kTM bangs in a 950cc V-twin and calls it a dirt bike. Funny thing is, it works. Baz Ashenhurst of Dirt Bike Trader mag reports...

Niche marketing is a strange thing and comes in myriad forms. The latest niche to be marketed to us, or at least to some of us, is what is known as the "the big-bore bike for the big event" niche, populated by heavyweight contenders like this KTM 950 Super Enduro and the BMW HP2.

The KTM is powered by a 750 V-twin of 942cc capacity. Fuel delivery is achieved via two 43mm Keihin carburettors - although the 990cc version is fuel injected - and the little grunter breathes through twin pipes exiting canon-style on either side of the seat.

 There are similarities between this bike and the 950 Adventure but they're insignificant. The wheelbase is the same at 1570mm, but the iddy-biddy 13-litre fuel tank on the Super Enduro tells you a lot about why this bike is not an adventure bike. So what is it?

Well, first up, it's big. And I don't mean big, I mean BIG! It's the biggest dirt bike I've ever ridden, and the most difficult to deal with at low speeds where it's cumbersome and has the balance of a pear sitting on a pin. Getting it on and off a bike-stand is a challenge; getting it on and off a badly designed bike-stand is life threatening. Seat height is 920mm but feels twice that. I'm 5' 10", and with the southern extremities of my body barely touching the ground, my northern extremities teetered precariously atop this building of a bike.

And it's not only big, it's heavy. It weighs, according to the spec sheet, "approximately 185kg", but that's either an avoidance manoeuvre - "We don't want you to know what it weighs" - or it weighs differing amounts according to how hard it lands on you.

And there's the other problem with this building of a bike: it's difficult to manhandle, in fact you can't manhandle it because it manhandles you. It's tall, heavy, tippy - a term quad riders use to describe the tendency of some ATVs to fall to one side or the other - and it's intestine-busting to pick up if you're a failed student in the BMW Academy of Bike Lifting.

 In short ( bad pun I know), this is not a small man's bike. If it's in the garage and you want to move it, give the neighbour a slab and ask him to do it.

ON THE ROAD
When I first saw this KTM I didn't know what it was. I didn't get it. Was it a road bike with knobbies or a dirt bike like the GS1200 or the HP2 or the 950 Adventure? I was confused so I went for a ride. I rode from Newcastle to Campbelltown and back. About 180 kays on bitumen. Each way.

And I hated it, so it sure as hell wasn't a 950 Adventure because I loved that. I don't like being un comfortable but here was Gold Label discomfort. With no windscreen, on the way to Campbelltown the wind tried to push me back to Newcastle and my neck and shoulders screamed for mercy ( I have Australia's only screaming shoulders). So it wasn't a GS1200 or an Adventure.

 Then there were the tyres. The knobbies followed any and every crack in the pavement, and when I tried to coerce the bike back to the direction in which I was determined to go, the KTM shook its head like a water buffalo. On bitumen, this 200kph motorcycle is vastly under-tyred, even with a 140/80-18 Rally Raid on the rear and a 90/90-21 up front. I covered 360 kilometres on bitumen that day and couldn't wait to get off the bloody thing. So it wasn't a road bike either.

ON THE DIRT
The next day I was still confused so I went for another ride, this time on the dirt. And a very strange thing happened. The bike I hated on bitumen became something else. It turned. It steered well. It refrained from telling me where to go. It didn't follow unauthorised cracks, and for some reason felt a lot lighter on the dirt. What felt like a behemoth on bitumen was still a big lump, with enough muscle to pull the moon closer to the earth, but it wasn't the clumsy brute it had been the day before, and after the manner of an aircraft carrier was actually quite impressive.

After an hour or of shoving "approximately 185kg" around the place, I was feeling a little more open to the idea of bike this big with an engine this big over knobby tyres. But only if I never had to ride in on bitumen again.

 SO WHAT IS IT THEN?
As clever dick said, this is a big-bore bike for big events. I think it's a big-bore bike for big events with big blokes riding it. In the hands of a world class rider it would be extremely fast, in fact in the Erzberg Rally it demonstrated a level of aggression most of us have only heard about. But you need a huge amount of natural talent to ride a bike like this well. Or you have lots of money, but not so much that you can buy a Ford GT40.

You don't need world class credentials to ride this thing but it does help if you're in the A-League. I'm in the minor leagues so I'll stick with a TM250EN.