VOL. 56 ISSUE 12 MARCH 26, 2019 P83
KTM is claiming a stout 280
miles between fill-ups, but we'll
have to get a 790 R for ourselves
to confirm that claim.
With the mass of the fuel
running down either side of the
engine, it gives the engineers the
freedom to make the tank nar-
rower at the rider's knees that
would otherwise be allowed,
and for the use of a longer seat.
The side panels are made from
injection-molded plastic and are
not painted from the factory, so
if you dump your bike, you won't
worry about scratching the paint.
Under the LED headlight of the
790 Adventure R sits a proper
dirt bike-style high front guard
compared to the more traditional
lower guard seen on the base
790, thus ensuring almost noth-
ing will get snagged between the
wheels and the guard when off-
road riding.
Ergonomics-wise the 790 Ad-
venture R can be altered almost
to your heart's content. When
you buy it from a dealer, it'll come
with a long single-piece rally-style
In all but Rally mode, you can-
not independently vary the Mo-
torcycle Traction Control (MTC)
system intervention. The MTC is
lean-angle sensitive, intervening
when rear wheel slippage falls
outside a specific parameter for a
given lean angle.
Street mode will give you the
most direct throttle response, a
medium level of MTC interven-
tion and lean-angle sensitive/
cornering ABS. Off-Road gives a
slightly softer throttle response,
disengages the anti-wheelie and
lean-angle sensitive ABS on the
rear wheel and provides less TC
intervention to allow you to slide
and drift. Rain mode gives full
MTC and lean-angle sensitive/
cornering intervention, a light
throttle response and reduces
peak power.
The 790 is much
more suited to road
touring but can
handle itself off-road.
seat of 34.6 inches. You can
change this to the base model
790's 32.7-33.5-inch seat if you
wish. The top triple clamp has six
different mounting points for the
handlebar, allowing you to move
positions across 1.2 inches.
The 790 R runs a skid plate as
standard, as well as hand guards
and tank shrouds, although
there's plenty more protection in
the PowerParts catalog.
ELECTRONICS
Like every new bike with a
headlight and license plate these
days, electronics play a massive
role in how the 790 Adventure R
performs. Via the TFT dash, the
790 Adventure R rider gets all the
modes as standard in Street, Off-
Road, Rain and Rally, a first for
any KTM adventure machine.
