Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128204
think about what the bike was doing, and as I found out, it was doing a lot of good things. The Adventure is, in fact, quite fun on the road. It feels light and maneuverable and is extremely comfortable, though the seat, keeping in KTM tradition, is a little on the hard side. The bike's modest windscreen made riding in the rain just a little bit more tolerable. As we continued on our journey, it became obvious that my Italian tour guide had become, well, lost. We eventually pulled off to the side of the road to figure things out, and it was then that I realized the Italian I was following was Giovanni Sala, multitime ISDE gold medalist, former World Enduro Champion and current rally racer. With Sala at the helm, I knew we wouldn't be lost for long, and before I knew it we were jamming - and I mean jamming - down the "autobahn," heading back to our hotel. The Adventure had no problems hanging with BMWs (the fourwheeled kind) as we blazed home at times well over 100 mph. For our afternoon off-road loop, I traded the 950 Adventure for the 950 Adventure S. The rain picked up again as we turned off the pavement, where we stopped to shoot some riding photos and where I found the Adventure S to be quite a handful. The tall bike, with its 36.6-inch seat height, is not easy to maneuver in tight quarters; in fact, I almost felt like a beginner trying to turn the bike around on the hilly, mud-slick dirt road we were on. I nearly dropped the bike more than once. But on a bright note, KTM trashed the LC4's nearly useless - unless the ground is perfectly level - center stand for a more useful side stand now found on the LCB. As we rode back and forth for the photographers, word came down the pipe that the off-road loop was going to be canceled because of the rain. At Despite gaining a cylinder, you can still "throw" the Adventure around with relative ease. It's still heavy but far lighter than most of the other bikes in its class. ture (Silver) has slightly less wheel Swinging a leg over the 950 travel than the 950 Adventure S Adventure is an adventure in itself. At (Orange). That's about it. ai, but I'm certainly no horse jockey, either. I found the 950 Adventure to be quite tall - and the 950 Adventure, with its 35.2-inch seat height, is the "short" one! I could sit flat-footed on the bike, but it was a stretch. I was curious to try the 950 Adventure S later on. Our morning all-street ride got under way in the rain. It wasn't long before we rode out of town and started heading up the nearby mountains on some pretty tight and twisty roads. I quickly came to appreciate the 950's supersmooth motor as I rolled on the throttle coming out of the wet turns; I found the KTM's V-twin motor to be much more predictable and confidence-inspiring than most bigbore, single-cylinder on/off-road bikes that I've ridden, and far more powerful. As I became more familiar with the bike, I was able to pick up my speed a bit, but I was no match for the ultrafast Europeans - no doubt road racers - whom I was riding with. And when a police car pulled out in front of me and held me up for a few miles, it wasn't long before I was riding on my own, detached from the rest of the group ahead of me (with no map, mind you). Later on, I hooked up with a couple of other riders, one of whom was an Italian. He was setting a more sedate pace in the rain, which allowed me more time to actually 6 foot 1, I'm not exactly NBA materi(Left) The more powerful Adventure is fun on the pave....ent and probably a lot more fun on dry pavement. (Below) The Le8 motor is compact and light, tipping the scales at 127.6 pounds, according to KTM. KTM also says it pumps out 98 horsepower at 8000 rpm. cue I e n e "" s