- Hi, I'm Eric from RockyMountainATVMC.com
and today we're giving our first impression
of KTM's 1090 Adventure R.
- We're very excited about this bike.
So KTM Austria listened to KTM USA.
They actually hired Quinn Cody to give them some feedback.
The type of riding we have here in the US is a little
different than what they're experiencing over in Europe
and so Quinn was able to give the feedback
saying we need this thing to be stiffer.
So better suspension.
A little lighter, and more off-road capable.
From what we're hearing that's exactly what we've got
but let's go out on the trail.
We'll hit some pavement, we'll hit some big dirt roads.
We'll hit some tight trails.
And we'll find out how it all pans out.
Let's see how this thing really performs.
- First thing on the pavement, of course,
with adventure bikes you've always got
to do a little pavement.
I'm pretty impressed.
On the twisties this thing feels great.
It's got plenty of power, plenty of torque.
The pick up is nice and smooth,
the braking is nice and smooth.
It's got different drive modes,
so there's- right now I am in the street mode.
I've got my street ABS on.
One of the things that KTM did was they took away some
of the electronics when it's compared to the 1190.
So you don't have the quartering ABS
is pretty much it.
And to be honest, I think that's great.
I'm just getting off a Africa Twin DCT
and I could go for a little less electronics.
But different drive modes, so you've got sport, street,
rain and off-road.
And then you've got your ABS off or on
and you've also got your traction control off or on.
There's still plenty of electronics to make this thing run
like you want it to run and act like you want it to act.
The big question for me is how does
this thing feel off-road?
So let's go find out right here.
A little tight for this size of bike.
Oh yeah.
Feels great.
A little water crossing.
Awesome.
That feels like a little dirt bike, nice and smooth.
Alright, a huge dirt bike.
But still very maneuverable.
Alright, let's make a little change here.
Okay, so you do have to be stopped to change the ABS.
But the drive modes, you can change those just by closing
the throttle when you're driving.
Let's see here, so traction control.
We're going to shut that off.
ABS-
we're actually going to go to off-road ABS.
So there we go.
Alright.
We've got traction control off.
ABS in off-road mode.
And that's pretty cool, because off-road ABS
you still have ABS on your front
but you're back tire, you can slide it around.
So if you need to slide around a corner
or if you want to get the back end out,
works awesome.
But you what's funny, this is a huge bike for this
little single track and it feels really good.
Now a typical KTM fashion, it feels really good standing up.
Once you're up over the front end a bit.
The suspension is so good.
Soaking up all the little junk.
Feels up in the stroke.
Doesn't feel all wallowey, but yet it's also
not bottoming out for no reason.
When Quinn Cody was doing his feedback on testing
for the US market, one of the things that he wanted
was that stiffer suspension.
The fork springs went up a full rate.
They also changed the valving so the front
is stiffer overall.
And the back-
Yeah.
The back they actually did a true PDS suspension.
So they're saying it's not going to bottom
as easily.
It's a progressive dampening system.
I rode a bunch of little KTMs with PDS on it
and I know they know what they're doing.
Of course.
So I see no reason why they cannot make it work for this.
And so far there's just none of that,
it's not wallowey at all.
It feels great.
And that's actually what I'm after.
Staying up in the stroke.
Having the suspension able to react.
Stiff enough springs to make that happen.
There's that ABS kicking in, very nice.
Ah.
That off-road mode is doing a good job.
Keeping things nice and controlled.
It's actually a little pedestrian maybe.
Down low.
- [Eric] You know it's going to be interesting to see
when you get all your camping gear on there.
You know what that feels like
because sometimes you add quite a bit in camping gear.
Beautiful, brakes are nice and strong.
Handling is nice and crisp.
Just feels like I can put this where I want it.
It's not riding me, I'm actually in control
and that is what I like on these huge things.
So far it feels great.
- [Eric] Alright, let's talk about this drive
mode a little bit.
- [Eric] We're on a nice big, wide dirt road.
Pretty common to what you're going to be experiencing
with this kind of a bike.
Right now I'm in the off-road mode with the traction
control off so I can feel how that bike's reacting.
To be honest, it's good, it's controllable
but it's just not the response
that I guess that I'm looking for sometimes.
I probably lean towards the more aggressive
side of the scale.
Granted I'm in third gear rolling on.
So you can change the drive modes on the fly
so I'm going to say set.
Go up to street.
Close the throttle, there we go.
So now we're good.
Now we got a whole other map in there.
- [Eric] Yeah, right off the bat it takes off.
Soon as you twist the throttle the bike jumps out
from underneath you a little bit.
I like this one.
- So, let's sum this up.
Got this awesome bike, I can't wait
to spend more time on it.
I'm pretty excited I get to ride it for a while this year.
So on road it does great.
It's a big KTM, it's got all the power it needs
to lope down the highway with all you're camping gear
on it of even a passenger.
And comfortably.
you're not going to be tired before you even get
to where you're going.
And then the part that I'm excited about
is the off-road part.
Anytime that these manufacturers come out with a bike
that's more tuned for off-road,
I love it.
That's right up my alley.
So we're going to get this thing outfitted.
We're going to change some things.
I have already got a list of things in my mind
that this bike could use.
Just after riding it a little bit today.
And we're going to get rolling on it.
So make sure you subscribe and stay tuned
for bike builds coming up and some of our adventures
on this thing.
We'll catch you next time.