Ridden! KTM 390 Adventure

Everyone has their own slightly different opinion about what it is that defines an adventure motorcycle. For some riders, an adventure simply involves a long slog on the motorway broken up by a couple of tame trails, but for others it means standing on the pegs for hours at a time churning up mud at every opportunity. This trip to the Lake District helped to prove that KTM’s 390 Adventure can do both. Many of you might dismiss bikes at the smaller end of the spectrum. But you shouldn’t. I’m lucky enough to have ridden some of the biggest and best machines of the time (including the other three on this test), and for simple, straightforward, stress-free motorcycling, the KTM stands up.

It’s not some diminutive, little learner bike. The size of the 390 Adventure will make you feel like you are riding a proper ADV – and if you stand it next to a 790 Adventure, there’s not as much in it as you might think. The seat height is a reasonably lofty 855mm, but the suspension has enough sag to make it easy to get your feet on the ground once you’re sat on it. The cockpit is snazzy too, and never does it feel like a budget bike. The TFT dash offers navigation as standard (with the KTM My Ride app).

There’s a bi-directional quickshifter; IMUbased cornering ABS and traction control; an extendable windshield (by up to 40mm); full-sized serrated pegs (with rubber inserts); Continental TKC 70 tyres; and decent-spec WP Apex long-travel suspension. Carried over from the 390 Duke is its liquid-cooled, 373.2cc highcompression motor. It’s the real standout; flexible and free-revving, with plenty of poke to keep up with the ‘big boys’ on the twisties (and on the motorway, too). It might ‘only’ kick out an A2-compliant 43bhp, but it makes surprisingly swift progress up to 70mph, while maintaining momentum and keeping the throttle pinned will get you to 90mph without too much trouble. It’s comfortable, too.

While it’s not the biggest bike in the world, and I can get my feet flat on the floor with room to spare, its adventure bike ergonomics (the tall-ish seat and wide-ish bars) mean that I didn’t feel cramped or experience any discomfort (nor did anyone else), and we did some big, long days in the saddle. There’s ample protection from the screen, though it’s worth noting that you’ll not be able to adjust it on the move. Instead you’ll need an Allen key and a spare couple of minutes to get it set in the best position to suit you. The suspension is fairly soft, which helps to take the edge off any rough sections of Tarmac, while maintaining enough poise to allow you to press on without it bouncing around all over the place.

There is rebound and compression damping adjustment up front and rebound and spring preload adjustment at the rear so you may be able to dial out some of the softness and stiffen things up if you fancied, but I’d probably only do that if I was carrying a pillion or a load of luggage on a regular basis. By KTM’s own admission, its little 390 Adventure is not an out-and-out off-road motorcycle. It’s a roadoriented bike with some pretty light off-road capabilities. That’s not because the Austrian factory doesn’t have the ability to produce something seriously capable in the dirt (we know full well it does), but it’s made a clever decision to make something easygoing and accessible for learner riders and aspiring adventurers. It’ll manage it though… During the trip we rode a wide mix of off-road terrain, but mainly stuck to more wide-open gravel sections.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s no off-road weapon and you’ll certainly struggle to keep up with bigger and ‘better’ bikes that have been built for the job at hand, but it’ll do it. It’s lighter, lower and less powerful than them, which means unexperienced off-roaders will be able to feel more comfortable tackling trickier trails than they would on something bulkier and punchier. The only slight disappointment is the standing position. I’m reasonably tall (standing at 6ft 1”-ish) and I never felt quite comfortable when up on the pegs. I towered over the bike and had to bend my knees more than you should to get into a position where I felt fully in control. It’s a small criticism, but if you’re planning on riding this bike off-road regularly, it’s definitely worth knowing.

What makes the perfect mini-adventurer? To me it’s one that can do it all: cruise effortlessly on motorways; keep you comfortable on crowded city streets; take on the potholed B-roads; get your knee down on twisties; and make you feel at home in the dirt. The 390 Adventure does all that. It may be lacking some adventure essentials (mainly some spoked wheels), but it managed to handle whatever we threw at it on a big trip to the Lakes, and held its own quite comfortably against a selection of much more ‘capable’ and significantly more expensive bikes.

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