KTM 390 ADVENTURE ownership review

April 30, 2020 0 By The Editor

Story of my first Adventure Tourer

The news of the launch of KTM 390 Adventure back in 2018 a brought smile to many motorcyclists. Needless to mention I am part of that enthusiastic bunch. After that, it all boiled down to the exact launch date of the bike in India. This took place at the India Bike Week 2019 edition. In the middle of this waiting period when I was very eager to upgrade to higher cc from the TVS Apache RTR 200.

I did weigh up some different options such BMW 310 GS & RE Himalayan. The BMW with its brand name comes along with a hefty price tag & a thin dealership network on this side of the country. This demotivated me and forced me to look the other way. In case of Royal Enfield Himalayan, the inferior quality of electronics, heavy weight and the vibrations steered me away. Thus the long wait for the KTM 390 Adventure.

In December 2019 the motorcycle was finally launched and followed that I started enquiring the dealership near me. I booked the bike on Jan 2020 without seeing it in flesh and nor did I take any test ride.Almost after a month I got the bike from Siliguri Sevoke Road KTM and the total price which I incurred was Rs 3,66,137

The pricing details are as mentioned below

Ex Showroom in West Bengal: Rs 3,00,376
Road Tax + Registration : Rs 31,000
Insurance(5yrs full Nil Dep):Rs 34,761

After one month and for riding it about 1100kms these are the things which I would like to elaborate:

Firstly, the sitting posture and the riding comfort is really spot on. however, a softer seat(like RE Himalayan)
would have made things much better.I am 5ft 11 inches tall so the seat height(855mm) is not an issue.
The front suspension is perfect but the rear suspension feels stiff on solo rides. That, depends on the riders weight as well.
The digital console is like love at first sight and provides lot of information which includes real time mileage too.
Coming down to the fuel efficiency, on highways it offers around 25kmpl. Average speed being 95kmph. In city 19kmpl (as per the display) yet to calculate manually.
The engine feels very refined.
My favourite part – I liked the most was the braking performance. Braking was really crisp so was the ABS.

What can be better:

Low visibility in night of the LED headlamps
The windshield after adjusting rattled and the height of windshield isn’t sufficient.
Lack of double stand will make things difficult while cleaning the chain.
Crash guards require modification.
Spoke wheels can make the bike more adventure centric. But, in my case since am not a off road enthusiast so alloy wheels are ok.

First servicing was done within a month after 988km and the cost around Rs1500 which included engine oil change along with oil filter.

After first service I intended to test the top speed but unfortunately it didn’t happen because of the lock down. Needless to say that the motorcycle is yet to be tested to its full potential. So this is by far my experience regarding the KTM 390 adventure.