2023 KTM 890 Adventure R Review

There is little argument from anyone on Cycle World’s staff who has ridden KTM’s 890 Adventure R that the bike is one of the most, if not the most, capable adventure bikes on the market when it comes to off-highway performance. But the reality is that most owners aren’t impersonating Chris Birch and Toby Price off-road. Adventure riding is, at its core, all about balancing street performance against a bike’s dirt capabilities and its ability to provide comfort and utility over longer distances.

So we decided to really put the Adventure R through the wringer with a longer test that we felt replicated what most owners actually do—or at least aspire to do. Many riders plan bucket-list trips like riding their ADV bikes to a Backcountry Discovery Route—and then back home. How does KTM’s most hardcore ADV platform handle less extreme aspects of ADV life, like covering long highway stretches, shielding the rider from the elements, and handling asphalt bends? We spent the entire summer with the KTM and logged more than 3,500 miles riding the bike from Southern California to Colorado, all over the Rockies, and back.

On the Cycle World dyno, the 889cc DOHC eight-valve parallel-twin 890 R produced 93.3 hp at 8,500 rpm and 64.4 lb.-ft. of torque at 6,700 rpm. A forged one-piece crankshaft with a unique 435-degree firing order replicates the delivery of a V-twin. Bore and stroke measures 90.7 x 68.8mm, and compression ratio is a robust 13.5:1. The cylinder head utilizes lightweight camshafts which actuate the valves via finger followers. A pair of balance shafts (one in between the camshafts and a second in front of the crankshaft) reduce vibration. A pair of 46mm Dell’Orto throttle bodies are operated by ride-by-wire control.

Power is sent to the rear wheel via a PASC (power assist slipper clutch) into the six-speed transmission. Our bike came equipped with the optional Quickshifter+ that allows clutchless up- and downshifts.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of an ADV bike is the balance between power output, weight, and handling. Taking a look back at the winner of our Open-Class Adventure test in 2022, KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure S produced 134 hp and a whopping 88 lb.-ft. of peak torque. Impressive as those numbers are for street riding, that big LC8 engine pushes the 1290′s measured wet weight up to 540 pounds. No matter how you slice it, weight is the enemy in off-road riding. Our 890 R with a full tank of fuel weighed in at 477 pounds on the Cycle World scales, undercutting KTM’s big bike by 63 pounds.

As much as we are amazed by the raw performance of the 1290 S or R, the 890 has proven to be quite good in almost all riding situations. Accelerating up onramps, passing cars on the interstate, or lofting the front wheel over a water bar, the LC8c provides excellent response and drive, even in the high Rockies’ thin mountain air.

We rode the 890 R just about everywhere we could think of, from tight single-track to Rocky Mountain Jeep roads strewn with ice-chest-sized rocks, through sand whoops, mud, and on plenty of I-15 and I-70 between Southern California and Eagle, Colorado. We even did a bunch of two-up riding on road and off with this author’s teenage daughters riding shotgun.

Bottom line, we were never wanting more power from the 890. The tractability of the parallel twin chugs confidently along when picking your way through rocks and roots, has good midrange roll-on power for quick passes, and pulls nicely up top when you’re attacking a twisty road like Colorado’s Independence Pass into Aspen.

Colorado’s altitude is definitely a horsepower killer, and the contrast between the bike’s performance in SoCal—where the 890 easily snaps up into a wheelie (in the first three gears) without any effort—and at elevation is pretty big. As should be expected, it never had the same oomph riding in Colorado, where the minimum altitude it encountered is more than 6,000 feet above sea level. Thankfully it has enough power in the first place to not feel lethargic.

Modern ADV bikes are the ideal recipients for advanced rider aids. No other motorcycle has a split personality like an adventure machine. We can remember when just turning off the ABS to the rear wheel could make or break an ADV bike, but now we’ve been spoiled by six-axis-IMU enabled traction control and ABS, and ride modes and power selections enabled by ride-by-wire throttle control. There is no going back.

The 890 R has all of these features. The six-axis IMU controls the 890′s MTC (Motorcycle Traction Control) and Cornering ABS. MTC can be turned on or off, while Road and Offroad ABS modes can be selected. Ride modes help streamline this process. There are four modes, including Street, Rain, Offroad, and the optional Rally. When you select either of the latter two, the ABS is automatically switched to Offroad (no rear ABS), while selecting Street or Rain it defaults to on. You can still go in and manually alter those selections if desired. Additionally, there are three throttle-response settings, including Street, Offroad, and Rally.

