The KTM 990 Adventure R is the most hard-core Adventure bike you can buy. If you're coming to adventure riding from a dirt bike background and want to move away from single-cylinder machines, the 990R offers the best package of suspension, performance and off-road handling available today.

I tested that conclusion when one of our support testers sailed on past a turn. The person on that corner stopped me and said, "Ron didn't turn - he just kept going. He's only four or five minutes ahead".
Four or five minutes? On dirt roads where we are doing 80-90km/h? If I hadn't been on the 990R I doubt I would have caught him before Tibooburra, a couple of hundred kilometres away, but I simply stood up on the pegs, let the big engine have its head and trusted the suspension. 20km later I was leading back our errant tourist, revelling in the way the big KTM had simply risen to the challenge and given me the fastest dirt-road ride I'd ever experienced, and did it so easily and comfortably.

I'd had that ride in perfect conditions for adventure bikes too: open countryside on the edge of the desert, where high speeds and long distances are simply facts to be dealt with, and where a good adventure bike is lots of fun, where its weight is not a problem and where luggage is a necessary evil.
The 990R offers extra performance in a number of areas over the 990S. A different ignition boosts horsepower to 115, up from 106. Different White Power suspension offers 38mm more travel at each end, for a total of 248mm. This also boosts ground clearance to an impressive 296mm, but this has the knock-on effect of increasing seat height to a hamstring-straining 296mm. Talking of the seat, it's different on the 990R, flatter and more dirt-oriented than on the 990S, which is a good thing if you're moving your weight around to suit different conditions.

Interestingly, KTM seems to have responded to criticisms the earlier model Adventure R was too tall, because suspension travel, ground clearance and seat height are all actually a little reduced for 2011: this will be viewed as a step backwards by some, but believe me this is still a tall, big motorcycle.
The powerplant of both motors is the same: a 75-degree V-twin four-stroke with four valves per cylinder and double overhead cams. Fuel injected, of course, and the injection is excellent.

Although I like the low maintenance of a shaft drive, I prefer adventure bikes to be chain driven. This gives the option to change gearing (lowering the gearing of the Adventure R would be good if you were heading for very tough terrain) but the big advantage is repairability if something goes wrong, and they can actually be cheaper to own than a shaft: you will need to replace chains and sprockets regularly but they are cheap compared to shafts.
KTM Australia had supplied the bike ready to take on the outback. At the front they'd added a set of crash/engine bars, at the rear a set of awesome Hepco & Becker panniers.
Panniers are an excellent way to carry gear the weight is carried low (usually between the axles) and models like the Hepco & Becker units carry heaps. Made from a tough double-wall plastic, these boxes look to be a better option than the aluminium units which are still available. The latches are very heavy duty, too. There's even an optional tap kit to use the gap between the walls of the panniers to hold three litres of water in each box.

Talking of water, no rain got inside either box during the test.
At the front of the current KTM 990 models is a small compartment between the two fuel fillers - the 990 actually has a tank on either side, with separate fillers for both. Filling both sides is a minor pain, but at least you can pull the key out with the cap open, so you can get them both open and the key back in the ignition before starting to fill the bike.

Fuel capacity is 19.5 litres, enough for around 300km. We'd like a longer range on an adventure bike in Australia, but unfortunately no-one makes a bike just for us.
Also standard on all 990 Adventure KTMs is a small rear rack. I used it to carry camera and video gear (see my eTorque column for more on this).
If you're coming from a road bike background the stratospheric seat height and aggressive nature of the 990R might mean you're better off with the standard KTM 990 Adventure, which, while still coming from a manufacturer famous for its dirt bikes, delivers off-road adventure performance second only to, well, the Adventure R.
With a tamer ignition there are a few less horses, but the maximum power is delivered lower in the rev range, too, and in general the bike isn't as aggressive to ride.
It's easier to live with day-to-day because the seat is lower, so paddling along with your feet down - which you shouldn't be doing, standing up on the pegs almost always offers more control is a lot easier.
Switchable ABS is good to have to have, increasing the safety factor.

We weren't able to take the standard 990 Adventure on the outback trip: the bike limited to day trips from Cycle Torque HQ while here on test. What we love about this bike was its versatility. It's not acceptable on bitumen, it's downright great fun. The long travel suspension soaks up the bumps beautifully, on road or off. The riding position is relaxed and comfortable, but the footpegs are positioned to make standing easy and comfortable. The tank, although wide by dirt bike standards, is easy to grip with your knees when standing. Pillion accommodation is good in fact, the bike is hard to fault.

The standard screen is awful if you're my height (185cm), dumping the airflow halfway up my helmet causing buffeting and incredible amounts of wind noise. When Cycle Torque owned an earlier model 990 we had Eagle Screens in WA make up a short screen which eliminated the problem. For longer distance touring KTM offers a larger touring screen, which I should have requested for the Adventure.

690 Enduro R
THE GFC killed KTM's single-cylinder adventure bikes as off-the-showroom-floor models, but you can still build one, using the 690 Enduro as a base. We did, using the 690 Enduro R long-term test machine and a combination of both genuine KTM spares and accessories as well as some trick products from Adventure Moto.

