I know I'm in the minority but I really like KTM's, I had a 990 and 1290 super duke, nothing went wrong with them, a full titanium Akra system didn't cost as much as a whole bike (and was a full system!) and great fun. It's such a shame what's happened to them, £16k for a brand new 1390 SDR is a bargain, but the risk of losing so much money is too high. You'd have to be brave (or stupid) to buy a new one at the moment, and there are so few dealers left, soon be none.
I loved my 890R, arguably one of the best bikes for Uk twisty roads fun. I only got rid of it because of the camshaft issue even though mine was fine. If anyone gets a chance of one cheap I would reccommend it.
This is why the smaller bikes are booming at the expense of the larger ones. Less outlay and risk and, if you choose your roads carefully, probably more fun.
Really depends on the individuals pocket/ income and what the bike they are looking at... I'd guess that for many people buying a bike for under £4500 is not hugely expensive. Would under £3000 be fairly cheap? Under £2000 is cheap for sure in my book! This is assuming you get at least two summers fun out of it and probably a grand on ebay afterwards.
The thing with KTM, certainly for me, is that since about 2014 the bikes have been getting better and better, and seem to even be built better. So that’s not an issue for me, I can’t believe they have any more issues than a Aprilia for example. my issue though has been the pricing strategy, they have always done stupid discounting on their bikes, as long as I can remember, close to Christmas you can bet multiple thousands off bikes, which is okay if you want a bike at that point, but trashes all the used values, so it was going to catch them out. I’ve used this example before but I worked for J&S accessories back in 2003, and we obv sold thousands of helmets, most on deals, but we were never allowed to advertise discounts on arai and if we did it was only allowed to be like a £50 store voucher or we took more of other stuff customers were buying, because the logic from the distributor was that if people see Arai’s discounted all the time they will think they can’t be worth the RRP. that logic worked, you’ve never been able to get silly money of Hondas and look at their used prices…. Anyway, sorry for the long rant
Interesting points. But using your example, was it always this way with Hondas? Back in the day -were there never deals available? I don't remember Honda Dream bikes being exempt from sales bargaining, and the resale prices were low. Nowadays as we all know Honda sell 50% of all bikes, but they have worked for a long time in various ways to get there. KTM are by comparison a young company, in their early days of being a worldwide manufacturer.
fair challenge, my mate worked for Reading Honda for around 5 years, circa 2009-2014 ish, there was no discounting going on then, perhaps some accessory packs thrown in, I paid full retail for my CBR600RR in 2009 also, although Honda did take a load of the burgundy fireblade they couldn’t sell and paint them yellow to make a Steve brogan superstock rep! Rather then discount the burgundy ones. I have to keep saying it because why Honda thought burgundy was a good colour for their flagship superbike I’ll never know. I do know that lots of discounting is going on now for Hondas, like fireblades mainly but I guess sign of the times
IF you are going to keep it (I have now had 25 “keepers” ) maybe, if very, very cheap. Thing is warranty is as good as worthless, KTM after sales none existent, KTM recovery (in France) was sub contracted out to chancers, who wanted proof of servicing before recovery…come on three hours at roadside trying to find an invoice on a phone to email them! So many reasons ro avoid them, which heavily outweigh any potential fun imo. When they restructure again (virtually guaranteed, again imo) will parts be available, will they rebrand, losing the KTM name and leaving people even more in the lurch. Me, I would rather have an older used approved BMW or Ducati. They still go wrong, but have a way better understanding of looking after customers. Just about to have a little two day trip on the 1290, probably leave the key “in range” through the night..
Anything other than service spares from ktm is at least a 2 week wait. They do turn up eventually, but any ktms I work on, the owners are pre warned not to have a hissy fit because the season is going past. Surprisingly I had the same problem with Harley Davidson
As i get older i struggle with all the "holding group" stuff and it's advantages etc. From Wikipedia:- KTM is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and motorsports brand that is jointly owned by Indian manufacturer Bajaj Auto (75%) and Austrian manufacturer Pierer Mobility AG but then later on.... :- In September 2021, KTM AG went though a corporate restructuring through a complex share swap deal between Pierer Group and Bajaj Auto Limited. As of November 2023, the apex holding company for KTM in motorcycles and affiliated business was Pierer Industrie AG, which owns 50.1% stake in Pierer Bajaj AG, wherein Bajaj Auto Limited holds the remaining 49.9% stake. Pierer Bajaj AG holds 78.16% stake in Pierer Mobility AG, which in turn holds 100% stake in KTM AG.
