New spy shots: KTM 390 Adventure rear seat and pillion details spotted

The buzz around any new KTM motorcycle is always surprisingly persistent. But the KTM 390 Adventure is something else altogether. It's been discussion for years and years and KTM's shelving of the initial project, and then reviving it, and now confirming the 390 Adventure has only fuelled the fires. A few days ago, the first near-production spy shots showed a motorcycle that appeared marginally taller than the 390 Duke, with a slightly larger fuel tank, spoke wheels and you could see the tyres and other details. A number of you asked if we could decipher two-up riding and luggage abilities or not. The small- and mid-displacement adventure tourer class of motorcycles is getting going in India with the BMW G 310 GS expected to go on sale within two weeks, followed by the Hero X-Pulse 200 later this year. The Kawasaki Versys X-300 is on sale already but it's a little but expensive.

What we know so far about the KTM 390 Adventure

We do have a detailed breakdown of what is visible on the previous round of spy shots. But in essence, we spotted a new fairing around what looks like the same LED headlight unit as the KTM 390 Adventure. While the bars might be wider and mounted taller, it also looks like the handguards, mirrors, switches and the colour screen from the 390 Duke will find a home on the 390 Adventure as well. The suspension appears to have slightly more travel and the placement of the forks suggest a slightly longer wheelbase and a slightly slower steering, more stable motorcycle. The tyres are 80-20 on-off road pattern tubed units, most likely Metezeler Tourance tyres with a 17-inch rear spoked wheel matched to a 19-inch front spoked wheel. The configurations suggests that the pricing will be close to but higher than the KTM 390 Duke. The engine, of course, is the same 43.5PS 373cc single-cylinder from the KTM 390 Duke. We don't believe KTM will make major updates to this ride-by-wire engine and we expect to see the final drive (front and rear sprockets) to be adjusted to the role of the motorcycle. If KTM is very serious about the off-road ability of the 390 Adventure, it might choose to lower the gearing selection for the first and second gears.

KTM 390 Adventure seats and luggage capability

What the new spy shots show is that while the KTM 390 Adventure won't be massively larger, the pillion in the spyshots seems to be seated comfortably enough with reference to the distance to the rider. Notice the integrated 'grab rail' slots under the rear panels, sort of like how the RC-series sportsbike do it. Both the rider and pillion have comfortable looking seating positions with a milder bend for the rider's legs and a comfortably low placement of the pillion's feet too. Note that the pegs for the rider are clearly visible as a serrated metal peg with a removable rubber top for those not going off-roading. The later spy shots show that there is a fairly large luggage rack that might be optional on the KTM 390 Adventure. In Europe this usually means that the factory will offer a plastic top box and most likely side-mounted luggage as an optional accessory also. We wait to see what becomes the full list of factory accessories in India. Typically, the adventure touring rider tends to add more accessories to the motorcycle than most other genres of motorcycling.

Overall

As we already know, KTM India has confirmed earlier that the KTM 390 Adventure will be launched in India next year but has not confirmed when the motorcycle will arrive. Usually KTM India tends to launch between April and August and that's what we are expecting for the KTM 390 Adventure too.

Also see: KTM 390 Adventure | First Ride Review

Image Source: MoreBikes.co.uk