2019 K TM 790 ADVENTURE AND 790 ADVENTURE R
FIRST REVIEW
P78
I
t's time for adventure riders
around the world to join
hands and sing kumbaya,
for the KTM 790 Adventure R
is finally here.
The 790 is the most impor-
tant KTM ADV machine re-
leased in a decade. The 790
R, designed to be all things
to all adventure riders, is a
ground-up new design and
one that has seen a change in
company policy in Mattighofen
away from the arms race of
the big travel ADV bikes that
have dominated the segment
in recent years.
Get on
your bike
and
The 790 Adventure R is part
of a two-pronged attack from
KTM, pairing it with the base
model 790 that's aimed more
at road adventurers than those
who want a hardcore dirt
weapon. We'll cover the base
790 a little later in this article
as we only rode it for an hour
or so in Morocco, whereas we
got a full day on the Adventure
R in and around the mesmer-
izing Merzouga Dunes.
Adventure riding is by far
the hottest ticket in town for
the major motorcycle manu-
facturers, and the bikes that
are seeing the most devel-
opment and publicity in the
segment are midsize like the
KTM 790, BMW's new F 850
GS, Triumph's 800 XCx and
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
One of the
most anticipated
models for 2019
has launched.
This is the KTM
790 Adventure
R. We went to
the Merzouga
Dunes in
Morocco to give
it a thrash.