Is the KTM 790/890 ADVENTURE R the BEST Mid-Sized ADV Bike? 18 Month Ownership, Issues + MODS!

I have owned my 2019 KTM 790 ADVENTURE R for 18 months and it has been a wild ride with this adventure bike. The KTM 790/890 Adventure is renowned for its unparalleled off-road performance in the mid-sized adv bike space. Other bikes like the Yamaha Tenere 700, BMW F850GS and the Tiger Triumph 900 all offer great unique characteristics and features - but none can stand up to the KTM's balanced, lightweight chassis, class leading suspension and feature rich electronics package. In this video I discuss my 18 months of ownership with the KTM 790 ADVENTURE R, the issues faced with this motorcycle and modifications I have made to make it my own. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Hey there and welcome to the channel! My name is Michael Munroe, I love motorcycles and the adventures taken on them. If you want to build your skills in adventure motorcycle riding, develop your confidence riding offroad and keep up to date with new bike releases - hit the subscribe button and tell your mates! Let me know what you're riding in the comments below!

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[TheMotoBarista]

Thinking about a KTM 790/890 Adventure? Leave your questions in the comments below! 🦅🤘

[ianboyd]

The best review I've heard on the 790: eloquent & informative. And honest. I have mainly been a rider of tar roads most of my life. About 9 or 10 months ago, I discovered the joys of riding dirt roads, & traded my old faithful KTM 1190 for the 790, & am also loving it. Thanks for a great review

[rogerwerner]

I have a little bit of a similar feeling towards my 890 Adv R with the exception of I love riding it on long trips including highway miles. Mine came with a Rally front fairing/headlight system already on it. I would not have put this on her if it didn't already come on it due to how expensive it is. I don't have any experience with the OEM set up, but I am happy with it. I have ridden halfway across the country and back on a KTM 690 SMC so this bike is just that much better for that. I like a bit of wind to get to me to help keep me cooler in the hotter weather and with the proper gear, I have been relatively comfortable at 31 degrees F on both the 690 and 890. For me, this is the best bike I have ever owned. It does everything very well from highway miles to city miles, and then the best place for her is off road miles. I bought her with 1180 miles on it and now have 12, 163 miles. Just shy of 11, 000 miles in about 9 months and still completely happy with it is a statement. With that being said, I have ridden a friends Goldwing on a long trip and I much preferred my R1200GSA as far as comfort due to seating position and style, and I feel that I would rather ride the 890 Adv R on a cross the country trip as opposed to the Goldwing or even my GSA. It is that comfortable for me and I know I can ride like a fool if a dirt road calls my name on the 890. I have taken the Goldwing on some very light dirt roads to get to a friend's place and have taken the GSA off road, but noting like the 890 has done. I have only had one issue since I have owned it and I think the bigger issue with that problem was not that it had a problem but that the dealer could not fix it. I bought an adapter cable to allow me to connect my OBD2 reader to her and within an hour and a half from the time I removed the seat to connect the reader to fixing the problem, and putting the seat back on. The dealer had my bike for 2 weeks. Sadly, I think this happens with almost all makes. I would say if you are handy and love off road riding, this is the best bike out there. She isn't as smooth as other bikes on the street due to stiffer suspension, but for the benefits off road, I don't mind. Everybody is different and has different tastes. That is what makes the world go around. Just my opinion and preference. Maybe it will help someone who is on the fence one way or the other. For those that think the adv R is too hard edged and the Adv isn't quite there, from my research, it sounds like the Norden 901 (KTM is Husky) sits right about between them, and looks sexy too;-)

[davidblackmore]

Great job man. I’ve had my 790 R almost 2 years now. I feel most people bash the street capabilities of the bike. Obviously if you’re riding on a major highway for hours on end you’re going to take in some wind. But back roads and twistys are fun as hell. Then when you hit the off road in rally mode it’s an absolute beast. Feels like I got 2 bikes for the price of one. Stay safe and have

[jinglebear]

Very good review, can't agree more. I got my 790 R for one year now, and I love it.
It's also nice to see a person of my age on yt that owns this bike and likes to ride it hard ( no offense fellow adventurers 😁). Keep the right side up Barista 🤙

[heinimohr]

Absolutely agree what KTM got right with the 890 is unbelievable 👌🏻👊🏻

[jackdaniels]

Well spoken review. Great that you spoke about KTM reliability. Often a throwaway line from non owners . I own 2 1290 and a 950se with nil problems and have never let me down. Also love my Mosko moto reckless 80 bags . Good suspension and tyres make all the difference. Keep up the great content. Cheers Jack

[simonmcclure]

Great review. Your videos are fantastic.

