Got me a KTM 390 Adventure
You might have seen me writing in the 'what mid sized adventure bike' thread that I was thinking of waiting for the KTM 390 Adv. to arrive. I did and it did. TSS Red baron rung me yesterday (24/03/20) on their last day open before lockdown to say the truck has pulled up and if I can get to the shop this arvo they will set one up to go. Talk about last minute shopping.
Even better I could get today off work and it was a sunny perfect bike day.
Got 500kms under it's belt today. It's a sweet bike. The smallest, weakest bike I've owned in 40 years. Fortunately 43hp is still entertaining though. Until it's run in and we re allowed out to play again I will stick to seal. Just two small plays on some gravel roads today and it seemed easy as.
I sat on the 790 Adventure yesterday and immediately knew I didn't want anything that tall and heavy.
So my first ride impressions are road based. It loves corners. Those Conti whatever dual purpose tyres surprised the hell out of me for lean grip. Talk about smiling ear to ear. The brakes are fantastic. To be honest I couldn't tell if the cornering ABS was kicking in or not but I sure had no worries grabbing some brakes mid corners- just for fun and the fact it doesn't upset the bike at all. Through tight twisties it was damn quick but of course exiting a corner you aren't exactly laying black lines or floating the front wheel in the air (I miss that).
The up quickshifter didn't always work but it's not run in so give it a chance. When it did it was smooth. The downshift worked every time but now I wonder why I need either. The gearbox and clutch are supper light and sweet to use anyway.
The specs if you don't know. 373cc single. 43 hp, 37nm, 158kg dry. 14.5 l tank. traction control (switchable on or off). Cornering ABS with an off road ABS setting.
The rev shift light is set at 6,500rpm for the first 1,000km which became annoying as it starts flashing (very pretty though) at 118kpm. Once I've done the 1,000 I can set it higher. In saying that it cruises really nicely at 105-115 which is where I can see me riding most of the boring straights. Far more legal and stress free than my previous bikes that seem to want to cruise at warp factor xxx.
So for now I am extremely happy with my choice. I even drew up a map (over a beer so obviously not to scale) of gravel roads to explore in the Rapa. This should keep me busy for many weekends.
Happiness is a means of travel, not a destination
Bookmarks