3 reasons why KTM 390 Adventure gives spoke wheels a miss

KTM India launched the much awaited 390 Adventure this week. It’s been priced at Rs 2.99 lakhs (ex-showroom) and comes with a host of first-in-class features. But being an ADV, it missed an important feature –spoke wheels and that disappointed a few of us. We recently spent some time with KTM officials and this is what we found out.  

1: Too expensive

KTM is a modern company and it makes some modern bikes. That’s clear from the kind of features they have equipped the 390 Adventure with. So it was obvious that the Austrian maker would launch the bike with tubeless tyres. However, if it had to launch the bike with spoke wheels, then we wouldn’t have seen this competitive pricing. Spoke wheels with tubeless tyres are an expensive affair and the folks at Bajaj wanted to stay away from it.  

2: Market Feedback

All motorcycles that are developed around the world are based on market research and feedback. And with the 390 Adventure, the company found out the exact needs of the adventure and touring communities. The study revealed that there’s a very limited number of riders who would explore the full potential of the 390 Adventure off-road. So it didn’t make sense to cater to these buyers, as with the alloy wheels version, it could cater to a larger audience. Plus, the alloy wheels have been developed to take a lot of off-road abuse.  

3: To make room for 490 Adventure

The world knows there’s a new KTM 500cc parallel-twin platform in the making. A brand new adventure bike will be developed using this new platform, and that would target a new set of buyers. So it’s obvious that KTM would want to keep a few things exclusive to this new ADV. Due to its product positioning, KTM India could equip the 490 ADV with spoke wheels and will also get some space to demand a premium for it.