It is! Every time I watch a new video there's like 4k more subscribers. I've been watching since 1000 and knew this was a good channel. I just love motorcycle history.
The Super Enduro video with Chris Birch riding through the Australian bush was previously owned by me. I had that bike for 3 years and regret selling it. My mate has a HP2 which I have ridden quite hard. They are both very desirable but also very different bikes to ride. My take is the HP2 is definitely more exotic but when push comes to shove the 950SE is a superior ride. It just feels like a bloated 500EXC, where to feel comfortable at speed on the HP2 required much more familiarity with the bike. The HP2 required serious suspension upgrades at both ends to compete with the relatively standard 950SE. I would also take the KTM on the reliability side. My mates HP2 has left him stranded numerous times. I would like to own both though.
I've ridden both and raced the 950. The HP2 cockpit and overall feel was just...weird. I think you nailed it: capable, but requiring some time to get used to. The 950 is just a fat dirtbike in the end.
What a fantastic video! As a 950SE owner/rider/racer, it is without a doubt the most insane and least practical bike I own. It's also the bike I'll never, ever sell because it's just so outrageous. More efficiently than any bike I've ever owned, it converts octane to horsepower, noise, erections lasting over 4 hours, and ear-to-ear grins. I'll die with that bike....and probably because of that bike. Also, I could never get it down to below 420lbs/190.9kg in race trim with a SSO exhaust, lithium battery, passenger pegs removed, airbox ripped out, headlight off, etc. I guess if I wanted to spend a fortune on titanium, I could shave another few lbs, but there isn't much more to remove at that point. In the end, you nailed it. The mad science project, engineers-gone-wild aspect is the coolest part of the story.
I owned a KTM 950 Super Enduro for a few years and it truly was a bonkers bike. Rear tires lasted a few months. Typically had multiple gas stops a day. And thank god I'm 193cm or enduro riding would have been even more challenging than it already was with that weight and power. But almost 10 years later I keep going back to it as the most exciting bike I've ever owned.
Any big twin dirt bike under 400 pounds is great in my book. I’ve always been tempted to buy a hp2 enduro when they come up for sale. Great power to weight ratio, not too heavy and low center of gravity make it attractive.
I love this channel!! I've owned both 2 times each. I still have my second HP2 and will never sell this one. I will have another 950SE one of these days. The HP2 is like riding a crazy sofa. The 950SE is just crazy electric chair. Both have tons of character and are not for the faint of heart.
Great video as always! Love watching your channel and content! Keep going! 👍🏻 Maybe you could do a video about the History of the Six Days Enduro in the future?
There's a guy in my local riding group who rides a 950 super enduro, he doesn't take it on every ride but it makes me smile every time I see it. Such a cool bike. The HP2 is cool too. I wonder how they'd sell now that doing ridiculous stuff on big bikes is more popular.
The subjects this channel covers are literally everything I'm always thinking and talking about 😄 What a treasure, finally someone covering this niche. Keep it up man, staying for the ride!!!
I'm really really hoping the 2025 BMW R12gs will be a spiritual successor to the HP2. Unlike the rninet gs, which is a piece of cafe aesthetic garbage.
The R12 GS will also just be the same most likely. BMW would never make themselve compete against the R1300 GS line and risk taking away from it. The R12 GS will most likely just be a visually different bike with no real offroad improvements.
I am happy to finally see HPN mentioned. I ride a HPN Rallyesport myself and love the bike. If you ever need any info about them or need help with translations from German to English, just hit me up!
As always a fantastic story wrapped up in a very high quality video. I really hope that one day this channel will explode (in a good way) and have the millions of subscribers it VERY much deserves. Keep it up bro i love your content 🤝
I currently own an HP2 in Taiwan. It is really a great car. However, in the time and space of 2006, you had to own an R1200GS to buy HP2. Therefore, there are only 4 units left in Taiwan.
I've had both bikes, each for about a year. The HP2E is not even comparable in my opinion. 2 different bikes built for 2 different things. The HP2E worked best on fast soft ground. Sand, or something approximating sand (what we call sand is actually mostly bauxite or similar in a lot of cases). The 950 worked best on fast twin track and twisting dirt roads. The HP2E air shock was brilliant. I got hold of a brand new one and replaced the 80,000kms old one. I couldn't understand why in the world you'd want a conventional shock, right up until I hit my first square edge. Damn...that actually really really hurt. On the HP2E I could hold off a equally competent friend on his 1190 ADV R, at around 140ish KPH on dirt. But he wasn't that far behind. To give some clarity, on my VFR1200X, both of us with electronics turned off (I pulled the ABS pump fuse) and running the same brand and type of tyres (in slightly different sizes) I was pulling 140kph power slides and vanished into the distance. He said he couldn't even see my dust after about 5 mins. On the 950, I was doing the same at 160 or more. I felt much more comfortable on the 950. A couple of points of order...I weighed the HP2E. It had the Touratech tank, and a little rear rack. It was 225kg with fuel. So...even if I removed the tank completely, it still weighed just on 200kg. So the weight numbers I call bullshit on. The KTM was similar, with the standard tanks it was in the mid 220kg mark full of fuel. It didn't have crashbars or pannier racks. With the Safari twin tanks that hold 40 ish litres, it was pretty heavy. Felt much worse than my F800GS, which had an auxiliary Touratech tank (20 litres, which gave me about 36 total - or 950km range...which is just silly). The F800 with extra fuel and a full fuel load with tank bag holding the toolkit etc was 255kg. The HP2E felt far more top heavy than my Honda VFR. The VFR weighs in at 265kg. The HP2E engine centre line was about camshaft height on the VFR. Horsepower wise, the "seat of my pants dyno" on bush tracks says the KTM wins hands down. I honestly thought the BMW was about 95hp tops. I figured the KTM was about 100 even. My Honda makes 112 at the rear wheel. My old F800 made 85. I base my "seat of the pants dyno" results on acceleration against known quantities. The BMW forks, while WP, are cheap 43mm from memory, versus like 49mm on the KTM. They were no where near the same when I stripped them. Different animals. I did several days of riding against 1190 Adv R, just playing. If the terrain is open and flowing, the BMW is my pick. If it's forest and gnarly, I would go the KTM every time. The missing counter shaft in the BMW doesn't so much introduce vibration as it does torque steer. Having grown up with torque steer, and then lived without it for a long while, it took me about 800m and 2 roundabouts to get back in the groove. On and off the throttle to flick through tight roundabouts. Off, On, Off, driving on the left. You don't actually steer at all, just throttle inputs. It counter steers really well. But I have a couple of bikes with desert racer rake and trail. So I'm kind of used to it. Not at all like, say, the F800 which used to push the front wheel everywhere on me. The HP2E was built to win desert races. It does that one thing really well. Anywhere else it was a bit "Meh". The KTM was a hooligan bike. I mean...if I rode it for 8 hours I worked on it for 16...but it flew like shit off a shovel.
