Ktm 790 Adventure S First Impressions

Gregthemagnificent

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Apr 14, 2018
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Perth Australia
I ride in Western Australia and live in Perth. 3500 km so far.

I’m pleased with my KTM 790 Adventure S. It’s a pleasure to ride, light and nimble, a fantastic road bike that handles the dirt. Did a 220Km fire trail and forest roads ride recently and pleasantly surprised by its off road performance.

The 790 adv S, the one I have, is not a lower and cheaper version of the 790 adv R. It is uniquely between a street bike and a serious adventure bike. The R is a serious adventure bike that’s good on the road.

On the road the suspension performs well with firm mid-stroke and no dive or wallowing. On the dirt the full travel comes into play and is impressive. Riding over small logs, holes and washouts is easy.

Set in off-road mode the traction control and ABS gives confidence, inspiring you to go faster than you should. In rally mode you can adjust or turn off traction control, ABS and throttle response, then it’s outrages.

It’s an ugly bike, especially the tank. I’ve improved it’s looks by adding heaps of decals, changing the hand guards and mirrors and adding crash bars.

The seat is very hard and thin, so I replaced the foam and cover with a Seat Concepts’ kit. I found the screen to be useless, so it’s been removed. With the screen over 80Kmh buffeting it shocking. I’ve tried the short screen and a screen extension with no improvement.

I’ve also added heaps of extras, listed below.

Exhaust muffler – LeoVince
Rally mode
Crash bars
Pannier rack
Radiator guard
Engine guard cover
Head light protector
Side stand foot
Bar risers
Clutch pull reducer
Axel sliders
Pivot pegs
Acerbis hand guards
Mirrors – Puig
Seat cover and foam

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Just picked up from the bike shop


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Dwellingup ride

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Gin Gin ride

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Collie ride
 

Eoin Christie

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Jul 16, 2019
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...Gin Gin ride...
That brings back a ‘bad’ memory. Back in the 1990’s, a partner and I owned a drilling company in WA. When the gold price crashed, my partner bailed, and I went on alone, with my wife doing the offsiding. I converted the rig to be able to do water-bores, and had a job out in the bush near Gingin. At that stage, our elder daughter was about 7 years old, and the younger one was about 1.
I remember the drilling as being shite, due to all of the loose sand on the top, but we completed the wells OK over the course of a few days camped out there in swags.
The ‘bad’ part was the discovery, once back in Perth, that we were all infested with ticks and, despite a mass eradication operation, they kept appearing on the kids over the next couple of days.
She Who Must Be Obeyed was not particularly impressed with the adventure, but it did help keep our heads close to the surface of the water, if not quite at Oxygen-intake level.
Thanks for the memory, Greg
 
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Gregthemagnificent

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Perth Australia
The front tyre is a Continental Twinduro TKC80. Works well in the dirt, but I will be nervous on wet bitumen.
Rear is a Motoz Tractionater GPS. Good in the dirt and on bitumen. Hoping to get long mileage out of it.
These tyres are good in WA where twisty roads are scarce, and dirt roads are just out of town. I'm doing a 300Km dirt ride on Friday, east of Perth.
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The bike dosn't look so ugly with the decals added, and it grows on you. A very modern design. The tank plastic is thick and strong, and KTM claim it can handle sliding down the track on its side. The part I worry about destroying is the alien ant head light. It lis fragile and expensive.
The tank doesn't get hot, but the catalitic converter under the rear spring does and is noticeable when stopped.
 
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Oddvar

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I hear more and more good about the Motoz Tractionater GPS.
I got a new set with the AT i bought. Will put them on when the Rally STR is worn out.
I like the idea that you can reverse the Motoz Tractionater GPS. Have you tried that yet?
 
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Gregthemagnificent

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Apr 14, 2018
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Perth Australia
I'm pleased with ythe tyre's performance and havent reversed it. Keeping it in the dirt direction. If I do a mainly bitumen ride I will put the original road oriented tyres back on it . The bike is fantastic on the road. It remindes me of riding the new Honda CBX 500. Quick, easy to ride and confidence inspiring.