, Yamaha too has a history of rim cracking in the initial batches of FZ-16.
I agree with you that you exaggerated the heating part
![Wink](https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/images/smilies/wink.png)
The over heating issue is seen mainly due to fans failing due to poor part quality of Bajaj. The RC stays cool enough if ridden hard on the open road. In fact it stays cooler than when it is crawled in city traffic.
Again quality is important for me too, but I do weigh as to how much more I am paying for how much more increase in quality. That's one of the reasons I'm willing to wait for the BMW K-03. Let's see if they come out with an S300RR with BMW engineering and TVS' quality that is considerably better than Bajaj's.
About the hooligan part, I meant power delivery in the form of an exciting surge as opposed to linear acceleration seen in the parallel twins.
About the 'Regular Liter Class Riders', isn't it obvious that I was talking about people who know stuff? If it was just some poser who doesn't know how many cylinders his bike's engine has, why would I even listen to his opinion in the first place, let alone consider it?
I think you have got the R3's riding posture confused with something else. R3 has a lot less aggressive posture than RC390(which is not at all aggressive in the first place compared to 600 class supersports) and even R15. It has a comfortable riding position similar to (and even more relaxed than) Ninja 300 which is an established tourer in our country. Even Yamaha have acknowledged that they have made the posture suitable for everyday riding. The picture below shows it. Also, I don't see people putting down close to 4L for a 300 just for breakfast rides, when the RC 390's reliability is good enough for that and there are more exciting bikes available for that purpose if the pockets are really deep.
Agree that sales are the real target for a company, but Yamaha does not seem to be aiming to get much of that either, considering the price. If they really wanted good sales, they'd have localized the bike. The Ninja 300 sold just 55 units in June 2015
(Source). Once the diehard Yamaha fans finish up the initial batches, the sales will be divided between R3 and Ninja. I don't see the both of them combined together doing more than 100 units per month. If Kawa cuts the price (like they did for Z800 and killed the Street Triple) or introduces ABS without much increase in price, it would be near death for R3.
Again, I too agree that there are many riders who won't upgrade from their quarter litres. That's the reason why I mentioned in both of my previous posts that this bike is suitable for them the most - those who want to keep it for long and clock a lot of km on it without worrying much about quality.
Okay, the exhaust note is bad. That is agreed by almost everyone including me. But the difference is huge when compared to the sweet note of I4 or grunty note of V2. The parallel twins don't sound exciting in anyway to make it a deal breaker in this case. Also, you can easily eliminate the ape sound with a new exhaust for less than 30% of the premium Yamaha charges.
I too would love to get my hands on a KTM 690. A single cylinder Duke 690 or a V-Twin RC 690 would be superb.
I would also love to own an inline 4 600 class supersport bike someday.