SUMMER ESCAPE ON KTM 390 ADVENTURES
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Feature
conditions. And as the first North
American-sold "Adventure" model
to come out of KTM's India-
partner manufacturing facilities, it
impressed him in its capabilities
and resilience. So, he thought
this was a good idea.
I've enjoyed testing the KTM
390 Adventure and even compar-
ing it to other entry level-class dual-
purpose weapons. But I was sur-
prised to be loading up this small
of a bike for this big of country.
The Bike + Route
As I mentioned before, we didn't
really know where we were
going, which is a good place
to start on a ride. But we had a
selection of roads and trails on
the map we wanted to explore.
The hardest part was starting and
slogging up California freeways
and highways for three hours
before we got to the good stuff,
a relatively small price to pay for
what was to come.
The beginning and end of Ad-
venture rides always seem to end
in the same way—going 85 mph
on a freeway leaving or coming
home in a hurry. You never re-
ally want to plan that part of the
ride so it's sort of garbage time.
Here, the KTM 390 Adventure
does not shine the brightest. The
little guy is sure fighting hard, but
to get 200 pounds of man and
riding gear, plus some camping
goods and food, up to highway
passing speeds is a pretty solid
challenge for the little single-
cylinder thumper. It hums along
just fine, but if you're looking for
breakneck semi-truck accelera-
tion, look elsewhere!
What the 390 does extremely
well is cruise at that 70-80 mph
range (depending on road incline
and wind direction). Okay, it's
more like 65-75 mph, but it is
a capable road-blasting ride
here, but that's about where it's
open-road limits are reached.
Those roads are terrible for mo-
torcycling anyway, but they are
unavoidable here.
As soon as we turned west off
of California's Highway 395 and
gained elevation, the bike kept
getting better and better. Smaller
roads, scenic stops, its ability to
go off the main paved path and
Thanks Quinn, I was
wondering what KTM 390
Adventure roost felt like.
