KTM 250 Adventure: What To Expect?

Here’s what you can expect from the upcoming quarter-litre adventure tourer

We’ve already seen a tonne of spy shots of the KTM 390 Adventure being prepped for India. Now KTM’s known to enter developing markets with a wide range of motorcycles, and more so in India where it offers the mid-displacement 790 Duke at one end and the baby 125 Duke at the other. So it would only make sense to take the same approach with its upcoming adventure range, right? The Austrian brand has already announced announced that it will be bringing the 790 Adventure to India. And now, our good friends at PowerDrift have captured images of the 250 Adventure undergoing tests on Indian soil. Without further ado, here’s what you can expect from the upcoming quarter-litre adventure tourer.  

Smallest adventure offering from KTM:
It’s pretty much written in stone that KTM will be bringing the 390 Adventure and 790 Adventure to India. While the 790 will position itself at the higher end of the pecking order, the 250 could sit right at the bottom, leaving enough space for the 390 Adventure to thrive. It’s highly unlikely that KTM will downsize any further than the 250 Adventure as 200 Adventure or 125 Adventure will be significantly more expensive than their Duke counterparts. And we all know how price sensitive our market is.

Also Read: New BS6-compliant KTM RC 390 Spotted Testing

Minor design tweaks & more features:
To cut down on costs, the KTM 250 Adventure makes do with a halogen headlamp instead of the full-LED headlight seen on the 390 Adventure. Having said that, the bike compensates for the downgrade by featuring a full-digital TFT instrument console that’s likely to get the same features as the 390 Duke. Both the 390 Adventure as well as the 250 Adventure could also get navigation assist as well.   

It will be powered by the 250 Duke’s engine, but..
While the 250 Adventure is expected to be powered by the same 248.8cc single-cylinder liquid-cooled engine that’s seen on the 250 Duke, it’s likely to be BS6-compliant. Those with a keen eye would have already spotted the revised upswept exhaust with a larger cat-con. While there’s no information on how much power the updated motor produces, we hope KTM tweaks the engine for better low- and mid-range grunt to suit the character of an adventure bike. In its current state of tune, the 250 Duke makes 29.91PS of power and 24Nm of torque, all of which is produced higher up the rev-range.

Also Read: BS6-compliant KTM 200 Duke In The Works

Could feature lower-spec mechanicals:
Long travel suspension is a given considering its adventure DNA. However, the bike seems to miss out on an adjustable front fork, a feature that was seen on the 390 Adventure test mule. A lower-spec suspension would essentially enable the brand to price the bike competitively. Fortunately, the bike retains its 19-inch front and 17-inch rear wheel configuration wrapped in dual-purpose tyres like the 390 Adventure. You also get dual-channel ABS as standard and it could also get the option of a switchable off-road mode to kill intervention on the rear wheel.

Will be more affordable than 390 ADV:
Considering the aforementioned changes, we expect KTM to price the bike around the Rs 2.5 lakh mark, making it the most affordable adventure bike from the manufacturer in India. It’s the perfect option for enthusiasts on a budget aching to hop onto the KTM bandwagon, the adventure side to be specific.