With BMW set to soon release a water-cooled boxer-twin R1200GS sometime next month, KTM was quick to jump the gun with their newly developed 1190 Adventure R that will now replace the KTM 990 Adventure R.
It seems that the new 1190 now shares the same heart as the current KTM 1190 RC8 R superbike that’ll dish out about 150bhp at 10,000rpm for the Adventure R’s 230kg kerb weight (wet with 24L of fuel).
The KTM 1190 Adventure R gets an 840mm high seat with a 21″ front wheel and an 18” rear, along with dual 300mm front discs, 265mm rear disc, switchable ABS, dual engine-map settings for on and off-road use, traction control with 2 modes: Sport/Road (full power), Off-road/Rain (power limited to 100 HP) and ride-by-wire.
Seat height will be about 840mm and assumptions are rife that KTM will soon provide a road-going variant with a 1,290cc engine in order stay in/ahead of contention with BMW’s R1200 GS and Ducati’s Multistrada 1200 perhaps by sometime late next year (or so we may think).
KTM’s emphasis has been placed upon the bike’s off-road capabilities; something which the Ducati Multistrada 1200 goes about doing it the other way around. Why you may ask? Simply because of KTM’s Dakar Rally heritage that they build their bike to endure and of course “win win win” one of the most gruelling, dangerous and easily lethal rallies if you don’t know what you’re doing out there in the desert.
