KTM

The middleweight adventure motorcycle segment is already showing signs of capacity creep. Two years after introducing its 790cc adventure machines, KTM has announced 890cc versions offering extra power and grunt. But will there be a weight penalty?

Should the rest of the field be sweating? In only its fourth season at the top level of road racing, Austrian manufacturer KTM has won its first race – with rookie rider Brad Binder also delivering South Africa's first race winner in MotoGP history.

KTM Motorsports is selling two race-prepared 2019 KTM RC16 factory MotoGP bikes in a move that seems certain to attract global attention.

There wouldn't be many motorcycling reprobates who haven't dreamed of testing their mettle in the storied Dakar Rally, piles of navigation instruments teetering atop their dash. Well, KTM's got the bike for you, if your pockets are deep enough.

KTM brought a bumper crop of new goodies out for EICMA 2019, including a capable-looking new 390 Adventure bike, a faster, firmer Duke 890 R to go alongside the "scalpel" Duke 790, and a fresh chassis overhaul for its 1290 Super Duke R flagship.

Adventure motorcycles appeal to the spark of the swashbuckling cross-continental wanderer in all of us, and nothing stokes that fantasy quite like watching an enduro god like Chris Birch spank the daylights out of one in heart-rendingly gorgeous surroundings.

KTM's 790 Adventure bikes already appeared to have the wood over Yamaha's Ténéré 700 in the suspension department, with longer-travel boingers at both ends, but a new limited edition Rally version ups the ante even further when the going gets really tough.

KTM has re-energized its drool-worthy enduro lineup for 2020, with a raft of updated EXC 2-strokes and EXC-F 4-strokes that make use of the company's new "Supertrax" suspension technology.

The middleweight adventure segment is heating up at EICMA - with new entires from Yamaha and BMW joining this pair of new Katos ready to make light(weight) work of the trails. The 790 Adventure and Adventure R will go far and fast over just about any terrain.

To those who have everything, more will be given – and thus the GT, which was already the fastest and craziest touring motorcycle on the market, gets more horsepower, a bidirectional quickshifter, updated electronics and creature comforts, and frankly the best dash we've seen on two wheels to date.

KTM took the unusual step of doing a semi-reveal of its upcoming 790 Adventure R for participants of its European Adventure Rally in Sardinia. Bridging the gap between the enduro class bikes and the liter-plus Adventure machines, the 790 will be a hot ticket in the growing mid-size adventure class.

​KTM is thrusting forth in the realm of motorcycle rider assist technology, with a demonstration of adaptive cruise control and blind spot warnings, two cherries on top of the already enormous electronics suite on the standard 1290 Super Adventure S.