KTM 1190 Adventure R: Anatomy of an Off-Road Superbike

G'Day,

I guess I should take this opportunity to clarify that I have no affiliation with KTM or any other brand. Up until buying the 1190, I have been known to be somewhat skeptical of my pumpkin riding mates, so this is a bit of a turn around for me. Hope that doesn't come back to haunt me somewhere down the track.

If KTM wish to supply me with bikes and a constant supply of rear tyres though, I could be swayed .

Thanks, its good to hear people are enjoying them.

'kin hell, shouldn't of started reading this. Any idea how much this will cost me! I thought I'd be buried with the 950. Looks like a perfect Longest day weapon:eek1

Oh yeah, great photos too. Thanks

@BurrinRider - Just rode my dream-bike home in the rain - 1190R

What I love about it from the test ride and first ride home - the engine which sh1ts all over the GS - kind of a controllable Multistrada usable feel ; the light enduro bike handling feel ; the hydraulic clutch is sweet ; the rider position for standing and leaning forward ; the brakes ; the super easy to read cockpit.

After shaking hands with the dealer - the clouds looked very dark and night was falling. I noticed right away the headlight is daylight sensitive and once out of the shop the headlight went off - (the rider manual shows the headlight switch has more positions than it actually has and in AU that leaves you with the "V" Light and low beam controlled by some hidden sensor) As I rode back in traffic in the dark I clearly saw the headlight come back on as it decided to go "on" and illuminated the car infront on me - Is there anyway to use the orange program key to set it to permanently on? Then it started to rain hard - switched to rain mode on the fly - rolled throttle forward - done. With my Rukka armas suit I love rain riding - so took the long way home and found the red light alerting me to change gears. handling was faultless and tracked well in turns in night rain - I could fell the geometry changing quite a lot between braking and acceleration in the dark. Gearbox is a little tight and needs a very full clutch throw/pull to change down - missed a few gear changes going down - clutch is super light one finger. The indicators take a bit of getting used to as that switch sux. Vibration is very low and I found myself griping the bars very lightly due to the handling being light. The 1190R has a linear streering dampener - but it feels quite light as if it needs dialling up.

Just enough space in the garage to fit 4 bikes - stood starring at it for while - god it such a good looking bike - Easy trumps the ridiculous front of the latest GS and parked next to my Tiger1200 Explorer - have to says it better designed visually than the Tiger as well.

Will you say it's better road bike then the triumph ? Although it is and r version :) that's great. I have got the standard one and yes the gears a little tight but I think it will be ok as we ride more . Last night I find out you can adjust the clutch for your hand ! There is a screw to turn and it's adjust the clutch lever .

Would be a great partner for the Super Enduro.

@tancakar - I would say in a comparison test "for me" I did not compare them. reason... The Triumph is such a smooth sophisticated bike two-up on short 100km café runs with my wife and the Gel seats and cruise control that it's kind of locked in as part of our marriage now and we zip along chatting on the bluetooth and arrive somewhere wide-eyed like were out dating again - Triumph were clever to spend so much time developing the wider pillion seat from gel as they knew some couples, the women has a big say about the bike for 2 up rides. The KTM 1190R is just for me solo enduro - Its an old motocross/enduro racers dream bike beyond any dream i had of what could be made - the lower weight, frame and long travel suspension is in a different category to the big tiger offroad & will be fitted out with knobbies for Aussie dirt roads, and drifting and exploring with nights spent out in the bush away from the madding crowds, it will get dirty. I have now broken away from the 1-bike-does-both-things-well to have 2 bikes that i like a lot which will be used for specific roles.

None of the adventure accessories I ordered were available in AU yet, and they are saying 4 weeks for the boat? Time to to get used to it naked in the gravel.

You can do it yourself, Just go here & nominate the photos you like.
Just copy the photo from this thread.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hay Danny (Boy) the pipes the pipes are calling.............

What are you thinking about the noise? Are the Cats still in the muffler?

Yeah just 1 up majority of the bikes are ok and a lot fun but two up not ever bike . My wife is quite happy about the 1190 adventure we commute and have a lot of trips when ever we can . However so far we ony manage to commute and next week we have got a biggish trip.

Commuting is fan I even commute with the big bags :) still no problem on filtering the bike is really good in city the potholes not a problem anymore everythng is comfortable . Even in rain it was comfortable more protection .
We will see what is the deal in dual carriage ways and motorways.i am sure she will be ok .

By the way I am still on 170 miles on ODO. The bikes seems to burn a lot petrol at the moment it does 30 mpg :) it's always two up and I don't pass the 6 ooo rpm yet but seems to me the bike is just too new and burns a lot .

Well I am hoping it will spend less petrol then my Kawasaki ZZR 1400:) in city she used to burn 34mpg.

My experience with LC8's is you don't by them for their frugal use of fuel......

well yeah i am not too much bother about fuel, i also put shell 97octave
v power and it does cost alittle more then usual but the fuel consomption should be better no ?

Danny, Thanks for starting this thread! Your thoughts and commentary on the 1190 now have me thinking that an 1190R may be replacing my 07 990A next year. Your pics are great!!

One question I have; What kind of range are you getting? With my 990 I have to carry extra gas on some of our rides. I'm only getting around 170 miles/tank (274 km) riding loaded for weekend camping. In a perfect world, I'd love to see 220 mi (350 km) plus out of a stock tank. However, riding conservative to max your gas milage just isn't possible on a big KTM!

That 700 looks sweet! Doubt we ever see them here in the states...

Enjoy the new toy! I guess the only advantage to us getting the 1190 later than anybody else, is that you can get them sorted out perfectly so we know what will work.

Thanks again, Danny

@BurrenRider - did you consider the Kenda tubeless Big Block 21" for the front? Or do you prefer the extra weight of the scorpion/tube better for slow stuff?

Can't help yourself Danny!!!

Look after this bike just like your last one......it looks so I good I could be pushed into orange in a couple of years!!!

Although saying that, the Tiger and I are getting along fantastically - cheers

Mate, love your standard of work again.

Bit of a surprise to see the tiger gone, but the orange bug does bite hard.

Can anyone tell me wether the R bike just has a warning light to indicate low pressure or does it indicate PSi reading for front and back wheels on the dash like the BMW's .
I cannot seem to find anything on my dash that shows a reading only a setting for PSi . Thanks

Indicates exact psi reading of both front and rear tyres

Where abouts does this show in the dash . Call me stupid .

I'm on the same situation, eyeing the 1190 from a Tiger 800 XC. I like the Tiger but I have a strong feeling I will like the 1190 Adventure better.

Amazing shots, great write up of the bike, looking forward to more.

I've been searching for a 990R while there may still be one available somewhere, now I'm thinking maybe I'll just hang on until next year...