However, if you want the entire electronics suite, you’ve got to pay for it as an option. There are some à la carte offerings like Cruise Control ($264.99), Quickshifter+ ($424.99), and Motor Slip Regulation ($149.99). But the pre-bundled packages make more sense. The first is the $199.99 Rally Pack, with Rally ride mode, Traction Control Spin Adjuster, Throttle Response, and manual ABS adjustment. Or there is the $779.99 Tech Pack that includes everything: Rally Pack, Quickshifter+, MSR, and Cruise Control.

Sitting in front of you in the cockpit is a 5-inch full-color TFT display. There are many things we love about the screen and its interface, and few that we don’t. Navigation of the menus from the left-bar-mounted control pod is intuitive and easy. This allows you to quickly change modes when transitioning from dirt to asphalt or vice versa, and change TC levels or ABS on the fly without getting distracted.

There are a few things, however, that we don’t love. As clean and simple as the display is, it comes at the cost of not displaying all the information available. For instance, the fuel-level display doesn’t tell you how much fuel you have left until it drops below 120 miles of range. Seeing >120 miles on the dash ramps up range anxiety. The way the fuel pump and fuel-level sender are set up in the saddle tanks, the sender unit doesn’t know the true fuel level until it gets down to half capacity. That may not seem like a big deal, but we can name a few instances where it is. As anyone who has traveled on I-70 in eastern Utah knows, there are two 100-to-110 mile stretches without fuel, so despite the bike’s average range that we recorded of 235 miles, it usually seemed like a good idea to top it off. This also forces you to use the tripmeter as information backup, which seems to defeat the purpose of having a fuel gauge in the first place.

As for the functionality of the rider aids—assuming you have added the Tech Pack—there is very little to complain about. If the plan is to navigate a lot of off-highway terrain, you really need the added functionality of the upgraded electronics. With the Tech Pack installed, the bike has options for almost every riding situation you can possibly get yourself into. Then allows you to fine-tune those settings to preference. For instance, there are notable advantages between Offroad and Rally modes. On wide-open dirt roads Rally clearly is the ideal option offering full power and direct throttle response and the ability to toggle through all nine TC levels on the fly, while picking through single-track or navigating rock fields, as we did, Offroad (reduced power/balanced response) makes more sense. Since the ABS default is tied to the mode, making a change for the conditions is quick and easy.

For those on the fence trying to decide between the base 890 Adventure, or this 890 Adventure R, you really have to ask yourself what you’re actually going to do with the bike. Even if you only plan to spend 20-to-30 percent of your time on the dirt, the R is the prudent choice. There are some big differences between the two bikes in terms of suspension and geometry, all of which make the 890 R a much better off-road bike but take almost nothing away from it on road.

What is it that makes it so good as an off-roader? For starters, the 890 R gets a host of chassis-related upgrades over the standard 890 Adventure. Key is the suspension, which is upgraded from the base model’s Apex units and 7.9 inches of travel (at each end) to Xplor units including a fully adjustable 48mm WP fork (versus 43mm) with 9.4 inches of travel and a fully adjustable WP linkageless shock with the same travel. With that longer-travel suspension comes a taller 34.6-inch seat height on the R (versus 33.0 inches/33.8 inches, in the base model’s two positions), which for some may be the deciding factor. Even at 5 feet, 11 inches, I can be challenged to get both feet down firmly on the R.

Chassis dimensions vary between the two stablemates as well, with the 890 R sporting a slightly longer wheelbase (60.2 versus 59.4 inches) and front-end geometry that is less aggressive compared to the base version. Another area where the R has an advantage is that it undercuts the standard bike by just shy of 10 pounds (432 versus 441).

Both variants of the 890 come with wire-spoked wheels with a 90/90-21 tire up front and a 150/70-18 out back; our tires were Mitas E-07+, as there was a recall on the usual stock Continental TKC 80s. Over the course of the summer, the Mitas tires and/or rims were plagued with a slow air leak that we never nailed down, but it was slow enough that we only had to check the tires about once a week. When they aired themselves down, we just headed out on a dirt ride…

KTM’s 890 Adventure R is now the bike that all other middleweight bikes in the class are judged against when it comes to off-road travel. The bike’s geometry and off-road balance mimic those of true enduro machines better than almost anything else out there. The feedback and grip from the front end instills confidence: Front-to-rear weight balance is spot on, while the low-slung fuel tanks make the bike’s center of gravity feel lower, which makes the bike not feel as top-heavy as some of the competition.

That balance really pays off when picking through rocks, ruts, and roots at slow speed while standing up. The bike’s weight seems to disappear once moving—at even a walking pace—which is nice as when trying to move in and around a parking space on your tippy toes, the same can’t be said because of the tall seat height.

