You can’t fight progress

My normal ADV mount is a Suzuki DR650 and it’s done the job well enough. I’ve held firm to the belief that modern multi-cylinder adventure bikes are getting too complex and too heavy. Perhaps it’s time to re-assess after riding the KTM 890 Adventure R.

Complex it is with enough gizmos to give Nikola Tesla a stiffy but they do work. The weight was a surprise too, the 196kg claimed dry weight is less than first glance implies. With the 20L tank sitting low either side of the 889cc parallel twin, the weight doesn’t give a feeling of top heaviness that a conventional tank can.

A riding mate, Geoff Lovie, was available, so a quick route was thrown together from Batemans Bay to Cooma and return that provided a variety of riding conditions. Geoff is also an 890 owner so having him instruct me on all the various optional settings was quicker than trying to study the manual.

My first impression was that it has more, much more, mumbo