The 1 ESSENTIAL Upgrade Every KTM 790/890 Adventure R Needs to Immediately Improve Your Riding!

The KTM 790/890 Adventure R is the ultimate off-road Adventure Motorcycle and this affordable upgrade takes it to the next level! In this video I breakdown the ultimate upgrade for my KTM 790 Adventure R motorcycle. This makes my adventure motorcycle brake, accelerate, handle even better and improves overall comfort.

👀Watch These Next:

📸Follow Me on Instagram

☕Check Out My Coffee Company

[TheMotoBarista]

Suspension questions? Leave them in the comments below! 👇

[ArmyOfZin]

I'm a 200-lbs rider on the stock suspension. Best suspension I've ever experienced on an adventure bike. I think a lot people over spring this bike. The valving seems very good at my weight on stock springs.

[BNMURR]

I’m 260 lbs and I can say I finally found a bike that I didn’t actually have to make suspension changes. I’ve done lot of miles off road and even did a few small doubles at the mx track messing around and I am shocked at how well it performs for me. I messed with it a bit when I first owned it and actually just went back to the stock settings as that was most comfortable for me

[headofmoose]

Had a yr 2020 t7 and a 2022 890r along side each other whilst I was undecided. Spent a fortune on the t7 with suspension and power mods and no denying I loved that bike. The ktm handling and power just puts a bigger smile on my dial. Another big added bonus for me is the tech, cruise/quick shifter /tft phone&music etc. Yes currently $6k more for the ktm, it was almost $9k at one point. Both great bikes, all bikes are great. What were we talking about?? 😁

[trailrider]

Couldn't agree with you more. I had my 790 revalved, ktech forks and spring and some fancy ktech off road valve system. It's a totally different bike and I look it. Costed me 1500 NZD. Best money spent on the bike

[whimpihastarobbi]

Absolutly wonderful! I have been quite stressed today but watching this has calmed me down, , Thanks so much. Such a wonderful place!

[patbramble]

I am with you on the forks. Have them valved to be both rebound and compression. I'd live to here more about what your susp guy did and the setup he did. Being that I'm in the US, I dont think sending my forks to AUS is very practical.

[TeamStruggleBunny]

Interesting. I’m still breaking my 890 in but so far no real complaints over the suspension, but I have yet to fully test. I have followed a similar process with my KTM 300 and added the Dal Saggio XP One kit which has been a big improvement.

[Braapncamp]

Thanks for sharing and very nice presentation!

[davidrsmith]

