The KTM 390 Adventure.
Much of the focus for adventure bikes is engines over 700cc so it's
good to see another mid sized bike available.
As usual, we want to take a more critical
approach.
We will start with the known issues.
The bike made in India and derived from the
390 Duke which has been around since 2013.
There were quite a lot of known issues in
the early years.
But the good news is that most of these were addressed by the time the
adventure model was brought out.
These are not just my comments, but also those from
many riders in other reviews and on various forums.
Vibration.
A reasonable number of riders report their fingers start to tingle due to vibrations
at certain revs.
A change of grips or handlebar mods are easy fixes.
Many owners say the seat is hard and uncomfortable for any distance riding.
It is surprising
given the road-oriented nature of the bike.
The stock exhaust is quite exposed and easily
damaged.
This is common on many bigger adventure bikes, but it is surprising they didn't opt
for a more dirt bike styled exhaust on this smaller bike.
The footpegs tilt forward which many riders find uncomfortable when standing.
This road
oriented feature can be changed with aftermarket pegs.
The weight.
The reported weight is 158kg dry, 172kg fully fuelled.
This is actually heavier
than quite a few bikes at a similar price or engine size.
To counter this, the bike
certainly doesn't feel heavy as it's quite a low bike.
And I'm sure that low price means
some parts are steel instead of alloy.
It's also roughly on par with competitors like
the BMW G310GS and Kawasaki Versys 300.
Speaking of price, some owners complain about
the cheap mirrors, excess use of plastic in the design, and limited adjustment of suspension
and the ABS system.
But considering the price, I don't really think these are valid criticisms.
What do we like?
The price.
It varies from country to country,
but overall it's around the same price as its key competitors.
If you like bling, you get a fair bit for the money with higher end electronics and
basic ABS.
It comes standard with a decent skidplate,
extremely rare on any adventure or dirt bike.
Performance wise the engine works nicely.
Don't expect any massive performance, it has obviously been tuned to last for a long time.
The suspension is fine if you don't try to ride aggressively off road.
Will this bike suit you?
That's a tricky question.
The bike is definitely very road oriented.
It has cast wheels, although this test bike had expensive spoked wheels fitted.
It only
has the 19 inch front wheel up front.
The suspension is comparitively short compared
to most adventure bikes.
And you do feel the weight as the terrain gets rougher.
I know
lots of reviews show rider doing wheelies, power slides and jumps offroad.
But it definitely
feels like an adventurized road bike.
We think it fits on the spectrum roughly here.
This
is not a criticism.
It's an absolute ball of fun on twisty mountain roads.
But if you
like to hit the rougher stuff regularly, we urge you to consider the more dirt-oriented
options.
Feel free to argue about this diagram, but it's just trying to give a rough indication.
Seat height and ergonomics.
For shorter riders, the seat height of 855mm works well.
And is
in the middle of its competitors.
Overall it does feel like a bike set up for shorter
riders.
Riders over six foot or 183cm will progressively feel cramped on the bike.
This
can be helped with a taller seat and bar risers, but physically it is quite a small bike.
I
found standing on the footpegs very uncomfortable.
The footpeg positioning and overall ergos
is also very road oriented.
Even our short test rider found it was slightly awkward to
stand.
No doubt messing around with bars, risers and footpegs will help.
Hopefully you will find this info useful.
It's not an exhaustive review, but aims to
cover a few areas that others don't.
Ridden the KTM 390 Adventure?
Own one?
We are keen to hear your thoughts.