KTM 1190 Adventure
KTM 1190 Adventure
. .KTM already setstandards in the travel segment with the new 1190 Adventure in its first modelyear. Already in 2013, the 1190 Adventure, together with its "R" sister model,has been turned into what is currently the world's safest motorcycle - yet stillwith undiluted riding pleasure. It was the first motorcycle, offering Bosch'snew MSC (Motorcycle Stability Control). MSC enhances the existing packageconsisting of lean-sensitive traction control and ABS featuring a combinedbraking function with a world first: the first ever lean-sensitive corneringABS. As ever, it sets standards in the travel segment: 150 hp with a weight ofonly 230 kg fully tanked combine to produce a power-to-weight ratio previouslyunheard of in this class and therefore delivering unrivalled ride dynamics. Atthe same time, the powerful, economical and cultivated engine enables eitherparticularly relaxed and comfortable riding or, if required, super-sportypropulsion - with every conceivable level in between. The chassis combineslightness with outstanding geometry and fantastic suspension, allow undreamed ofriding pleasure in all conditions and whatever speed you desire, from veryrelaxed to very, very fast.
Features
1190KTM Adventure- LC8 two-cylinderV-engine with dual ignition,electronic engine management system of the latest generation Keihinelectronic injection withdrive-by-wire andslipper clutches- Power: 110 kW/150 hp, Torque:125 Nm, coupons every 15,000km, low fuel consumption- Weight: 230 kgin running order- ABS BOSCH multi-level, multi-level traction control BOSH (MTC),electronically programmable WPsuspension (EDS)- New off-road mode for ABS and MTC- Tubular light chrome-molybdenum steel.- WP sopspensioni Componenitistica of high quality- Spoke wheelswith tubeless tires (120/70-19front, 170/60-17rear)- Footrests, seat height, handlebar position andadjustable windscreen
Review
Talk about playing contrary to type. Here’s KTM, thenotoriously quirky-orange purveyor of world-class dirt bikes and some of themost ardently bad-behavior machines ever made (Mr. Duke, we’re looking yourway), unleashing something, well, unexpected with the 2014 KTM 1190 Adventure.Based on the history of the 950/990 Adventure bikes, which started from a wildidea of competing in the Dakar Rally in 2002, you’d expect KTM would update thatplatform with more modern running gear but keep the same general idea: a trulydirt-ready, big-bore ADV machine.
Uh, no. Instead, what Mattighofen trotted out forjournalists on the sunny Spanish island of Tenerife is nothing less than stiffcompetition for one of our faves, the Ducati Multistrada. Jetlag-fueledhyperbole? Consider what you get: A rollicking 1195cc V-twin pumping out aclaimed 150 horsepower (to the crank), a pair of sticky Continental Trail Attack2 tires wrapped around 19- and 17-inch spoke wheels, and a cromoly steel-tubechassis that helps the 1190 to feel like it drops 100 of its claimed 467 poundsthe instant you start rolling. (That weight is dry, projecting to 500 lbs. withthe tank full.) You were thinking crash bars and a skid plate, maybe? Well,that’ll be for the dirt-directed Adventure R, which debuts a few months afterthe straight Adventure.How close is the new 1190 to the Multistrada? Ducati claims the same peak powerand virtually the same peak torque (92.2 lb.-ft. for the KTM, 91.8 for theDuck). The Multi is, however, lighter and more compact, with 1.2 in. lesswheelbase and a claimed dry weight 44 lbs. lower. Its 17-in. cast wheels welcomesportbike-quality tires. BMW’s new wasserboxer R1200GS is 26 lbs. heavier andspots the KTM 25 bhp.
