The wait is over. If you’ve been holding off on your adventuring plans in anticipation of KTM’s much awaited all-new 390 Adventure, it’s time to write that cheque at last!
At EICMA 2024, KTM has put on an impressive display of motorcycles – as you’d expect – with the new 390 Adventure R being amongst its showstoppers. If you can’t tell already, it looks completely different to the existing model (while also looking more the part now!) and features a 399cc engine from the latest-gen Duke.
Expected to produce 45 bhp (same as in the Duke), what the 390 Adventure crucially must achieve is a balance between on-road finesse and off-road tractability, with the latter being something of a struggle area for the existing model. Of course, with the time KTM has taken to develop the Adventure – and the feedback it must have received from all quarters – the new 390 Adventure has little reason to let you down!
For hardware, the 390 Adventure R features an adjustable USD fork, a 21-inch front wheel, 18-inch rear wheel, dual-sport tyres (tube-type; tubeless rims may be offered as accessories later) and a trellis frame duly painted a bright orange! On the tech front, it now gets a 5-inch TFT screen and is expected, of course, to continue with its entire electronics suite, including traction control, riding modes, bluetooth connectivity and so on.
While the 390 Adventure R displayed seemed to have a bunch of KTM’s Powerparts, we do expect a non-R version, among other variants, to make the Adventure range a family in the same way it exists today.
Prices for the KTM 390 Adventure in India are likely to begin at around the Rs 3.5 lakh (ex-showroom) mark, with the range-topper, likely the Adventure R with special parts, may inch closer to Rs 3.80 lakh. At present, prices for the alloy wheel variant of the 390 Adventure start at Rs 3.4 lakh while the spoke-wheel version starts at Rs 3.63 lakh (all prices, ex-showroom, Mumbai). While a price hike wouldn’t be too out of order, we hope KTM is as aggressive with its pricing as it is with its motorcycles!
