2023 KTM 390 Adventure takes the shape of a Dakar rally motorcycle and 390 Enduro comes close to a motocross motorcycle
KTM is widely popular in India for offering explosive performance. The Austrian firm’s Duke, RC and Adventure series of motorcycles have been very well received. Currently, It is 390 Adventure which is the company’s flagship. It offers decent trail ability and excellent high-speed touring ability.
A new generation of 390 Adventure is long overdue. There were multiple speculations of an R version of 390 Adventure in India and we also saw a few aftermarket rally kits from Turtletechx which boosted its off-road ability. For MY2022, KTM gave riding modes and then offered these same modes for older vehicles for free as well.
New-gen 390 Adventure has been spotted before. What if we told you that there are two variations of 2023 KTM 390 Adventure? You heard it right. KTM seems to be prepping two versions of its upcoming 390 Adventure platform. Let’s take a look.
2023 KTM 390 Adventure
One is designed more like a rally motorcycle that is ready to hit the desert and the other is styled like an enduro motorcycle with minimal body panels. These are likely to be called 390 Adventure and 390 Enduro.
Right off the bat, both motorcycles are pretty much identical when it comes to their frame, engine, fuel tank, subframe and everything. Even the minimal fairing, knuckle guards, mirrors, rear subframe, taillights, boomerang-shaped aluminium swingarm and front beak are shared between the two.
Differences lie in seating position as 390 Adventure gets high-set handlebars and on top of it, gets a tall front windshield that makes it visually larger than 390 Enduro. 390 Enduro looks petite, composed and a lot more sporty and comes close to a motocross motorcycle. While 390 Adventure is designed with touring and rallying in mind.
Aiding rally excursions on 390 Adventure, we have a tall windscreen, a high-set TFT screen that aids visibility when standing and riding, vertically stacked projector headlights, and a beefy engine bash plate. 390 Enduro misses out on this bash plate. Both of them get the same underbelly exhaust though.
Specs & Features
Both 2023 KTM 390 Adventure and 390 Enduro offer slightly rear-set footpegs and an upright posture. 390 Adventure has a taller-set handlebar that should help while standing and cruising. KTM has switched to spoked wheels with 2023 KTM 390 Adventure as opposed to alloy wheels on outgoing model.
Wheel size seems to be 21” at front and 17” or 18” at the rear on both motorcycles. USD forks by WP seems to offer decent travel. Features like ride-by-wire, slipper clutch, liquid cooling are already on offer. Cruise control would make a world of difference on 390 Adventure owing to its cruising credentials.
Currently, the 373 cc mill makes 42.3 bhp at 9000 RPM and 37 Nm of torque at 7000 RPM. A slight bump in power figures is likely to be a possibility. A launch timeline is not yet revealed. That said, one can expect these machines to hit the road by the end of 2023. When launched, 2023 KTM 390 Adventure will rival BMW G310 GS, upcoming Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 and 390 Enduro will rival upcoming Royal Enfield Scram 450.
Source
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