Those are just numbers. The proof is in the riding.The press launch took place on a widely varying selection of roads from our baseat the Abama resort on the western shore up to the Teide National Park, whose12,198-foot peak is the highest point in Spain. The tone of the ride started atthe first roundabout, where KTM’s global PR manager, Thomas Kuttruf, pitched his1190 over and jetted ahead of island traffic. Okay, then.For the next half hour, we droned along TF-1, the main highway on the island’ssoutheastern shore. Chugging along at 75 mph, the Adventure feels almost serene,the counterbalanced engine spinning just 4000 rpm, thankfully with enough torquethere to pull out and pass a dawdling Bimbo truck with ease. I’d left theadjustable windscreen—much larger than the vestigial shovel blade on the 990Adventure—in the lowest position, and it was fine. There’s a moderate amount ofwind noise, suggesting high velocity, but no turbulence at all; none of theother riders in my group, some 6-foot-plus, reported any head jangling. Enginevibration is muted, though the 75-degree spread between the cylinders imparts aslightly busy engine feel, more like an Aprilia V-twin than the loping Ducati orthe droning flat-twin of the BMW.Soon enough, Kuttruf took my group up along the eastern spine of the Tenerifevolcano—last eruption, 1909—on roads that rival the best passes in mainlandEurope. From second-gear switchbacks to top-of-fourth straights, the 1190Adventure impressed me more with every mile. To start with, that engine. Whileit packs phenomenal midrange grunt, it also pulls strongly to the 10,250-rpmredline. Aggression fades ever so slightly within 750 rpm of maximum, but in thelower gears the Adventure will bash right into the rev limiter. The handsomedashboard includes a prominent shift light whose turn-on points can be adjustedby the rider; my bike’s was set to first show the light at 8000 rpm, and thatwas probably a bit premature. It wasn’t long before I could anticipate the powerpeak and stopped watching the tach altogether. The sound and pure randy torquemade by this engine is totally world class.
KTM started the engine effort fromgood bones. Moving up in displacement, the Adventure gets a thoroughly refinedversion of the 75-degree V-twin last seen in the RC 8. Significantly revisedheads with milder cams and reshaped ports help improve midrange torque, saysKTM, while other improvements such as new pistons and internal tweaks helpreduce friction. The company claims that the 1190 Adventure delivers a 20percent reduction in fuel consumption next to the RC 8. A new “diamond-likecoating” on the finger followers helps KTM extend valve-inspection intervals; onthe 1190, you check them for the first time at 18,641 miles. The dual ignitionfrom the RC 8 remains, using two differently sized spark plugs running onindependent ignition maps to optimize combustion.While the crank and con-rods of the Adventure’s engine carry over from the RC 8,the transmission gets wider ratios and a double-action “grab and slip” clutchprovides effective slipper operation and uses reverse-cut ramps to increaseclamping pressure under power. The result is a smooth-operating driveline andone-finger clutch effort. Revised crankcases are lighter than the RC 8 parts; anew oil sight glass makes checking level much easier.The big news is the adaptation of ride-by-wire fuel injection with integrated,multi-mode traction control. The system has four basic ride modes: Sport,Street, Rain, and Off-Road. Sport and Street bring the same peak power andthrottle response, but the TC thresholds are higher on Sport. Rain and Off-Roadlimit max power to 100 bhp; Rain has the most aggressive TC and intentionallysofter power delivery, while Off-Road enjoys its own TC logic that allowsconsiderable wheel spin before trimming power. KTM also allows you to turn TCoff completely. This TC system watches relative wheel speeds as most do, but italso adds information from a sensor pack that measures (or helps calculate) rolland yaw rates, longitudinal and lateral acceleration, and roll and pitch angles.With all this information, the system can accurately and smoothly modulatethrottle reaction and ultimate thrust according to the predicted amount oftraction available, while also providing protection when it actually senseswheel spin. In other words, it tries to keep you out of trouble before you getthere, and will work to extract you if you’ve managed to go too far.
Heading toward the Teide park, I saw the TC warning light flicker often. That’spartly because the 170mm-wide rear Continental has a fair bit of bike and powerto manage, but also because of the system’s power-moderation schemes. If youwhack open the throttle while leaned over, the engine feels strong but muted. Asbank angle decreases at the corner exit, you can feel more power coming on. Theeffect is noticeable even when you have good traction and the rear wheel isturning no faster than the front; in the most extreme cases, the engine almostseems to bog slightly before the electronics allow the throttle plates to open.Over the 250 miles of riding, I tried all the modes, including Rain andOff-Road. Rain still has good throttle response, and the drop in power isn’t aspronounced as I’d feared; Off-Road allows substantial wheel spin. Of the tworemaining, Sport is the most fun. Street’s TC intervention is a bit tooaggressive, with too-gentle power application when overall traction is good.Sport gives you a bit more rope and feels more seamless. The final mode, Off, isgood for laughs, but there’s no denying the emotional benefit of awell-developed safety blanket.
