Most of the motorcycle enthusiasts know how KTM is venturing into middle weight motorcycles using the same platform. First we saw the naked street fighter versions of the Duke 200 and the 390, which was followed by the fully-faired versions. When the announcements were made for these motorcycles, the top official of the Austrian manufacturer also spoke about the adventure version and now, for the first time we have a rendering picture of the 390 Adventure.
The rendering, is quite believable due to the design traits being similar to the big daddy of adventure motorcycles, the KTM 1190 Adventure. It is expected that the 1190 Adventure will soon be replaced by the 1290 Super Adventure. Even after being based on the Duke 390 platform, we can expect the Adventure version to have a completely new chassis to suit its riding nature. The rendering shows the bike has a long suspension travel to take on tough terrain. It will feature off-road tyres that will sit on the spoked wheels and single long seat to make the long rides comfortable. Being an adventure version, the motorcycle will have a larger fuel tank capacity.
Talking about the mechanicals, the 390 Adventure will get the same engine from the naked and super sport siblings, but will be re-tuned to churn out less power but more low-end torque. We can expect the KTM 390 Adventure to debut at the 2014 EICMA at Italy. Just like its other models, the 390 Adventure will be manufactured at Bajaj’s Chakan facility in Pune. Lot of tourers are eagerly waiting for this motorcycle to make its way to India but until then three of my team members including me have to stow away our cheques.