bought my 06 690 adventure for 3500 canadian. needed some work, bigger rear sprocket smaller front. barkbusters and skidplate. with over 75000 km on it. 28 liter fuel i believe. i ride it hard enduro with my buddies on their 250 2 strokes. toughest street bike bar none. it is a street bike with knobbies.
ohhh.... my friend you are definitely missing something in your life, big bikes off road are another level, fun if you dare. I loved my Ktm 950 adventure best bike I ever had when it worked but it was 21 yearsvold and there was always something to do in 2023.
I love your videos with the historical insights into the offroad motorcycle industry. Always great storytelling and sublime humour. Thanks a lot and keep going! See you at Dynaric!
Great vid. Thanks. The HP2 is the only BMW I've ever wanted. At the time, it was too expensive for me. Now and again, I'm tempted to find one, but the KTM 890AR is, in reality, better in every respect. I still have two lovely KTM 950 Adventures and an 890AR, so am happy.
ktm also sold it as a 950 super moto witch sold like hot cakes as a hooligan city bike, there's a bunch of them for cheap here in the us. super enduro didn't make sense because ktm also sold the 990 r a more offroad focused adventure.
I agree that the winners were us! I put 45,000 miles on my SE. It was a great adventure bike for the time. Time (age in my case lol) moves on and I went to a 990 Adv, then an 1190 Adv, and I'm now on an 890 Adve. But I cherish my SE ownership. But I must have had a defective one: because try as I might, it never could do the things Birchy could do on his LOL
Brilliant video presentation of an insane era of off-road motorcycles...just like the era of Group C rally cars; built for the most fearless and extremely talented among us to put on a show of brilliant engineering without corporate handbrakes. Bravo! i have subscribed to watch more of your excellent presentations.
This bike has a lot of nostalgia for all of us either riding it or desiring it or both. Sold mine a few years ago after purchasing it, riding it across BC, getting it stuck somewhere near Squamish (had to get a towtruck to pull me out with a couple hundred feet of cable), riding it in single track where I shouldn't have, breaking my leg and ankle in foot deep mud doing stupid stuff, transporting and registering down in the US, futzing with the carbs, finally getting it put together and on the maiden tuned voyage promptly getting a speeding ticket. Just because. Finally sold mine to a local dude that took it to Yellowstone to rally. The smooth fueling is sublime, way better than any FI bike I've ridden. The fuel consumption is amazingly hungry, putting a safari tank on it turns it into a trailer, so you don't and just deal with short distance bursts of glory. The sound, god, that beautiful sound; earplugs are a travesty to this beast. Aerating massive amounts of dirt with the flick of a wrist, this moto could create wheat furrows to feed a small town. Good memories to me to be a small part of moto history.
@@KRANKiT Yes, completely blew past that important point. KTM 950 SE Erzberg. "The cure for common sense" - OWD HP2 also pretty epic... MrBattletwins - Intended Use is definitely a rewatch. Also got me into NTO (Worakls Remix) - Trauma. Had that KTM dual carb on my kitchen counter for a year before I could get time to figure it out. Didn't hurt that I had a 990A and 500 to ride at the time. Now exploring what the Kove 450 Rally can do. Thanks for the content you make, very enjoyable.
I'm sure I'll ruffle a few Beemer feather by saying this; it's laughable that the K-bikes were to compete with the Hayabusa. The K-bikes were called flying bricks for a reason. And when the K-11 and K-12 came out; they were sport-tourers. Great bikes on their own, but certainly nowhere near the Hayabusa.
I really like the way you present your videos! I met a young owner of an HP2 around 2015 and he really loved the bike, I have not seen him since. I have a client that told me he has one, but I have yet to see it. I never realised how rare they are, and likely even more so in my country.
@@reghardtwiehman2346 I can see why... A bit of a shame that a lot of these won't be used for their intended purpose, but I can see how their high values discourage people from taking them out.
I still own 2 of the BMW wild child! The HP2 Enduro and the HP2 Sport. I often get similar responses when I joint group rides, " WTF is that thing"...lol
