KTM 790 Adventure R Prototype Finally Unveiled

The almost production-ready bike was revealed to 150 off-road fanatics at the European Adventure Rally recently

It’s been over 6 months since we first caught a glimpse of the KTM 790 Adventure R at the EICMA 2017 alongside the 790 Duke. Since then there have been a number of teasers in the form of spy shots of the bike being tested captured the world over. Now though, KTM has officially revealed the 790 Adventure R at the European Adventure Rally held on 20th June.

Location -

This year’s event was hosted in the city of Olbia, which sits on the coast of northeast Sardinia in Italy. From its palm-lined waterfront, traditional restaurants to archaeological museums and incredible offroad adventures, the place has it all. Perfect location to test the on-road and off-road capabilities of the middleweight enduro then?

Stars of the event -

Chris Birch, an eight times New Zealand Enduro champ, triple Roof of Africa winner and 2010 Red Bull Romaniacs laureate, representing KTM, put the 790 Adventure R through its paces. Alongside Chris were 150 off-road fanatics who were the first people to lay their eyes on the near-production-ready bike.

Speaking of the 790 Adventure, the bike has been developed alongside the firm's rally cross bike, the 450RR, which won the last edition of the Dakar Rally. So it’s safe to say the 790 Adventure R is a proper off-roader in every sense of the word.

The bike will be powered by the 799cc parallel-twin engine from the 790 Duke, tuned to deliver a wider spread of torque. While the 790 Duke produces 104PS, we expect the Adventure variant to make about 10PS less, which should be enough juice for the roads and easy to use on the dirt. The adventure bike borrows a similar low-slung fuel tank as the rally bike, which gives it an astonishing range of 400km on a single tank.

The Adventure R employs WP suspension on both ends, with the travel increased to tackle unbeaten paths. The manufacturer says the Adventure R also comes equipped with KTM’s Progressive Damper System (PDS) for the rear shock, carried over from the firm's dirt track heritage. As compared to the widely used Linktype suspension, the PDS setup is very simple and low-maintenance. There are no pivots or bearings to grease. Without linkage, a motorcycle has more ground clearance, which can be an advantage on logs and obstacles, the perfect playground of the Adventure R. A bike with PDS is also about 1.3kg lighter than one with a Linktype suspension.

The bike maybe tall with the long travel suspension, but its low seat height and low-slung fuel tank keep the centre of gravity low, along with adjustable ergonomics to match the rider and the riding situation.

Keeping the bike on the path are 21’’ front and 18” rear spoked wheels wrapped in the knobbiest tyres one could find of off-road duties. As for the braking setup, the four-piston calipers latch onto the twin discs in the front while the rear gets a twin-piston caliper and a single disc. It also gets the option of switchable ABS with presumably other riding modes.

So where does the midsize enduro sit?

The KTM 790 Adventure R is a street bike that will offer some serious “offroad capabilities and unrivalled performance” in its segment. To be specific, this is what KTM PR Manager – Street, Luke Brackenbury, said at the event: “KTM listens to its customers and dealers throughout the world and the demand for a very hardcore, mid-capacity ADVENTURE bike was something that was repeatedly raised. Make no mistake, this new KTM will be the most performance-focused middleweight travel enduro on the market with a spec sheet to rival machines of a much bigger displacement.”