Demo Riding the KTM 1190 Adventure
Monday, September 30th, 2013
What a great motorcycle this KTM 1190 Adventure is.
As underwhelmed as I was with the latest line-up of Victory motorcycles, I was equally overwhelmed with one KTM, the 1190 Adventure. I rode a Victory Boardwalk and the KTM essentially back to back a week ago and the difference could not have been more pronounced.
The Boardwalk has a very low seat height, which is nice, but the high position of the KTM is not much different from that of my Suzuki V-Strom. Once you get over the need to feel both feet flat on the ground you become perfectly comfortable with taller bikes. I got used to it years ago with my Kawasaki Concours.
What the Adventure has that the Boardwalk totally lacks is pep. The bike is light but the engine is nearly 1200cc and that means fast. A really quick acceleration, light handling, very agile. And boy does it have the brakes to match. This is one of those bikes where if you squeeze the brake lever too hard, too quickly you could end up going over the front bars. That wouldn’t be a good thing, but operated smoothly, the KTM stops right NOW, right HERE!
As with any dual-sport bike–which is what the Adventure is–the seating position is completely upright and the pegs are down quite a bit lower beneath you, which makes for considerable comfort. I’ve been noticing this same thing on my V-Strom, and how when I switch back to the Connie or my Honda CB750 Custom it feels like my knees are almost in my chest.
In fact, I keep mentioning the V-Strom because it and the KTM Adventure are amazingly alike. The look, the feel, and the whole dual-sport design make them very similar. The one big difference, as pointed out by one of the KTM guys, is that the V-Strom doesn’t have 150 horsepower.
Bottom line was that I loved this bike. But I wouldn’t buy it because I do already have the V-Strom and the price for the KTM is about twice that of the Suzuki. The KTM is a wonderful machine, and if those two factors don’t come into play for you I would give this my heartiest recommendation. I loved this bike.
Biker Quote for Today
Ride off into the new year, and resolve to be free. Ride more.
