RUST Magazine: RUST #43

ADVENTURE
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2 Pannier Tanks
Finding a place for the fuel on a
motorcycle is never straightforward and
while generally most opt for placing it
above the engine, in front of the rider,
over the years we’ve seen all manner
of alternative solutions applied. BMW
resorted to under seat tanks on the
F800GS. On their latest F850GS they’ve
reverted to placing the tank back above
the engine, maybe to bring the seat
height down, only the problem there
is when you brim a 23-litre tank you
end up with a lot of weight very high –
which makes it heavy to steer. Honda’s
Africa Twin Adventure Sports has the
same issue – ride the AS together with
the standard AT and the standard bike
with the smaller tank is noticeably
easier to operate.
With the 790 Adventure R, the pannier
tanks offer a decent 20 litres, but by
placing much of that low down in front
of the rider’s feet, they substantially
lower the bike’s centre of gravity and
that makes the effort in steering the bike
that much less. And it makes the bike
less stressful to push around, too, as the
weight is concentrated lower and nearer
to the line between the two wheel axles
– which for newer or smaller riders is a
great help.
We might worry that we’ll hole those
tanks in a crash, but I can’t see KTM
having not addressed that matter,
making them super crash proof, and
anyway in all probability a crash that’ll
put a hole in one of the fuel panniers is
likely to have done a whole lot worse to
you – a holed tank will be the least of
your worries. You know, let’s not think
about that!
3 It’s nippy
Sure this R model is all about going offroad,
probably at speed. But that hasn’t
come at the expense of day-to-day
highway practicality and joy in use. First
impressions riding the 790 Adventure
R on the road was just how nippy it
is (having just stepped off the 1290
Adventure R).
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