KTM have spent years perfecting their mid-cap adventure bike and the 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R might allow them to finally rest. We test it to find out if they can.
At just over 200kg with fuel, the 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R is a good 30-50kg shy of most 1200cc adventure machines and thanks to the design of the fuel cells, feels even lighter. KTM cleverly designed the fuel to essentially sit under your arse so it is more centralised and less top-heavy. The result is a package that handles like something that weighs between 160-180kg. It’s incredible how agile the 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R feels and the flickability is more akin to an EXC.
The 890 Adventure R feels so planted and well-balanced I had to keep reminding myself I was on an adventure bike and not a 690. Too often, adventure bikes with fuel tanks that start at 20 litres feel top-heavy and a little cumbersome but not the 890 Adventure R. We even took it for a spin through the single track loop we normally test enduro bikes on and it was incredible how easy it was to slow down and turn.
Thanks to the 889cc, parallel twin that pumps out of 100nm of torque, the Adventure R still holds its own on those big stretches of highway. It comes standard with cruise control, which I tried on the highway between Bathurst and Lithgow and it felt no different to a much bigger, heavier adventure machine. Frustratingly, you can’t adjust the windscreen so when I was sitting on 110km/h, I did notice a little wind buffering under my helmet as I am 188cm tall. But in terms of the ease at which it did the big highway leg, it was just as stable as a 1200.
Better than a baby
Adventure bikes come in a variety of different sizes and capacities now. Last issue I jumped on a Kawasaki KLX 230S and attempted to adventure ride it. You can get them in quarter-litre, single cylinder dirtbike size or hog eating, 1200cc and over twin-cylinder thumpers so there really is a capacity for everyone but none do the tight and technical stuff quite like the small-bore adventure bikes.
Most people would think that if you’re going to do any hardcore off-road adventure riding then your steed needs to be somewhere around 250cc-300cc and 160kg. While this is always going to be better in the dirt than anything heavier, it doesn’t mean that with the right weight and geometry, a bigger bike can’t do what the small-bore is doing. That is the case for the 890 Adventure R.
The only scenario where I would not recommend taking the 890 Adventure R is the Simpson Desert. The soft sand and deep wheel tracks at the end of a season can make getting a bike the size of the 890 Adventure R through a little challenging. A dirtbike or even a single-cylinder 600cc machine would be easier. But for almost all other scenarios, the 890 Adventure R will go where a 250cc machine will go, with the right pilot.
We traversed about 15 waist-deep rivers and never had any issues with bulk (in fact we think it stopped us from floating downstream on one strong crossing). We slid through hard pack red clay with just as much grace as a small-bore without even low-siding it and sliced through singletrack with as much agility as a baby adventure bike. You have to be confident and up to date with your dirt skills but for a competent dirtbike rider there shouldn’t be too many situations when you wish you had a 250F adventure bike and come the open road, you’ll be glad you don’t.
There’s also something to be said for bigger motors making things easier. I feel less tired at the end of a day adventure riding if I’ve let the bike do all the grunt work and have not had to paddle it or at the other end of the scale had to fight it all day to stay in control. The mid-cap size is not only rideable but it’s energy-saving too.
The final pursuit
To ride out the door with an 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R, you’ll need to part with over $26,500 ride away but you get plenty of fruit I haven’t even talked about. The 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R runs switchable ABS where you can turn it off entirely or leave it on maximum intervention and everything in-between. It’s even lean sensitive for when you’re cornering to stop you low siding or high siding.
It has traction control, which is switchable and comes in plenty of different levels. It has four rider modes so you can flick between Rain, Rally, Off-Road and Road mode on the fly and of course it adjusts all your electronic rider aids to suit that particular mode. You can even setup your own mode if you feel like it but I was happy just flicking between the pre-set modes.
It’s got the tried and tested KTM Chromium-Molybdenum-Steel frame using the engine as stressed element which has never given us grief in the past. It’s also powder-coated orange for that rally-look. It runs KTM’s enduro-like WP XPLOR-USD, 48mm fork but with adventure settings and it runs the WP XPLOR PDS shock, just like the enduro bikes too.
It’s got a fancy TFT display with all sorts of connectivity, the footpegs have real teeth and the seat has room for a pillion. With its incredibly well-balanced chassis, agile handling and super-broad engine, there really isn’t anything else you’d want from a mid-cap adventure bike, or any adventure bike for that matter!
KTM 890 Adventure R
DISPLACEMENT 889 cm³
DESIGN Two-cylinder, Four-stroke, parallel twin
BORE & STROKE 68.8 mm x 90.7 mm
TRANSMISSION 6-speed
COOLING Liquid cooled with water/oil heat exchanger
LUBRICATION Forced oil lubrication with 2 oil pumps
STARTER Electric starter
EMS Bosch EMS with RBW
CLUTCH PASC™ antihopping clutch, mechanically operated
TANK CAPACITY (APPROX.)20L
FRONT BRAKE Twin disc brake 320mm
REAR BRAKE Disc brake 260mm
WEIGHT (DRY) 200 kg
FRAME DESIGN Chromium-Molybdenum-Steel frame using the engine as stressed element, powder coated
FRONT SUSPENSIONWP XPLOR-USD, Ø 48 mm, 240mm travel
REAR SUSPENSIONWP Xplor PDS shock absorber, 240mm travel
GROUND CLEARANCE 263 mm
SEAT HEIGHT 880 mm
Words | Mitch Lees
Photos | ML & Bernie den Hertog