Braking performance is never in question on road or off. The excellent ABS offers a lot of confidence on dirt surfaces, while the pair of radial-mount, four-piston calipers and 320mm discs at the front offer really good power and modulation for fast street riding. Every ADV rider has had a corner sneak up on them on a fast gravel road and had to scrub speed off in a hurry. The combination of the excellent ABS at the front and the ability to pitch the bike into the corner with the rear brake is made a lot easier by that dirt bike-like chassis feel. Get it close and then finish the corner with the rear stepped out and the tire spinning. It’s all easier than you would think on the 890.

WP’s fully adjustable Xplor fork and shock do a great job of handling rocks and chop at slow speed and help maintain momentum in a controlled manner without it ever getting out of shape or bouncing you off line. On the other end of the dirt suspension spectrum, when carrying speed over mild whoops or sucking up landings from water-bar jumps, the suspension is damped very well and handles the hits without feeling like an orange and white meteor colliding with terra firma.

On the road, the KTM proves to be a great travel companion. The off-road-oriented suspension is plush and offers really good compliance over bad pavement, and yet has good damping when riding fast on twisty mountain roads. Compared to a more stiffly sprung motorcycle like the 1290 Super Adventure S with its electronic suspension, the 890 R definitely wallows a bit on its long-travel suspension, 21-inch front tire, and Mitas knobs, but that’s a compromise we are totally willing to accept, and it really makes long-distance travel much more tolerable.

Here is where the 890 R is compromised compared to the standard 890 Adventure. The latter comes with a much taller windscreen, which is ideal for highway riding, but still acceptable for off-highway exploration. The R on the hand has a shorter windscreen that is easier to see over when negotiating rocks and trail obstacles. On my near-1,000-mile ride from SoCal to Colorado the air would catch the top of my billed ADV helmet and cause fatigue after just a few hours.

In stock configuration the 890 offers a roomy seating position, while the supportive but comfortable foam makes it pretty easy to soldier along between fill-ups. KTM does offer a low seat that drops the height by 1 inch for those who want more confident footing at stops. However, that affects the relationship between the seat and the footpegs, which in the standard setting is very comfortable on long rides. The handlebar position is also set at decent height for a variety of situations. On the road it provides a comfortable bend to the arms that keeps them from getting fatigued, but when standing off-road, we’d like just a bit more height, but that can be solved by way of the accessory catalog as well.

The temporary solution when returning the bike to California at the end of the summer, was an aftermarket wind deflector. To say that this was a game-changer for long-distance riding is an understatement. Suddenly, you are enclosed in a quiet, buffet-free bubble, which makes the ride incredibly comfortable. Just set the cruise control and relax. This begs the question, why can’t KTM fit the 890s with a toolless adjustable windscreen? We get that the 890 R is supposed to be the more hardcore version, but the reality is that most ADV bikes are still spending a lot of time on the road. This would be a simple solution to extending the rider’s comfort. The other option is to go to the accessory catalog and get the standard model’s taller unit, but an adjustable unit would be preferable.

As the KTM doesn’t come with luggage as standard, we pieced together a few bags for our longer rides. For shorter rides we used a Giant Loop MoJavi bag which worked perfectly with the KTM Top Case Carrier that was already on our bike. Then for the longer rides we used the MoJavi and a Mosko Moto Stinger 22L tail bag, which also converts to a backpack (making it ideal to fly back to Colorado with). For our two-day trips, this was a great setup, but for those camping from their bikes, or in need of additional space, some larger bags would be necessary.

We already knew that the 890 R is an exceptional motorcycle when the pavement ends and the dirt begins. But we really wanted to see how the bike performed when pressed into touring duty. Our summer with the KTM answered those questions without doubt.

It turns out the R version of the 890 was a capable travel buddy crossing the deserts and mountains between California and Colorado. There was never a moment on the KTM that made the long rides miserable. Sure, it was nice to get off and stretch when getting gas or eating, but getting back in the saddle was never a chore. The coolest thing about riding an ADV bike across the country, is that when you see an unknown dirt road off in the distance, you can just point the bike that direction and go explore with full confidence that the 890 is up to the task. That is the point of owning a bike like this.

Is it perfect? Well, no, because ADV bikes are jacks of all trades and masters of none. But for you, it all depends on what you’re doing with the bike. For off-road adventure riding, there is very little that we’d change, maybe some more robust hand guards, a slightly taller triple-clamp riser, and try out some different tire options. For those long transfer sections between dirt, we’d find a solution for the windscreen, refine our luggage selections, get the optional heated grips and seat, and throw on some Doubletake mirrors and be good to go.

Adventure riding is all about compromise, balancing street performance, dirt capability, and comfort and utility over longer distances. The KTM 890 Adventure R does an excellent job of delivering on all counts.