[sanjosejeff]

Thank you very much for the info. I ordered a 23 890 and impatiently waiting. I have an exc-f 350 so just want a big brother to that. Pretty sure I made the right choice based on what you said

[tonycaneva]

Yes l would agree that the 890 r is the best big off roader money can buy at this time, l had the BMW 1250 gs rally nice road touring bike to big off road imo, also had the Africa twin just cant compare with the KTM its the most fun off road bike l have ever owned, off road it really blows the rest away, had no problems at all with the bike, that's not to say l have not looked after the bike l go over the bike after ever ride and make sure its in top condition, the mosko rackless bags great quality yet to do the first camp out on this bike looking forward to that

[solusquinto]

I think there is another aspect to the question if you should buy one. I did test rides on almost any middleweight Adventure Bike ... in fact ... I don't know which I could have missed out. What really comes into my mind when I think of my rides ... first on the 790 and secondly on the 890 R ... is how encouraging this bike is for completely unexperienced offroad riders like me. Damn ... normally I would never leave the road on a test ride with a bike that I don't know or own but the 890 Adv R made me doing it and it felt almost like riding a Mountainbike. I would say that the 790/890 has the potential to inspire or encourage riders without any offroad experience to explore the world a little bit more. That's actually why I struggle so much ... I love the Africa Twin but it's much more intimidating to me as the 890 when it comes to offroad. On the other hand is the AT the overall better bike for most of my other needs. Damn ... such a hard decision :(

[erictrenbeath]

Just bought an 890 adv r this spring. I've owned XL 650's, a BMW Dakar 650, and an F800GS. The 890 is the s**t!

[MotorDanko]

The only advice i could give to you on this KTM ownership is to not wait to the 15.000km mark to replace oil, i do it at 10.000km, and use an zppd or ester additive for motorcycles with wet clutches, this will help a lot with the valve train because this bikes are noticiable for destroying cam shafts... my idea is to get to 30.000km before the warranty spires so i still have one year of warranty and i haver 20.000km on mine without any issues at all... just efortless everyday riding ownership... on the last 380 days of ownership, this bike has been used for at least 360 days of them...

[jasestorace]

Bike looks very cool, love the black.

[vtgamboa]

Great content, awesome bike setup! Btw did you remove cat? And do you recommend it? Thanks!

[RollinwithRoland]

Great review, and totally agreed!!! My only regret buying my 2019 790 Adventure "S"... was/is not buying the R. I did the opposite of most and UNDERestimated my off-road abilities. Had a blast on the mountain twisties Halloween day though, catching up with the local sportbikers on Tail of the Dragon(318 curves in 11 miles). All while I was shredding a TKC80 knobby on the rear with the Autumn foliage dropping! ^_^

[renatorocha]

I had a honda transalp 600 and i really liked it...now im not sure if i go to the 790 r or 890 r, what would u recommend??really not sure what to chose...i actually like being off road but would do some street to.

[justsomedude]

mosko stuff is tippy tops quality gear for certain

[ryanmalone]

I’m a GSA owner. I don’t get people who buy this bike and don’t take it off-road. For me, it’s too slow on-road and I’d prefer numerous other bikes on-road, including my K1600. However, I also only take my GSA on-road to get to dirt or do the grocery shopping. People think I’m crazy for taking a $30k bike off-road. I don’t get it. I crashed it in a creek in less than a month of getting it, and it was fine. Isn’t this what it’s for? I’ll own a KTM SAR at some point. Such a cool bike.

[FreeTimeAdventures]

With regards to your comment on the 790 vs 890 adventure gearing, the 890 it's still a bit too high for lugging low offroad. The first thing I noticed on my 890 Adventure is that it rolls at idle in 1st gear much quicker than other adventure bikes ive had. Atleast 8 or 9 mph (13-14kph) at idle and 1st has a lot of runout. Considering adding a few teeth myself for those more technical trail situations.