FIRST IMPRESSIONS: KTM 390 ADVENTURE
If you were a beginner and wanting to get into Adventure bike riding, you had very limited options of small, road-comfortable, off-road capable machines. The KTM 390 Adventure could be a viable option for you.
Based on the 390 Duke, the 390 Adventure has longer travel suspension, taller seat height, dual-purpose tyres and a different look/feel/design about it. The bike we tried came with a more aggressive rear tyre as the owner is more akin to enduro than the road. Plus actually want to take this bike those places it was semi-designed for…off-road.
The ergos on the 390 Adventure are designed for the smaller rider. But being over 6 foot myself, I found that the cockpit did not seem cramped and I felt I could move freely on the bike without much trouble at all. The weight of the bike is set so low that when you read the specs, telling you a dry weight of 158kg, it seems almost unbelievable!
We don’t do much in the way of road riding around here, but as this is an adventure bike, it was mandatory to head out to risk life and limb for you readers out there. I found a comfort zone at about 90km that didn’t give too much wind in the goggles or noise in the helmet, The ABS brakes worked perfect and the engine noise at about 5500 revs (when cruising at 90km) didn’t seem to much of a struggle on the bike. And you even had a bit more to overtake if you are keen to meet your maker.
Out in the bush, the 390 Adventure was a real blast to ride. It felt well balanced and was easily the most capable ADV bike I have ever ridden off-road. The 373cc engine had more than enough for the hill climbs and never really got away on you. The fly-by-wire throttle was light and smooth and I really enjoyed being bigger than the bike. It gave me the confidence to try more sticky situations. Ones I would shy away from on bigger ADV bikes.
The only downfall initially was the suspension. They seemed great on the road but getting off-road you can soon find the limits of their capability. But it isn’t something that we can really put a black mark through as this bike is not really designed to go over logs and through actual dirt ruts. In fact, no Adventure bike is. That is why Chris Birch puts spec'd suspension on his 790 so he can do all that impressive jumping on his bike. The stock suspension would perform terrible in that kinda stuff. So take that same logic here, the suspension is good for everything that this bike is designed for. But I can’t help but imagine what the 390 Adventure would be like with heavier springs. We may never know?
I really liked this bike, even though it is not designed for me, nor marketed towards me in any way, shape or form. But I like it. Just like I like a 230. It’s a fun bike I could see myself playing on. And after all - having fun is the main goal here.
Plus, at under 10k - it’s a lot of bike.