One of the first things I like to add to any new motorcycle is heavy-duty crash bars and a robust skid plate. I believe it's better to have protection and not need it then need it and not have it. A well protected motorcycle allows me to use it how it was intended, without worrying about inflicting serious damage.

In the case of my KTM 690 I definitely needed some extra armor. It’s a very capable off road machine but a little too vulnerable for my liking. With the china doll like radiator protruding out farther than any other point on the front of the bike and only protected by a thin plastic panel, it was begging to be crushed. As for the stock belly plate it was more for aesthetics than anything else.

The main body of the Touratech skid plate is constructed out of 4mm aluminum with 3mm stainless steel sides that are riveted in place. The pictures on the Touratech website don’t do justice to how substantial this bash plate really is.

It utilizes the same rubber mounts front and rear with supplied extended hardware. It was very simple to install and designed in such a way that you only have to extract two Allen head screws in the front of the plate to remove it entirely from the bike. I am very pleased with the amount of thought that went into this, it makes doing maintenance much easier.

The upper and lower crash bars are constructed of 18mm stainless steel tubing and have a bright electro polished finish. What I like about these crash bars is that they are very streamlined. You have the option of running just the lowers, just the uppers or both. This is convenient if you plan on installing an oversized fuel tank that will not allow for the upper bars.

The install of the crash bars was pretty straight forward but would have been much easier if I was not installing all three Touratech parts at once. The problem being that the skid plate, upper bars and the lower bars all share a central mounting point on the forward frame of the bike.

A long bolt is used to secure all of the pieces through the frame with a series of spacers, washers and a nylock nut on the other end. To get everything lined up and in the right place was quite difficult, to top this off the provided bolt was not long enough!

So after an unplanned trip to the fasteners store I was able to finish the install so quickly I wondered why I had spent so much time fighting it in the first place. Even though Touratech says that these parts fit any model year KTM 690 I believe that they were designed for the earlier 690’s that have a forward frame that is a bit different (and I’m assuming a bit more narrow).

Once everything was properly installed I was very happy with how well the Touratech parts integrated with the lines of the 690, very unobtrusive but robust enough to take the brunt of any fall. Since I added the Touratech parts they have done a great job of protecting my bike. While doing field research on motorcycle lifting techniques I must have dropped the bike twenty times both intentionally and unintentionally with no signs of damage or distress.

With the bike on its side the Touratech bars do a great job of protecting the vulnerable areas of the 690. In combination with the rear luggage rack the body of the bike is almost fully suspended off the ground. Overall I am really happy with this set of functional Touratech protective pieces. Despite the slight fitment issues they have been phenomenal and offer me great piece of mind while riding off road. MSRP: Skid Plate: $206.20, Lower Crash Bars: $156.50, Upper Crash Bars: $156.50 Touratech.com

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