The 2020 KTM 790 Adventure R is one serious adventure motorcycle. It thrives on an impressive balance of a nimble-handling and confidence-inspiring chassis, top-shelf performance components and amenities, and a snappy powerplant. All of it makes for a truly awesome machine. In fact, we like it so much that we named it Best Adventure Bike of 2019 just one year ago.
This middleweight adventure bike is powered by KTM’s LC8c 799cc, eight-valve, DOHC parallel-twin engine. It shares the same basic architecture with the 790 Duke, but power delivery has been tuned for off-road riding via altered cam profiles focused on low-to-midrange torque and dedicated ECU settings.
We ran the KTM 790 Adventure R on our in-house Dynojet 250i dyno ahead of an upcoming comparison test, recording horsepower and torque measurements. The Adventure R produced a peak 83.37 hp at 8,450 rpm and 57.71 pound-feet of torque at 6,790 rpm.
It’s interesting to compare the Adventure R’s performance with that of the 790 Duke which, when last measured, produced roughly 12 more peak horsepower. But peak power isn’t everything in the dirt. Peak torque, however, arrives roughly 1,000 rpm earlier and is more broad across the entire curve.
Kudos to KTM for optimizing an already potent package for the job at hand.
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