2023 KTM 890 SMT released

The first road bike that really made us sit up and take notice of KTM was the original 2005 950 SM supermoto

The wacky Austrian dirtbike maker was a niche operator on the tarmac up until then, but this pile of orange nonsense was a cracker. It had a lovely carburetted 942cc 75° V-twin engine – the first KTM engine that wasn’t a thumping single – borrowed from the KTM 950 Adventure released a couple of years earlier, steel trellis frame, long-travel suspension, and sporty wheels, tyres and brakes. A few years later they bumped up the engine to a 999cc and called it the 990 SM, before adding pannier fittings to make the hilarious 990 SMT. Bonkers, barmy, brilliant for bringing beer home from the shops... it could do it all.

And now KTM has resurrected this legendary moniker with a new SMT for the 2020s. The 2023 890 SMT uses the 889cc 105bhp parallel-twin motor from the 890 Adventure, adding a tweaked supermoto-style chassis to match, together with lower seat, sportier brakes and sticky 17-inch Michelin PowerGP tyres. Just like its ancestor, then.