KTM North America is recalling 3,707 motorcycles from the KTM 790 Adventure family because of an issue arising from the front brake’s master cylinder.
If you are one of the lucky few who have managed to put a KTM 790 Adventure or KTM Adventure R in your garage, well today’s news won’t sound quite as lucky. This is because the Austrian brand is recalling these models for an issue with the rear braking system.
The issue stems from the fact that the rear brake hose can overheat during hard use, which can lead to the brakes failing. This is obviously a safety hazard, hence the recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In total, 3,164 units are involved in this recall.
The middleweight adventure-touring segment is hot right now, with a bevy of brands bringing new machines to market right now.
Leading that charge has been KTM, with the company finally releasing its two-pronged ADV attack with the KTM 790 Adventure and KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycles.
Packed with features, and touted to have high-performance, we knew the KTM was going to get aggressive on the pricing of its 790 models, and now we know how aggressive those price tags will be in the USA.
With pricing leaked on the KTM Twins forum, we can see that the KTM 790 Adventure will cost $12,499 MSRP, while the KTM 790 Adventure R will come in at $13,499 MSRP.
After a year of waiting, we finally see the production version of the 2019 KTM 790 Adventure and the 2019 KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycles. Two flavors of ADV bike, the 790 Adventure series is KTM’s way of owning the dual-sport space.
In addition to the revised KTM 690 Enduro R for the 2019 model year, KTM has created a path from 250cc to 1301cc for adventure and dual-sport riders, with the KTM 790 Adventure being a critical bike in that lineup.
Much has been said about this machine already, so here are the basics to cutdown on the chatter: 94hp (70 kW), 65 lbs•ft (88 Nm) of torque, 5.3 gallons (20 liters) of fuel, 448 lbs wet with fuel.
The KTM 790 Duke hasn’t even made it to American soil yet — though, it strangely can race in the production middleweight class at Pikes Peak… — and we are already talking about its off-roading sibling, the KTM 790 Adventure R.
Built around the same 799cc parallel-twin engine found in the Duke model, the Adventure variant takes things to a whole new level for ADV riders.
Promising light weight, plenty of off-road power, and Dakar-inspired chassis components, this should be the adventure-tourer that dual-sport riders have been asking for.
With the production version of the KTM 790 Adventure R set to debut later this year at the annual industry trade shows, most of our appetite has been sustained by the prototype bike, which has been making the marketing rounds.
Adding some details along the way though, we have a slightly better idea of what to expect in a few months’ time.
I am always kind of amazed that when KTM shows its hot new bikes at a trade show like EICMA, the Austrian brand does such a bad job sharing the media it creates. Such is the case with the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype.
As such, only a handful of studio shots were released to the public upon the bike’s debut in Milan, Italy. But yet, KTM has clearly gone through the trouble of doing photo shoots with the middleweight ADV machine, and still the “Ready to Race” brand isn’t spreading the love.
Fortunately, we do have a couple photos of the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype, lifted from KTM’s Facebook page, and they do entice.
We were the first outlet to bring you photos of the KTM 790 Adventure R prototype, but now this 799cc trail-shredding machine is out in the wild, and we can share with you more specs, details, and higher resolution photos.
The first point is the obvious, the KTM 790 Adventure R will not be a 2018 model, but instead will debut for the 2019 model year.
It shares a parallel-twin engine with the KTM 790 Duke, which also debuted today at the EICMA show in Milan. The 105hp engine is a fully stressed part of the steel-tube chassis, which means there should be excellent weight savings for the 790 Adventure R.