Road-testing the KTM Adventure: It's said that the design brief for KTM's Adventure was to produce the fastest, sportiest, giant trailbike on the planet. To a large extent they have succeeded, writes John Wheeler.
Top speed is 225 km/h (140mph) and 0-100km/h time is 4.07 seconds. Compare with it nearest obvious rival, BMW's R 1200 GS with a top speed of 218 km/h (136 mph) and a 0-100 km/h time of 3.4 seconds.
There is no doubt this is a big, bold, powerful machine with an excellent competition-bred pedigree and a pedigree of a go-anywhere-do-most-anything-you-can-imagine sort. Everything is based on hard-won experience gained in the most gruelling desert rallies.
Not many of our readers will be setting off for a desert rally or an epic world tour, but if you were, this machine, or its sister the Adventure S (with softer, longer travel suspension), would have to be on your short list. Doubtless, along side would be BMW'S R 1200GS or its R 1150 GS Adventure.
The fact that both makers call their bikes Adventure tells you what they expect you to do with it.
Comparisons are odious, according to Shakespeare. Nevertheless they are inevitable, and necessary, especially when shopping in this market sector. KTM claims to have produced the fastest, sportiest, giant trailbike on the planet. BMW would insist its R 1200 GS is simply the best.
So, is one better than the other? First, about the 7 km/h difference between 218 and 225 km/h and the half second between the 0-100km/h times - they're academic, especially when you're desperately trying to maintain traction half way up a sand dune.
The KTM Adventure is well-designed, well-built and feels just right. The v-twin engine is, perhaps, not the smoothest on the market but its power and torque are as much as you could sensibly wish for. Brakes are well up to performance and roadholding is extremely good.
It's not as high-tech as its BMW equivalents. It doesn't offer ABS. It doesn't have fuel injection or shaft drive. Many serious "adventure" riders wouldn't be concerned about the lack of ABS - and a good few would prefer the relative simplicity of a conventional carburettor and chain drive to BMW's more complex and difficult to fix alternatives.
This really bring us down to the question of price: the KTM at €12,500 is €1,900 cheaper. It begins to sound like a case of you get what you pay for and, if you don't want it, you save money.
The KTM Adventure's seat is not, in our view, as comfortable as most riders would expect - it has been improved and lowered by 20mm but is still harder than many long-distance riders would want.
We, at 6ft and 13 stone, found it almost impossible to hike the bike onto the centre-stand . We are told there's a knack in it. Frankly if it needs a knack it must be a very special one - out of hundreds of bikes tested this was the most difficult. And that's without panniers - and an empty topbox.
Laden for the long trip for which this bike was intended, we reckon even two 6ft, 13 stone individuals would be challenged.
For our test we sought out the worst surfaces and conditions we could find, as well as normal roads. On main roads the abundant power and torque and impeccable roadholding made brisk progress and gave utter joy. This bike goes exactly where your eyeballs have preceded it better than any other machine we have ridden.
The brakes, though not in the class of KTM's Super Duke on which we reported last week, are more than adequate. The high-torque engine means that at 125 km/h it's just loafing along at 4,500rpm. It also means that it's snatch free, in 6th gear at 50 km/h.
We liked the substantial engine protection bars fitted to the test machine. We also liked the rugged pillon frames.
Tipping the scales at 198kg, it's a light machine which carries its weight well. It proved to be as pleasant and easy to ride in city traffic, as it was on fast stretches of the open road. It also performed like a thoroughbred away from the tarmac.
In a way, KTM lack some aesthetic sensibility. Its signature colour is a variant of orange normally reserved for agricultural machinery. With some models this is paired with blue. The net result gives the machine a downmarket look.
Thankfully, as with our test machine, it's available in discreet black. But you must accept an orange frame for the LCD screen and similar background for the rev counter.