In standard trim the 690 Enduro R is a big, powerful dirt bike: more versatile than a 450 because it's a lot more at home on bitumen but still able to play hard on the trails, this bike is also suitable for single-track dirt bike riding.
To turn it into an Adventure bike there had to be changes though. Firstly, fuel range was never going to be sufficient to make the distances between fuel stops in the outback, so KTM Australia supplied us with a Safari Tank: this replaced the shrouds which make up the fake fuel tank at the front of the bike, but doesn't actually replace the standard tank, which actually lives under the seat, so with this one addition the 690 Enduro R went from having the worst fuel range to having the best, with a calculated range of over 600km.

Adventure Moto is Australia's leading supplier of after-market gear for the dirt tourer, and they recommended we try their bash plate, rear rack and special over-the-seat bag. There's also a tankbag available, but with the amount of bikes on the trip we didn't need that. Check them out on www.adventuremoto.com.au or call them on 1300 GO MOTO.

From KTM's extensive catalogue of accessories we added the short touring screen and the gel seat, both items aimed at improving comfort on the long haul.
The bike also needed fresh bags for the trip: White's Racing Products supplied us with a pair of Sava Rockrider tyres. These are more aggressive than your usual adventure tyres but not as aggressive as enduro tyres. At the end of day two the 690 copped a flat, and as the Kenda tyre was all but shagged we replaced it with the Sava on the side of the road. From there we did at least another 2000 kilometres and the Sava Rockrider held up extremely well. The Kenda front tyre also held up well to the point we didn't need to replace it.

The 690 Enduro R was ridden primarily by our least experienced off-road rider on the trip and we chose that deliberately. The lighter weight of the 690, knobby tyres and a riding position well suited to dirt riding meant it would give Matthew the best chance of being able to not only keep up but give him the confidence which is so key to riding off road.
The bike succeeded at that task really, really well, but more on that in next month's issue.

Part 2 - August 2011 Issue

THERE is little doubt the KTM 990 Adventure R is the adventure bike of choice for dirt bike riders wanting to move into the category.
KTM's heritage as a premium championship-winning dirt bike manufacturer and the development of the V-twin Adventure range over the last decade or so has resulted in a kick-arse bike which can go almost anywhere, at high speed, comfortably and safely. Add in a huge list of options and accessories and versatility comes to the fore, too.

Along with those capabilities comes an eye-watering price tag, nose-bleed seat height and plenty of weight, so the 990 Adventure R certainly isn't for everyone.
So there's the standard 990 Adventure. The seat's lower, the power delivery softer, the suspension more compliant. There's switchable ABS, and, of course, a huge range of options and accessories to tailer the bike to suit your style and needs.

And it's $1000 cheaper.
If the Adventure R is for the dirt bike rider wanting to move into Adventure riding, the standard 990 is for the road bike rider wanting to move into the Adventure scene. It's a better bike on the long haul, a better bike on the road, and the ABS really adds a margin for error.

However, if you're ever likely to want to charge through the dirt like you've entered the Paris-Dakar, the Adventure R is for you. Or maybe you should consider the KTM 690 Enduro R, and tailor it for adventure riding.
While adventure bikes are fantastic machines and are very versatile, a 690 Enduro R is a dirt bike with some road manners. Our resident dirt guru, Darren Smart rode our test bike to work regularly and then went out and shocked enduro bike owners with his ability to charge through the bush at high speed, making owners of WRs, CRFs and EXCs really sit up and take notice.

For Cycle Torque's big outback adventure we added the Safari fuel tank supplied by KTM Australia, Sava tyres, G-IT bash plate and rack from Adventure moto, a gel seat and touring screen from KTM. All these accessories didn't make the 690 into a 990, but they did make the bike into a genuine adventure tourer. Only the Yamaha XTZ660 Ténéré and the 690 R from in our test group felt good on wet, slippery roads, and they feel like dirt bikes. The 690 carries a lot less weight than any of the multi-cylinder bikes, has a riding position design more for performance than comfort, is awesome to ride standing up and goes exactly where you point it.
It doesn't have the outright performance of the multis, but could be the fastest bike in tough conditions - when the big bikes are turning into a handful, the 690 is really coming into its own.
I would recommend the 690 Enduro R to anyone wanting a dirt bike 50 weeks of the year and an adventure machine for the other two.

The 990 Adventure R carried heaps of luggage, the Cycle Torque camera gear, onboard cameras and lots more on out adventure trip. It's performance - engine, suspension, comfort - was all excellent. Only in wet, sloppy off-road conditions did it start to feel less than comfortable, although I would have like to have had a steering damper when soft sand started the oscillation which screams 'tankslapper' (watch the 990 video to see the onboard footage of this - www.cycletorque.com.au/more).
I didn't crash in those conditions, but one of our crew did.

But despite my love of the 990 Adventure R, I reckon most riders would be better off with a standard 990. The standard version, with its lower price, lower seat and ABS makes it a better all-round machine, especially if most of your riding is done on the bitumen.

To see part one of this story, a video review and links to specifications etc, go to www.cycletorque.com.au/more.

RRP:
KTM 690R - $15,395 + ORC, 24 month parts and labour warranty.
990 Adventure - $21,995 + ORC, 24 months parts and labour warranty.
990R - $23,995 + ORC, 24 months parts and labour warranty.