Apr 19, 20202 min
Updated: Apr 20, 2020
KTM’s long-awaited challenger to the lite-adventure class has finally arrived, with the new 390 Adventure set to bring cutting edge technologies to the segment for the first time.
Priced at just shy of $10k at $9,799, the arrival of the 390 Adventure comes some three years after the first of the new wave of lite-adventure class machines landed here. But KTM doesn’t appear to have sat on their hands in that time, with the bike presented to Kiwis packing in the value whilst also outperforming the rest of the class with ease.
Based around the proven 373cc single-cylinder powerplant of the 390 Duke and RC390, the 390 Adventure is KTM’s high-spec answer to the relatively low-spec class where innovation has been sorely lacking until now.
KTM claims peak power is a class-leading 44hp at 9,000rpm and 37Nm at 7,000rpm from the single-cylinder powerplant, with the 390 Adventure the only bike in the class to offer high-end electronic aids such as cornering ABS and traction control.
The other role the 390 Adventure has, unsurprisingly, is to offer an entry point into the KTM Adventure family which until now had no low-cost and LAMS approved option. While some will argue the EXC bikes have filled that role until now, they are expensive by comparison and lack the creature comforts adventure class buyers are looking for.
Included in the spec sheet is a full-colour TFT dash unit, switchable ABS braking, traction control, fly by wire throttle and rider modes, with optional extras including a quickshifter.
But while it is forging new ground in the segment, the 390 Adventure leans on some tried and true KTM DNA to get there.
The chassis is built around a steel trellis frame as we’ve come to expect from KTM’s machines, while suspension comes in the form of a 43mm WP Apex fork up the front with rebound and compression adjustment built-in (no pre-load, however) while the shock is also WP Apex branded with spring pre-load and compression adjustment.
While previously it was noted that the 390 Adventure would not qualify for the sell-out KTM Adventure Rallies held worldwide, KTM’s Australasian marketing manager and Rallye host, Rosie Lalonde confirmed that this is no longer the case.
“The 390 Adventure will be suitable for main routes on the event, not Breakout routes, she says.
“However as part of the KTM Adventure family, we hope it will open a new demographic of riders wishing to partake in the Rallye events.”
The first bikes have already landed in the country, with some dealers receiving the first shipment of bikes in the white colourway while KTM New Zealand has the sure to be popular orange colour option in stock waiting for the lockdown to be lifted before these too will be available in dealers.