The 2023 KTM 890 SMT Is a "Long-Range Supermoto Weapon" Americans Won't Fire This Year

This week, the wait is finally over, as KTM pulled the wraps off the 890 SMT. An incredible machine, described as a "long-range Supermoto weapon," but not meant for everybody.

The SMT slots between KTM's Adventure and Street ranges, tipping the scale at 194 kg (428 pounds). That's the perfect weight for the bike's 889cc LC8c parallel twin engine to move the beast and give riders the thrills they seek.

The engine used for the two-wheeler is a re-tuned variant of an existing KTM piece of hardware, already used on the likes of the 890 Adventure R, for instance, and it develops in this application 105 hp at 8,000 rpm, topping that off with 100 Nm of torque.

The engine is held in the bike maker's CroMo steel frame, which in turn is lifted off the ground by WP APEX suspension hardware and a pair of 17-inch wheels wrapped in Michelin PowerGP rubber. Up on the frame, there is a 15.8-liter fuel tank, from where about 4.6 liters of fuel are drained every 100 km (that's 51 mpg in American numbers). The seat further back is located 860 mm off the ground, and within easy reach of the motorcycle's heated grips.

Depending on the way it is used (we can easily see it racing down the highway, but also taking more challenging routes off the beaten path), the bike can be configured for Rain, Street, and Sport use, with an additional Track mode feature just in case a circuit somewhere becomes a destination sometime.

Visually, the KTM 890 SMT doesn't stray far from the rest of the KTM bikes, with plenty of orange displayed on the rims and some parts of the body, blended with black pretty much everywhere else.

KTM showed the bike this week in the hands of former AMA Superbike and Supermoto racer Chris Fillmore, and that explains many of the photos you see in the attached gallery. Average Joes, on the other hand, will get the chance to experience the SMT a while from now.

By the end of the month, KTM said it will open the order books for the bike, with deliveries expected to begin in May. And that's only over in Europe, as this long-range supermoto weapon will not make it across the ocean to the U.S., at least not this year.

On the Old Continent pricing for the 2023 KTM 890 SMT varies depending on the market, but to get your bearings, know that in the UK the sticker reads £12,499.