KTM 790 Adventure R Review - Top 5 things you should know before you buy

Having ridden the 2019 KTM 790 Adventure R for a while I've started to get to know what I love about the bike, and some of its little foibles - here's my "top 5 things" you need to know about the bike...both good and bad...

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[itsallabouttheridekeepingi]

I'm only 5, 5 mate and not to many bikers I have ever been able to touch ground, I do Heaps of off road riding in Aus, trick is " don't stop " and if you have to bail off in style,

[fredrikgoransson]

I have this bike and agree with you on all points.
Worst: The windscreen. It is really bad, but it is easily fixed.
Best: Suspension. Offroad/gravel roads is where this bike belongs. The immediate confidence you get to push a higher tempo surprised me a lot.
The brakes are very good too.
It has a tall ride height but shorter guys like me (I'm 168cm) have no problem handling it with standard seat and suspension settings.

[szatanica]

I’ve just finished the test ride on the S version and I’m really super surprised! It feels light I couldn’t belive it. Comparing to F850GS it’s like a gazelle to an elephant! Lowering the tank was brilliant. The ride was super smoooth, it had no issues at alll (i’ve reached 160km), I had double the confidence on dirt (and the bike had regular road tires), the seat was lowered so I had just enough hight to be comfortable (although If I was to buy it I would still use the lowering kit as I’m 165cm). Hight shield protected very well from the wind although I had the same issue as you did with the beak on my helmet, handlebards are very big, great TFT display, great breaks, and the engine is brilliant, so super smooth, I love the KTM roaring sound on the low end. The gears are great, not to long, not too short, setting up the mirrors can be done with one finger (as opposed to GS, which requires a lot of force), it has a navigation mount and a cigarette plug.

I do have however these issues:
- standing position is just nightmare! The pegs are too highly placed and too close to the bike, the seat is too wide which causes me to round my legs and bend my knees like I’m on a horse. This will not work for a long offroad ride, no chance. Also the hight of the handlebars are too low for standing: I was bowing like I was going for a confession. Risers needed asap. How are you tall guys are handling it, I don’t know...
- the suspension is hard as a brick. And it’s not adjustable (on version S!!, R is adjustable) so it will need some money to set this up the way I’d like it
- the seat is a wooden paddle, seriously. I cannot imagine seating on it for 300-400km, not in this lifetime
- the heat from the engine goes straight into the sides of your legs, and it was bothering me, even though it was only 20 deg. C outside! I can’t imagine what happens when I go to Georgia or Middle East and it’s 40...! O_o
Those issues can be real problems as I don’t see a simple way of overcoming those, and the bike already is very pricey, so these could be deal breakers for me.

I’m looking forward to 390 ADV. It could be a game changer, although I must say 790 has enormous amount of potential.

[christaylor]

Like the new graphics TMF and the rear facing camera. It just gets better! 👍😁

[FanOWater]

I'm 5'8" with a 29" inseam and I've got about 500 miles in the dirt on my 790R. That means one foot only everywhere. Just pick your stopping location and you'll be fine. It is a steller Adv bike in the dirt. Cheers

[Banditmanuk]

Great review, not a bike for shorties then. I've been following the round the world adventures of Rossa G and two of his companions are riding KTMs; 790 Adventure and 1290 Super Adventure. Both the KTMs have mechanical issues and both ended up on a truck in Mongolia heading to a dealership to be fixed. Rossa's basic CB500X keeps rolling.

[Greggspies]

Great review any chance you could test the Tenera 700

[garypunter]

Just as we expect from you TMF, informative, to the point and always helpful. Love the videos. If you ever want to do a used bike test on an R1150R BMW readers bike, give me a shout. I have a 2002 on a 51 plate with 33k miles. Be good to show people some of the now much more affordable BMW boxer bikes. Keep up the great work 👍🍻

[pinkiewerewolf]

KTM's tech is pretty groundbreaking in areas but I gotta say that the more reviews I see on the new dual sport/ADV bikes, the more I love my archaic 2018 KLR650.

[disekjoumoer]

All off-road biased bikes are tall. The way people ride them, even shorter riders, is to slide your backside out and down towards your favoured standing leg. Keep the bike in gear when you stop. Try it. And I still don't know why you tested the R version and not the standard version. You do almost no off-road.

[MDanceInc]

Had my 790 R two months. Have 1800 miles on it. It is now leaking oil out the drive shaft seal. Already got crashed into by an idiot riding a side by side atv down the highway. He crashed me but I didn’t get seriously hurt. $800 in damage to the bike. Fixed it already. I love the bike though. It really comes alive above about 4300 rpm. I don’t mind the seat. I have done 4 hours in the saddle at one time and didn’t experience any discomfort. Getting 61.5 MPG. Avg. using ethanol free supreme gas.

[PovilasPanavas]

It's a bit unusual that multiple reviews claim engine it to be vibey, and multiple to be very smooth. It can't be both! :)

[Matt]

790 Adv R will be my next bike, no questions!

[iwanevans]

Test rode both the 790 Adventure R and the BMW F850 GS Rallye and found the GS much more refined for touring with some off-Road riding also the price was basically the same after the add on’s!

[teneretraveller]

Your honesty is refreshing, and appreciated. Continue por favor.
Happy travels.

[axellness]

T7 next please. You are the voice for us short guys 🙏

[johnward]

Excellent the info most people need from a review cheers 👍

[robertwbeams]

Seems to me that only those with an inside leg substantially more than your 32" will be happy with this machine. Stop on an incline or a camber and you've dropped it! Is it only me that thinks that engine /transmission noise is rubbish? Bag of nails comes to mind. Which of course KTM powertrains are not. Possibly better offroad (with knobblies) than BMW, but not for me. Enjoyed the ride as always 😊

[Hodmeister]

I hope Mr Lamb Chops approves of the use of different camera angles :-)
Joking aside it is good to see you on the bike as well, great stuff :-)

[MeanGreenList]

790 Adv R owner ... Also have a 1200GS WC and several dirt bikes. The 790 fits my needs perfectly. The GS is a bit heavy for the technical offroad riding and it always felt more like work than fun when going on a BDR or small trails. I am still in awe how well the GS does off road but it has its limits.
I can't say anything negative about the 790. Yes, there have been reports about some issues. However, there isn't a 1st year bike where there aren't any issues. Even my GS had problems when it was new. Anyone who buys a bike and doesn't expect some problems is kidding themselves.
Luckily I haven't had anything yet.
To talk about the hight ... I never gave it any thought with any of my bikes. All dirt bikes are very tall. The 790 is tall but that's not an issue. I'm 5'10 (177cm) and it's not a problem at all.
The low windscreen doesn't bother me either. I have zero buffeting with my Arai XD4 helmet. The wind hits me but there is no buffeting, so it's not a problem. I ride with earplugs anyway.
I wouldn't use the taller windscreen because of all the offroad riding and it would get in the way. For what I do, it's great. Also, if I did mostly highway riding, I would have bought the non R version with the taller screen.
But I agree that it would have been nice to have an adjustable screen like the GS, which can be used on the go.
The bike handles a lot better on the road than I expected and is a lot of fun. The engine pulls hard and since the weight is only around 200kg, it is very agile. For hard off road riding I need to get better tires as the stock rubber isn't great. I am very happy with my addition and you can't go wrong with a 790.