RUST #49

2021 KTM 890 Adventure (R)
KTM HAS REALLY NAILED
THE JOB, BRINGING A
REAL TRAVEL BIKE AND
A REAL ADVENTURE
BIKE TO MARKET
SIMULTANEOUSLY
The handling feels light and while you
don’t really feel any sense of hindrance
in running the 21-inch front wheel, there
is just possibly a sense of greater inertia
in the steering, although that could be
imagined, and not having a bike with a
17-19-inch wheel there to compare it to
we can’t conclusively say. The suspension
feels to be balanced at the comfortable
end of the spectrum, scratchers would
probably call it soft (and be missing the
whole point of this bike).
The rider’s seat is adjustable and while
the lower setting will work for most and
does create a good sense of connection to
the bike and road when whizzing along,
the higher position worked better for me –
I liked that it returned that trail bike feel to
the ride, being higher, and there was less
pressure on my knees and bum.
The screen works well, although drops
a mark or two for not being adjustable,
and the mirrors are just a touch narrow,
not criminally so, but enough to give
Touratech and others an opportunity to
market extenders! Equally I missed there
being a centrestand fitted as standard.
But by picking at such details I’m at risk
of missing the point of how this bike is
very much the travel bike. While the wheel
sizes seem odd on a road bike they give
this bike a top setup for the world’s gravel
w
www.rustsports.com
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