Surprise! Photos of the KTM 390 Adventure prototype have surfaced, on Cycle World.
Head on over to CW for the rest of their photos, and you’ll see an adventure machine that appears to be built on a similar platform to the existing KTM 390 Duke, with the same single-cylinder engine, perhaps slightly retuned.
However, this prototype does appear to have a different frame, to handle the rigours of adventure riding. Some of the competition hasn’t taken this approach with their new-for-2016 mini-adventure bikes, but if a bike is going to be beat around off-road, it’s a wise move.
The prototype (assuming it’s genuine) has all the standard ADV bike accoutrements: skid plate, handguards. high front fender, spoked rims, and a large front rim suited to off-road abuse. For on-road comfort, the windshield appears to be adjustable.
Styling is typical angular KTM fare, although it retains the western lines favoured by Team Orange. If you squint hard, you could perhaps see a very superficial resemblance to the made-in-England CCM GP450.
It will be interesting to see how the KTM 390 Adventure stacks up against the rest of the recently-introduced mini-ADV bike competition. The kingpin of that scene is the already-mentioned CCM GP450, which has been on the market for the longest. But, it’s hard to see KTM wanting to bring the 390 in at that price range (well over $10,000 CAD).
Instead, we’d expect the KTM 390 Adventure to hold the same market position as its naked and sport bike counterparts (390 Duke, RC390): priced a little higher than the Japanese competition, but still affordable. With KTM’s RC390 priced at $6,000, we’d expect this machine to come in at that ballpark. Suzuki’s V-Strom 250 will be much cheaper, if it comes to Canada. The Honda CRF250 Rally and Kawasaki Versys 300 will be closer in price, and BMW’s G310 GS will likely be in the same ballpark.
Regardless of pricing, the mini-adventure bike market is now almost complete, with most manufacturers now having one in the pipeline at some point.
Crazy how people asked for small displacement adventure bikes for years and it fell on def ears except from small companies like CCM & CSC. Why does every large manufacture simply copy each other? Is there no one that can think for their own and make unique products anymore? Has the UJM of old simply transformed to a UAB (Universal Adventure Bike)? I like options but this is getting ridiculous. We will get market saturation in no time and I fear for the small companies that actually catered to demands early on. I have very mixed feelings about whats unfolding before us.
That’s the nature of business, risk and reward, timing and marketing, economy of scale, product uniqueness, quality and perceived value.
Andy Wright – CCM did it at the high end and CSC at the low end of the price scale.
The other manufacturers are working to fill the void in the middle.
Time will tell how it all works out.
Finally! Can’t wait!