My '23 890 Adventure had a similar chattering feel and sound over rocky bumpy terrain with the front end twitching a bit. I fixed it myself for free!
I am an engineer by trade. My bike had the USA OEM tires (Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR). My suspension damping for the forks and the shock were set to the original factory 'standard' settings, while the shock preload was adjusted for 30% sag with me on the bike. I weigh 188 lbs. with my gear on. I started experimenting with the tire pressures, KTM recommended 35psi up front and 42 psi on the rear after the 600 mile break-in. Riding both dirt and paved roads on every day-trip ride in the mountains of SW Virginia, I dropped the rear pressure to 35 which made the dirt handling far better than 42 psi (which was way to bumpy with poor traction in dirt). So then I rode on 35/35psi for another 500 miles or so but I was just not happy with this pressure, as its was clearly too high for our rocky dirt roads and it caused the bike to bounce around with jarring shocks through the handlebars as mentioned. but I felt that this was way too high for really rock strewn dirt roads. I carry a 12V moto tire pump in a small tail bag, so out on the trail I can lower or raise the tire pressure with little effort. I decided to experiment with tire pressures. I adjusted the pressures on both F&R tires to the same value. I iterated the tire pressures down or up and then rode on one of my 'go to' rock strewn bouncy mountain dirt roads which comes out on a recently paved secondary road that itself twists and turns up into the mountains. For each pressure setting I tested, I rode both the rough dirt section then a mile or two of the paved section. I started with (the stock) 35psi/35psi, then 30psi/30psi, then 25psi/25psi, and finally 20psi/20psi. While the stability on the rocky dirt road was my main focus, for another data point I also noted the handling on the paved section as well.
35 psi : the handling on the rocky dirt road was almost scary, the bike was bouncing off of rocks (some stick up out of the hard clay by 3-5 inches), the front wheel was very skiddish and unsure in footing. I was glad to get off of that road! On the paved section the bike handled nicely but even small bumps were transmitted through the handlebars and seat. In very sharp turns I could feel when the tires were starting to loose traction. The most excellent stock WP suspension on the 890 Adventure (non-R) transmits this incipient tire slip information very clearly to the rider.
30 psi : on the rocky dirt road the ride was slightly softer and the bike felt noticeably more planted, the tires were not bouncing or deflecting as much (compared to 35psi) except on the very largest of rocks. The front wheel was clearly more stable in footing. On the paved section the bike handled very nicely and the small bumps noticed with 35psi seemed to disappear. The handlebars had much less vibration and overall the bike felt pretty good. The non-R version of the 890 Adventure, being a bit closer to the ground, handles more like a sport bike on pavement in spite of its 21" front wheel. The 30psi/30psi pressures felt highly competent and allowed great handling on fast curves and when accelerating or braking hard. Incipient tire slip information was again clearly transmitted to the rider.
25 psi : the handling on the rocky dirt road was smoother and even more planted (compared to 30psi, the bike was rolling over most of the rocks with little drama or transmitted shock. The front wheel was not glancing off the rocks so much as rolling over them. The greater compliance of the tires did seem to slow the bike's famed quickness in tight S turn transitions. On the paved section the bike was very smooth, almost soft as most small bumps disappeared. However, in turns or on small rise and falls, the handling felt noticeably more sluggish and in hard turns, I could feel the tires wiggling a little as the sidewalls deflected? Perhaps the lower pressure allowed the tire to distort its shape in fast, hard turns. Running straight on tarmac the ride felt Cadillac smooth but when braking the front end dive was too much which gave the me much less confidence (compared to 30 psi tires).
20 psi: The bike's handling felt somewhat lethargic, but on straight sections of the rocky road the ride was smoother. But in turns, transitions or on little jumps or bunny hops the handling felt sloppy compared to 25psi or 30 psi tires. The traction of the Pirelli rear tire when running straight in the dirt was the best at this low pressure, but overall, the bike's handling was sloppy and imprecise. Also on the rocky dirt road I worried about getting a bent rim. On the paved section, the handling was relatively poor and cornering got a bit scary with the tires wiggling around a lot. The bike felt heavy and insecure. The feeling was close to riding on a tire going flat. No bueno.
Over the ensuing months, I kept experimenting. For the time being, I have settled on 30.5 lbs in the front and 31.0 lbs in the rear. This works very well for the street, providing excellent handling with great tire feedback in turns. In the dirt, these pressures are a little too high but if I slow down a just bit to compensate.
Rattling Noises: the 890 Adventure has several plastic panels that can cause loud rattling sounds when riding on rough dirt roads. This incessant rattling can really get irritating to some riders (like me) as the noise exacerbates rider stress when riding on any rough or rocky roads. I removed the little plastic 'tool carriers' on inside of each side panel and then taped down and added foam insulation to 6-7 several wires under the seat that were vibrating and striking against plastic panels and making lots of noise. Also, the kickstand can start moving when bouncing hard on dirt roads, and it can made a very loud metallic hammer-on-anvil 'knock" sound as it recovers. A tiny amount of heavy duty, high torque grey Permatex silicone on each metal face where the raised up kickstand stops (let it cure for 24 hours) eliminates most of this loud knock sound. This kickstand can also use a thin nylon or plastic shim on its main mounting bolt to take up excess slack which causes some of this knocking noise.The bike is much more satisfying to ride w/o all the rattles and knocks gone.

[mbingham]

Splitting hairs for the more experienced off-road rider, for most the stock suspension is just spot on

[patrickretif]

I experience the same stiff suspension on my 2022 890. your video is spot on. can you provide a link to the suspension you use to replace the stock one, as well as other expensive valve options?

[MichaelGeen]

Gday Moto Barista
Enjoying watching your videos very informative.
Im new to adventure bikes and have just purchased the 2020 ktm adventure 790R
Can you please forward the suspension business details that did the work on your bike
I like the improvements you were able to achieve
Cheers Mike

[adammills]

Hi, I’m curious who you got to do your suspension upgrades here in Australia, cheers

[IRweasel]

What wind deflector are you running on your own bike? It looks like a good and adjustable deflector

[karlcoudore]

Hi, thanks for your videos :)
Could you please give us the reference of what you installed ?
Thanks :)

[mortenlarsen]

Hi there.. have you ever measured the full rear wheel travel on the 890 adv R? I have done it by strapping it down to the bottom with straps, and I have only 140mm of travel from axel to sag measuring point🤔🤔 and should have 240mm

[petervanroosbroeck]

Hello Michael, tx for the video. Can you help me understand what the suspension specialist will do, type of work, what kind of changes are made, other hardware? Is it front and rear? tx for your response in advance, Peter

[drtalhamicom]

Hi
Great video 👍
I sold my 890r because of the harsh suspension! I got a Norden 901 now with hyoerpro springs and it feels better than before. A friend of mine is selling his 890r suspension and he offered it to me. Would it be any different on the Norden? I'm having a hard time deciding since I like the comfort of the nordens' suspension but haven't taking it to some hard off-road terrain yet!
Thanks

[MagnumMuscle]

Springs and a revalve is about $500 USD, and it's totally worth it if you are heavier and/or ride aggressively.