NEW KTM 890 Adventure Honest Review

What an amazing motorcycle from KTM! 890 Adventure is ugly like nothing else, provides unmatched performance, is already broken coming straight from the factory, and dangerous for those who need to be social in their lives.

This is my honest review after spending some time with it and testing it on the road. What a fantastic motorcycle, if you're single and want to stay single.

All views are my own and are based on my personal experiences with this KTM 890 Adventure from 2023 (facelifted). Stay tuned and subscribe for next mid-size adventure bikes and comparisons on the channel!

The main competitors are: Triumph Tiger 900, Ducati Multistrada V2, BMW F850GS, Honda Transalp 750, Suzuki V-Strom 800DE and perhaps also Suzuki V-Strom 1050 due to similar power and not that big of a difference in size and tech.

[benkelly]

KTM owner here! No problems, with my two.. only those who, don’t own, seem to have the most problems! 🤷🏼‍♂️

[MultiOutdoorman]

Gear shift height is intended for riders to be wearing motorcross-style boots, not trainers !
Boots are stiffer and have deeper toe sections to fit underneath the lever.
Anyway, they can be adjusted up or down.

[lh]

I own a 2023 KTM 890 Duke r and it's the best motorcycle I have ever owned. The only real problem is not going fast all of the time. Corners disappear with out thinking.

[KanaalMTS]

22:41 I always ride my KTM with earplugs in. Issues are only issues if you notice them 😂 Great video mate!

[simongibbons]

Is that a BMW comfort seat office chair?!

[arnoldkiel]

Just adjusted my gear-lever: it took literally 60 seconds, with the included board-tools.

[T-zw]

I’ve never had any problems with my KTMs and I’ve had several. Right now I have three. One is this bike (2019 version 790). The seat sucks. Sit in it for two hours and then tell me it’s still good. Seat Concepts is no better. I finally found a half way decent seat, it’s the KTM power parts heated seat. It’s more comfortable. My 790 has 16, 000 trouble free miles.

[eddyhoughton]

Follow-up to my (much) earlier post. Owned a 2023 S from new, 18 months and 21000 km. No mechanical problems apart from occasionally slipping out of 2nd gear during the running-in period. I added the tech pack, centre stand, heated grips, and twin touratech panniers. The bike's a gem, it does everything I want it to do, and more. Yes, it's capable off-road. Maybe not for competition, but when the GPS sends me off onto tracks, it handles them fine. I'd only change it for a Husqvarna Norden 901 or a 1290 Adventure, but honestly, there'd be no need, as the bike is perfectly capable as it is.

[Dusan]

Hi, V-told! You should consider to try KTM SMT 890... I saw it next to the Adventure 890 you took for the review....😂

[MotoKannibal]

B-rolls with triggering muscle cars, paying the gentleman's due attention to ladies passing by, and of course your signature acrobatic movements make your already good reviews even more entertaining. You have perfect roads and streets for city hooliganism. Budapest is a paradise in that regard too!

[Huskymotard]

Rhanks for the good job, honest and complete test. I agree with you that they should have added in the standard pack some "extras" like TPMS wich is very useful and enhance your safety. I have a 1190S and I was looking to move in the future to the lighter and newer 890S 2023 (finally I would have the vruise control for long travels!), I'm just little afraid I would miss the strong power from mid to high revs of the V2 LC8 (150CV)

[KMeyn]

Nice review! Beg to differ on some of your points though. I've got the same bike as in the video, with extras. Not replaced the mirrors yet, they're ok but vibey. The most annoying part. DoubleTake mirrors next me thinks.

I've now done in excess of 8300 kilometers with the bike. The previous bike was a 1290 Super Adventure which I did around 55.000 kilometers on. Had a little bit of a moped feeling in the beginning on the 890. But that faded away after some 1000s. The big difference is sitting on as opposed to sitting in the bike. One gets used to it. Riding offroad, on dirt, gravel etc it's bloody awesome, plainly and simply put.

The rattling /destabilization issue you notice I think can be attributed to the front fork bearing. It should be checked and tightened by the dealer. Was loose on mine. Same applies to a lot of KTMs, also my 1290. Actually had it tightened several times through my two season's ownership- It's a quick relatively fix.

I've not had any issues with heating at all. Watching your video I can clearly see we have very different riding styles. My 1290 I ran in >36C amd rush traffic in northern Italy and did notice it a bit. But boots/wear can make a difference. The fan on the 890 kicks in sooner though, but does its job. If anything I think it's better. That said, almost every Euro5 compliant engine will give off heat, if pushed hard enough. Perhaps with the exception of boxer engine :).

The bike has done an average of 3.7-3.8 liters/100km on long trips- With luggage. Even with a big og "hooliganistic" riding here and there. For me being a taller guy the seat in the highest position was ideal. It also resolved the little of buffeting there was. plenty of air still. Having fiddled with this inexact science of wind shields I can clearly say the 890 has one of the better. But everything is a compromise. One can buy the R screen and alternate between them. Might do that myself.

What else, clutch cluster /CC will be replaced under warranty. Conked out a few times after wash. But came back after ca 1hr. Must be current/voltage protection thing. The USB port died (not alone on that one), it too will be replaced under warranty.

Else it's been a hoot. I swapped out the rider part of the seat with the Ergo seat with heating. And have heated grips. Latter i consider an absolute necessity. Anyone in the market for a medium sized adventure bike should try it out, before buying anything else IMO. Cheers.

[davealston]

Fantastic review. Not all love and positivity a well rounded report thanks bud. I liked and subscribed!

[jmsmikey]

The heat problem is a deal killer for me~ I'm getting the Honda Transalp 750 for this reason. Great review~

[martinfretwell]

Happy you guys dont have problems. Its a good job because the warranty is shocking for an expensive motorcycle.

[alicefrozenberrypink]

this was awesome, please also do reviews on the vstrom 800de, transalp 750 and ktm 890 smt

[espero]

Better use motor boots instead of the slippers, then the gear is reachable perfectly 😉

[thomaskurek]

Great videos!!! so between KTM 890, tiger 900, Honda translap, which one would you choose?

[thepub]

The vast majority of problems are caused by weak battery issues caused by people not riding their machines enough. It takes around 15 minutes of riding to boost the charge up the battery used to start the engine. Keep the machine on a trickle charger when not being ridden. The advanced electronics on modern motorcycles make them prone to issues caused by weak batteries.

[yusufkim]

Great one !! 890 SMT review please too 👊🏼👊🏼