The “monster” of adventure bikes needs space to stretch its legs.
The biggest anomaly about KTM — at least, the biggest anomaly other than “Why orange?” — is how they have built a reputation for having the most outlandishly powerful motors while being built in the most over-policed country in the European arena. Okay, the second-most over-policed.
Swiss police are truly enthusiastic about their jobs and Swiss speeding fines are legendary.
Nonetheless, Austria, for all its lush mountains and serpentine roads, is also enthusiastically policed. Cop cars are on constant patrol, the speed limits on secondary roads are particularly restrictive and, frankly, everyone drives like the proverbial little old lady from Pasadena. Actually, little old ladies from Munderfing, where KTM has its factory, drive slower. How that morphed into Team Orange’s “Ready to Race” motto I have no idea. But I do know that trying to put a 1290 Adventure S through its paces on public roads in Österreich is a little like asking Michael Phelps to do laps in a 10-metre pool: quick second-and-a-half spurts do not capture the absolutely majestic power of either.
SURPRISINGLY COMFORTABLE
Now, to be sure, seat comfort is a personal judgement. Nonetheless, the Adventure’s perch hit all the right buttons for me. It’s firm without being hard, shaped but still mostly flat and it has no massive angled portion at the front to trap private parts in an excruciating battle between gonads and gas tank. Seriously, the big KTM’s seat is superior to that on the GS or Multistrada and, Lord, what I wouldn’t do to have it on my V-Strom 1000.
The other thing that stood out is that KTM has the best man-machine digital interface in the motorcycle biz. Dramatically easier to use than either BMW’s — with its infernal “multi-controller” — or Ducati’s, the KTM digital dashboard is both powerful and intuitive to use.
A simple four-way toggle and “click” button control where you go and access the information while a simple back button gets you back to the homepage when you screw up. The submenus are logically laid out, sufficiently so that the Adventurer S is the easiest motorcycle to adjust the suspension on the fly.
SUSPENSION SETTINGS
Speaking of which, the big KTM has a few new items that I’ve been demanding for years. Along with the standard-issue rear preload setting that can be set up for solo riding and two-up touring, the KTM also has a rider chosen selection. I’d call them…
