2014 Ktm 1190 Adventure Abs on 2040-motos

KTM Other description

2014 KTM 1190 Adventure ABS, Available DEC 2013They say: The world s most versatile travel enduro.
We say: A claim that s more than an empty boast.

Talk about playing contrary to type. Here s KTM, the notoriously quirky-orange purveyor of world-class dirt bikes and some of the most ardently bad-behavior machines ever made (Mr. Duke, we re looking your way), unleashing something, well, unexpected with the 2014 KTM 1190 Adventure. Based on the history of the 950/990 Adventure bikes, which started from a wild idea of competing in the Dakar Rally in 2002, you d expect KTM would update that platform with more modern running gear but keep the same general idea: a truly dirt-ready, big-bore ADV machine.

2014 KTM 1190 Adventure
Although the 1190 Adventure looks the ADV part, its on-road skills are perhaps its most im
Uh, no. Instead, what Mattighofen trotted out for journalists on the sunny Spanish island of Tenerife is nothing less than stiff competition for one of our faves, the Ducati Multistrada. Jetlag-fueled hyperbole? Consider what you get: A rollicking 1195cc V-twin pumping out a claimed 150 horsepower (to the crank), a pair of sticky Continental Trail Attack 2 tires wrapped around 19- and 17-inch spoke wheels, and a cromoly steel-tube chassis that helps the 1190 to feel like it drops 100 of its claimed 467 pounds the instant you start rolling. (That weight is dry, projecting to 500 lbs. with the tank full.) You were thinking crash bars and a skid plate, maybe? Well, that ll be for the dirt-directed Adventure R, which debuts a few months after the straight Adventure.

How close is the new 1190 to the Multistrada? Ducati claims the same peak power and virtually the same peak torque (92.2 lb.-ft. for the KTM, 91.8 for the Duck). The Multi is, however, lighter and more compact, with 1.2 in. less wheelbase and a claimed dry weight 44 lbs. lower. Its 17-in. cast wheels welcome sportbike-quality tires. BMW s new wasserboxer R1200GS is 26 lbs. heavier and spots the KTM 25 bhp.

Those are just numbers. The proof is in the riding. The press launch took place on a widely varying selection of roads from our base at the Abama resort on the western shore up to the Teide National Park, whose 12,198-foot peak is the highest point in Spain. The tone of the ride started at the first roundabout, where KTM s global PR manager, Thomas Kuttruf, pitched his 1190 over and jetted ahead of island traffic. Okay, then.

2014 KTM 1190 Adventure
For the next half hour, we droned along TF-1, the main highway on the island s southeastern shore. Chugging along at 75 mph, the Adventure feels almost serene, the counterbalanced engine spinning just 4000 rpm, thankfully with enough torque there to pull out and pass a dawdling Bimbo truck with ease. I d left the adjustable windscreen much larger than the vestigial shovel blade on the 990 Adventure in the lowest position, and it was fine. There s a moderat