So you think that Bajaj will not manage the company well enough to make it successful longer term? Any particular reason for thinking this?
Not without some form of renaming/rebranding, to takeaway liability. Still shit loads of bikes unsold. What is the point of manufacturing more? Their unsold stock weighs them down like a ships anchor. If they cant shift the stock, they are stuck. Are you seeing new reg old models on the road? Nope. I still see big issues. Btw, my bike with around 7000 kilometres, just serviced, battery fully charged…will not start today. Just over 1 year old. Well, I say 1 year, the stock hangs around for so long the battery could be three years old. I now have a permanent extender attached to the main seat release, to access the battery. This, because the seat lock has a tendency to disintegrate when I put the key in. In two minds tbh about fitting the probably required new battery. I need to sell this pos. I cant emphasise enough, dont buy one. This is my third cancelled mini trip on the bike.
I already have one, and its been great -so far... The stock of unsold bikes was 265,000 in December '24. I imagine that number has changed now. I doubt price dumping will happen in the EU/ UK. More likely the "old stock" can be reduced by price dumping it in poorer countries where the buyers are less likely to be looking at long term values and more interested in the prices. Also a great deal of those unsold bikes can be dismantled into parts so thats another way to get rid of stock? No doubt KTM were making far too many bikes relative to their ability to sell them. Possibly far too many models too. I would expect Bajaj to make some significant changes to the operation. I don't expect that to be renaming/rebranding at all. No point buying it for £800,000,000 just to effectively dump it. I do expect that Bajaj thinks they have a good solid plan and expect to be around for sometime to come. You have clearly had a bloody awful time with your bike and it's seemingly endless issues.
Well, which way forward for them in UK and Europe? I dont know. A lot of bikes in warehouses in the wrong part of the world to shift them imo. UK and Western Europe market the way forward has to be huge discounting to shift old models, along with a warranty that ‘customers’ can see, actually means something. That means a form of underwriting by the parent company, something highly visible. On that front, not holding my breath. My position? If there are problems with the bike of a smaller nature, its simpler for me to resolve them than go through the pain of dealing with KTM France. Not even worth me raising the issue of battery longevity.. Next step is trying to offload the bike in a private sale. Trade will not want it, except against a more expensive bike..or another KTM. Erm, that last bit is not happening! Shame, as I believe there is still a market for big V twins, though that part may not be future market for KTM anyway. Also, rattling on a bit here, nothing has really changed with design/build/quality/ELECTRICS. So the same failures will continue.
A few years ago in the UK we had a massive problem with Hotpoint tumble dryers (and their derivatives). It involved literally 1.7 million dryers being replaced free, and the old ones removed. They were replaced -I have one- and the old ones were taken to poorer countries and sold. Terrible that the fire risk simply moved elsewhere, but the operation itself was seemingly fairly straight forward.
It is human nature to think we're all doomed. I'm not a subscriber to the position KTM will be closing their doors. Bajaj is a smart business with super smart leadership; they have had board-level insight into KTM's financial and production status since 2007. They know a lot more than we do, and at a granular level. Bajaj Auto has a £20.69 billion market cap, annual revenue of £4.57 billion for FY2024 (£3.9 billion for FY2023), and sold 4.3 million vehicles in FY2024. They already have a partnership with Triumph, they know the sector, and they know how they're going to reconstruct KTM's success. After taking majority control, they will have had their brightest minds descend on KTM's HQ and factory, will spend 9–12 months coming up with a plan, then kicking off implementing it. Production of most "value lines" will undoubtedly move to India. Premium lines will remain in a much reduced Austrian factory with many non-core components made in India. They will have a 5-year plan, and my money is on them achieving it. The Bajaj CEO is right: high-volume manufacturing is dead in Western Europe.
Saw a deal highlighted in MCN this week. £12k. Apparently represents nearly £6k off…. They look so much better in the flesh (metal). Shame they didn’t take off.
