KTM 390 ADVENTURE - THE GAME Changer

Small-Capacity Adventure Bikes Just Got Very Serious.

- Harry Fisher 

There are many motorbikes launched each year, all with great fanfare and stacks of marketing guff, some of it deserved, some of it quite clearly hype. Some ‘bikes create something new and some don’t; I’m not saying that they are no good, rather that they maintain the status quo of the class and don’t push the envelope.

Every now and then, however, a ‘bike comes along that is so obviously ahead of the game that it quite literally changes that game out of all recognition and leaves the competition floundering in its wake. Of course, being second or third or fourth into a market segment does have its advantages in that you can see where the opposition got it wrong (or right, naturally) and act accordingly the pioneers often have a hard time of it. But there are some manufacturers that you just know will get it right no matter when they choose to come to market.

Having said that, sometimes the level of achievement - the leap ahead - takes everyone by surprise and we have to wonder what everyone else has been doing. Ever since BMW launched the very capable G310GS, it was obvious that KTM must respond with an adventure version of their 390 Duke. Given the off-road/ adventure nature of the company, it was surprising that KTM weren’t the first out of the blocks with this model rather than letting Honda and Kawasaki (CRF250 Rally and Versys 300 respectively) and BMW steal a march on them. Indeed, we got the 790 Adventure before the ‘baby’ model.

However, if KTM was letting the 390 Adventure mature before releasing it, we now have to say that this was the best policy, for out of Mattighofen, Austria, has come what will surely be recognised as one of the revelations of motorcycling in 2020.