First look at the 2020 KTM Super Adventure
Our spy shots prove that the new bike is getting 790-esque bodywork with lower fuel tanks and bigger fairing
These are the world’s first photos of the 2020 KTM 1290 Super Adventure – the big mile muncher from Austria that’s going to take on the latest version of the BMW R1200GS.
Shot outside an R&D facility recently, the photographs show what’s in store for the large capacity machine. While there may be a host of new electronics and internal changes that aren’t obvious from the photographs, what can be seen from our spy snapper’s images are wholesale changes to the motorcycle.
You only get a true idea of how different the new 1290 Super Adventure is going to be once you compare it directly to the current bike. Gone is the minimal bodywork from the 2019 motorcycle, replaced with a more encompassing set of plastics. There’s a bigger TFT colour screen, a new windscreen, new seats, more fuel-carrying capability and better ergonomics, too.
The bike we’ve photographed undergoing tests is running a pretty crudely formed set of bodywork that apes what we saw at the end of last year on the 790 Adventure from KTM. The shoulders of the 1290 are now flared out, the petrol tanks are moved down lower on the front of the bike and the conventional position for what would normally be the petrol tank is now filled by a tank cover that’s been re-shaped and has a side profile that’s lower than on the current version of the 1290 Super Adventure.
The fairing itself is also heavily revised with the current bike’s large, split-face headlights gone on the prototype photographed. The model being ridden in our photos only has a single round LED headlight unit. This is unlikely to be how the finished bike will look so it’s anyone’s guess at the moment as to whether we see the twin headlights return (in which case, why not fit these to the prototype motorcycle?) or if we’ll see something redesigned from KTM when this bike eventually hits the shelves. The prototype motorcycle looks to have a redesigned nose too with the bottom of the fairing jutting out further than on the current bike, the air-deflecting shoulders have been re-shaped and the screen, although looking very similar to the one on the current bike’s side profile, has come in for some serious re-working when viewed from the front. That screen is clearly adjustable (manually on the current bike and at the moment it looks like the prototype bike has the same manual adjustment wheel fitted rather than an electronic adjustment option) with large cut-outs in the fairing showing how much it will move up and down to suit a rider’s needs. From our photos you can see the bike is running a full-colour TFT digital dash, the unit used on the prototype motorcycle looks to be larger than on the current 1290 which would make sense as the R1250GS Adventure has now been given the 6.5 inch TFT screen that was previously only available as an aftermarket option.
What is also clear is that the prototype motorcycle in our photos is out for the first time with the new 790-esque bodywork with neither the conventionally placed petrol tank or new lower tanks on the bike being used to carry fuel right now. That job’s being taken care of by the ‘pannier’ on the left-hand side of the bike which is actually a fuel tank made specifically for early runs on bodywork placement testing so that the factory doesn’t have to think about actual tanks carrying actual fuel for now. With the new fairing and new lower petrol tanks KTM is looking to compete directly with the latest version of the BMW R1250GS Adventure – the German bike has 30 litres of on-board fuel which is supposed to give a realistic range of around 400 miles while the current KTM offering carries only 23 litres. The new 790-esque tanks should mean that the big KTM is at least on par with the BMW in the fuel carrying stakes. The added handling benefit of the fuel being lower down on the bike is that the KTM shouldn’t feel as top-heavy as the BMW, too.
At this stage, it looks like the 1290 Super Adventure is identical under the bodywork to the current bike, so expect the updated version to continue booting out 160bhp @ 8,750rpm from its 1,301cc liquidcooled V-twin motor. Comparing the KTM to the BMW (as the factory is already doing), the Austrian bike has a huge 24bhp in hand over the 136bhp @ 7,750rpm BMW motor so there seems little point in KTM giving the Super Adventure more power. Expect more mid-range with the new bike and smoother low-down power delivery thanks to revised electronics too.
The new KTM 1290 Super Adventure will go on sale in early 2020 and will be shown to the world at the end of this year complete with the 790-esque bodywork in place.