In the normal scheme of things, big Adventure bikes need a lot of suspensiontravel. The 1190’s axles stroke just 7.5 in. each, virtually the same as the newGS’s and about three quarters of an inch more than the Multistrada’s. KTMfollows the new European paradigm with an optional Electronic Damping System.Much like the basic BMW types, KTM’s EDS allows you to select four levels ofrear-spring preload and three levels of damping adjustments. The system controlsboth compression and rebound damping at both ends. A couple of clever ideashere: First, when you select the Sport engine-mapping mode, the EDS will alsoswitch over to Sport, though you can then separate the two and ride in Sportride mode with Street suspension mode if you want. Second, the damping settingsare different for Comfort, Street, and Sport modes according to the amount ofpreload selected. And also like the BMW system, the Adventure’s damping schedulecan be changed on the fly, but the spring preload can only be adjusted with thebike running but not in motion.In most settings, the 1190’s WP-built suspension feels firm but responsive. Mytest bikes—a gray one the first day, orange the next—came set up on Streetdamping and Solo rear preload, and there the bikes were plush enough to handlesome of the weather-ravaged roads leading up to the Teide. (One, in particular,seemed to have been repaired by tossing sacks of concrete, tarmac, or perhapsweek-old paella out the window and hoping the following cars would finish thework.) After some trial and error, I found the Two-Up load mode gave the beststeering response—quick and low-effort but also very stable—and when combinedwith the Sport damping schedule resulted in a bike that stays level even whenridden hard. If you’re not smooth with front-brake application—like the time Ipulled out to pass only to discover a group of 15 quads coming the oppositedirection and used the Bosch ABS to its fullest—the bike can feel a littlepitchy, but overall the keel feels pretty even. We’re only having thisdiscussion about twisty-road aggression because the Adventure encourages it. Thestyling may say ADV, but the way the Adventure steers (beautifully, accurately),turns in on the brakes (like it was made to), and drives back out (with the tiresquirming) says sportbike.To fill out the list of safety features, the 1190 gets the 9ME Combined-ABSmodule from Bosch, a lightweight system that provides a measure of front-to-rearbrake linking. Moreover, KTM includes an Off-Road mode for the ABS that allowsfull rear-wheel locking, eliminates the front-to-rear combining, and raises theintervention threshold for the front wheel. Hardcore off-road riders willprobably still want to disengage ABS completely, which is possible, but forthose just venturing onto gravel trails, the Off-Road mode might be just theticket.
The one braking quirkall of us at the launch noted is that the front brake lever comes back towardthe bar after prolonged, hard use. One road leading down off the volcano hadquarter-mile straights followed by slow turns, about a hundred of them is what Irecall; by the bottom of the hill, the front lever had come back a good 10mm.Both bikes I rode recovered fully after the system cooled. Otherwise, the brakesare terrific, with just the right amount of linking to stabilize the chassis.KTM had no off-pavement plans for this press launch, which is a shame. The 1190Adventure seems like it would do well on graded roads and gravel paths. In fact,KTM chose the wheel sizes to give owners a choice of intermediate (50/50) orhard-core (mainly dirt) tires. The 120/70-19 front and 170/60-17 rear sizes arethe same as the new BMW, and like the Beemer, don’t need to carry tubes. Thespoke wheels have a seal against the spoke nipples to prevent air escaping.Special mention goes to the Continental Trail Attack 2 K tires, specially madefor this application. They provided amazing grip on both cold and hot roads,good bump compliance, and excellent steering manners. It’s hard to know how longthey’ll last, but after two days of thrashing, they didn’t look abused. And,believe me, we all tried. Partial proof comes from the recorded fuel economy onthe dash: I got the average down below 30 mpg on the second day. Good thing theAdventure has a 6.1-gallon tank; for comparison, the new GS and the Multi bothcarry 5.3 gals.Apart from the brake-lever issue mentioned above, I found just a couple ofplaces where the KTM doesn’t just wow you. A minor complaint is heat radiatedfrom the rear cylinder’s uninsulated exhaust pipe. And then there’s the seat,which seems firm enough and well shaped, but the “3D” foam packs down over thecourse of a day, leaving you perched uncomfortably on the unyielding seat pan. Isuspect KTM really wanted a low seat height for the specifications page andreducing seat foam is one way to get it, but this is too great a price to pay.The rest of the ergonomic picture is delightful, and includes reversiblehandlebar pillars that make a 10mm change in reach plus similarly adjustablefootpeg brackets that move the claw-style (with rubber inserts) pegs to move up10mm and back 10mm from the standard placement.Later this year, KTM will introduce the 1190 Adventure R, a moreoff-road-oriented version with a smaller fairing, 21/18-in. tire sizes (like the990 Adventure), slightly more trail, and a few other updates to make it a betterhalf-road/half-dirt machine.Source Motorcyclist