In line with our earlier report, KTM has just confirmed that the 390 Adventure will reach India by 2019. The new baby Adventure will be the next addition to the 390 line-up, and will also be the first model from KTM’s formidable Adventure range to come to India.
A prototype was spotted testing as early as 2016, and from the spy pictures, we can tell that this bike will feature – at least as optional extras or on a more off-road-oriented variant – wire spoke wheels (19-inch front, 17-inch rear), a tall front screen and a high-mounted exhaust canister. The Adventure will also feature longer travel suspension and a high-mounted beak-like front fender.
While the engine will be the same 373cc unit seen on the Duke and RC models, it is likely to be in a different state of tune, and could feature different gear ratios or at least different sprocket sizes. The company may use the 390 Duke frame as a baseline, but we expect the Adventure model to get a significantly different version that will suit its intended role better.
The timing of this announcement couldn’t have been better as KTM hasn’t been in the news for a while in the small capacity segment. It also comes just before BMW is set to finally launch the G 310R and G 310 GS in India. In addition to the baby GS, the Adventure will also go up against the Kawasaki Versys X-300 and the Royal Enfield Himalayan when it arrives.
Expect to see a production-ready prototype of the 390 Adventure at the Intermot (October) or EICMA (November) shows later this year.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
