The KTM 390 Adventure has been a beautiful, though short-lived dream. KTM Press & PR Coordinator answered some direct questions and has openly declared that no adventure bike based on the current 390 platform will arrive from either Mattighofen or the Bajaj plants in India.
Advpulse has apparently managed to reach Mattighofen officials and asked about a statement on this matter, but the Austrians said that even though KTM is always open for development, the bike as rumored will not become reality. “From a strategic point of view KTM always considers new developments and for this reason: never say no. But currently such models are not foreseen. From a technical perspective other versions would require a complete different package. The existing layout can [be] used for Naked and Supersport models,” KTM PR said.
Now, these words however must not be understood as definitive refusal to take building such a machine into consideration. We’ve had a lot of similar declarations infused with a ton of political correctness and carefully-chosen words from KTM and CEO Stefan Pierer, but in the background things were rolling out at KTM, even though a bit differently from what the rumors said.
Given the huge interest the 390 Adventure (potential) bike sparkled, it’s hard to believe that Pierer is not considering a small-displacement adv bike, even though, according to his words, the 390 Duke platform cannot be easily adapted to comply with the rigors of off-roading.
It was truly inspiring to see the high hopes the adventure-lovers’ community had these last weeks, as it proved that such a machine would definitely be a hit, especially when priced correctly. Still, I believe that someone at KTM is already working on such a bike. The reason for my supposition goes back in time a bit, and has to do with one of the biggest rivals KTM has in the adventure-touring and enduro-touring segment, BMW.
Last October, sources in the Indian motorcycle industry revealed that BMW and its local partner TVS were working on developing a sub-500cc bike line-up which would include a GS-ish machine, engineered in Germany and manufactured in India, with distinct versions being sold by TVS locally and an “international model” branded as BMW.
Since the segment has an immense potential, we simply cannot ignore these rumors… and it looks like neither can KTM.
Now, these words however must not be understood as definitive refusal to take building such a machine into consideration. We’ve had a lot of similar declarations infused with a ton of political correctness and carefully-chosen words from KTM and CEO Stefan Pierer, but in the background things were rolling out at KTM, even though a bit differently from what the rumors said.
Given the huge interest the 390 Adventure (potential) bike sparkled, it’s hard to believe that Pierer is not considering a small-displacement adv bike, even though, according to his words, the 390 Duke platform cannot be easily adapted to comply with the rigors of off-roading.
It was truly inspiring to see the high hopes the adventure-lovers’ community had these last weeks, as it proved that such a machine would definitely be a hit, especially when priced correctly. Still, I believe that someone at KTM is already working on such a bike. The reason for my supposition goes back in time a bit, and has to do with one of the biggest rivals KTM has in the adventure-touring and enduro-touring segment, BMW.
Last October, sources in the Indian motorcycle industry revealed that BMW and its local partner TVS were working on developing a sub-500cc bike line-up which would include a GS-ish machine, engineered in Germany and manufactured in India, with distinct versions being sold by TVS locally and an “international model” branded as BMW.
Since the segment has an immense potential, we simply cannot ignore these rumors… and it looks like neither can KTM.
Google News