The Adventure Motorcycle That Quietly Delivers Outstanding Everyday Comfort
You’ve crossed interstates, you’ve soaked in the scenic routes, and now, you’re just bored. A new bike doesn’t cut it, and new tech seems all the same, because you’ve probably seen it all by now. Then, there comes a point in life when an ADV starts to make sense. The rather utilitarian-looking adventure bike seems like the go-to tool for the job, because now you’re planning to cross countries. But the difference between a good adventure bike and a great one is its ability to not only make you do so, but to live with it on a daily basis. KTM’s new flagship aims to walk that fine balance.
The Recipe For An Adventure Bike That’s Comfortable Every Day
A modern ADV can practically replace everything in your garage. The capability of a modern adventure bike has outgrown the rider sitting on it today. Engines make more power than they used to, and suspension tech has gotten smarter still. None of it, however, upgrades the person doing the actual riding. Fatigue is what you’re really fighting once a day starts before sunrise and doesn’t wrap up until well after dark. And it’s the little things that stack up hour after hour, as fatigue builds up and prevents you from adding more miles to the day. They even show up daily in the most basic places, like your clutch hand, for instance.
That clutch hand deserves its own mention because anything over a liter, and the clutch pull on a big ADV gets heavy. Heavy enough that you won’t clock the fatigue accumulating until it’s already there, hurting, and at times agonizingly so. And you could have the most reliable and comfortable of ADVs, or even a used bargain of a former flagship, but they’ll all have this issue crop up sporadically. Every stoplight adds to it. Every slow crawl in traffic adds to it. String enough of those together on a multi-state riding day, and it compounds, probably even to the extent of cutting the day’s ride short. Thankfully, there’s a proper solution for it now.
The KTM 1390 Super Adventure S Evo Quietly Delivers Outstanding Everyday Comfort
KTM answers that fatigue question with the 1390 Super Adventure S Evo and an ingenious solution borrowed from the four-wheel world, but more on that later. The road-biased KTM flagship sits atop its Super Adventure range, where it swaps the R’s off-road-focused 21-inch spoked front wheel for smaller, cast 19-inch and 17-inch wheels, a lower seat, and a chassis dialed in more for the tarmac with light-duty trail use. At $22,699, it’s not a cheap bike by any means, but the money starts making sense when you realize that it goes towards solving the exact problem we’ve been talking about.
The 170-HP Camshift V-Twin Comes Loaded With Tech
The engine underneath all of it is a reworked 1,350cc LC8 V-twin, up from the 1,301cc on the 1290 Super Adventure S. KTM’s new Camshift tech is its variable valve timing equivalent, swapping cam profiles as the revs climb to keep the power band wide. Peak output lands at a healthy 171 hp, with 107 lb-ft of torque.
Among the many things that the 1390 Super Adventure S Evo packs, it’s the 8-inch portrait-oriented TFT that basically runs the whole show, affording clear graphics and acting as the control center for a plethora of bike settings. The highlight of the electronics package is the front-mounted radar that comes standard.
This is what gives the S Evo adaptive cruise control, holding a safe distance from the vehicle in front in traffic, and it even throws in a Group Ride mode that can decipher a pack of riders differently from a car in front of you. This tech, on its own, sounds a bit of an overkill until you use it and notice how it mentally takes away a layer of caution that can now be focused on the actual ride even more.
Suspension And Ergonomics Offer Comfort For The Daily Ride And A Full Day In The Saddle
The WP suspension is electronically controlled at each end and changes the damping continuously as road surfaces and rider inputs change, cycling through the riding modes in Comfort, Street, Sport, or Rain. At 503 pounds without fuel, the S Evo needs suspension that can settle a loaded bike quickly. This adaptability is what separates it in affording confidence to the rider irrespective of the surface underneath, redefining true luxury in the full-size ADV space.
The windscreen moves through 70mm of adjustment and was shaped in a wind tunnel to cut buffeting and noise at speed. KTM also widened the handlebar and moved the footpegs 8mm lower and 10mm further out for 2027, and the two-piece seat adjusts between 33.3 and 34.1 inches to fit a range of inseams. This is truly a motorcycle that hits a sweet spot between performance and real-world usability.
The Automated Manual Transmission Is A Major Fatigue Neutralizer
A clutch lever is the one control on a motorcycle that needs constant work, especially when you’re off the highway, negotiating technical terrain or even the daily traffic. You’ll be glad to know the 1390 Super Adventure S Evo doesn’t have one. Instead, KTM’s Automated Manual Transmission uses a centrifugal clutch that stays disengaged until the engine reaches roughly 1,900 rpm. Yes, you’ll argue that it takes away the learnings of clutch control, but we’re talking about a motorcycle that will only be picked up by seasoned riders, who’d rather manage throttle control than arm pump.
And it isn’t a system that takes away manual gear control. There are modes here too, with Auto mode handling shifts on its own, tuned differently across Comfort, Street, and Sport settings, so shifting revs differ according to the ride’s demands. Manual mode hands control back to you through a pair of handlebar-mounted paddles or a conventional foot lever, both of which trigger the same internal servo rather than a physical linkage. The gearbox itself reads Park, then Neutral, then first through sixth in sequence.
The KTM 1390 Super Adventure S Evo Against European Rivals
No ADV conversation can happen without the BMW R 1300 GS being mentioned. In this case, it undercuts the KTM by more than $2,300 at $20,395, and its shaft drive is a boon. But the GS asks extra for the technology the KTM includes from the factory, since semi-active suspension and adaptive cruise control both sit on BMW’s optional Dynamics package. The boxer’s 145 hp trails the KTM’s 171 hp, even though the BMW’s 110 lb-ft actually edges out the KTM’s slightly lower 107.
Then there is the immensely capable Ducati Multistrada V4 S, which is the closest match on outright ambition. Its 1,158cc V4 makes 170 hp, and the standard Skyhook semi-active suspension offers the same continuously adjusting comfort of the WP units. But the Ducati starts at $29,995, more than $7,000 above the KTM, and still has a conventional clutch operation.
The BMW remains the simpler long-term mechanical bet, one that’s also highly desirable, and the Ducati carries a road-racing pedigree in its motor. What the Super Adventure S Evo does instead is unique in a way that it removes the clutch from the comfort equation entirely, and offers the tech at a price that’s very sensible, making this KTM worth riding every day and replacing other motorcycles that you own.
Source: KTM
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