0:04 Okay. Uh, bike four in the battle of the
0:06 singles. Next one I'll do is a DRZ 4S.
0:08 But for now, we're talking about the KTM
0:11 390 Enduro R. It came out last year
0:12 alongside the Adventure. Uh, the reason
0:14 I went for the Enduro is that simply I
0:15 just thought it was a bit more
0:18 interesting really. Strip bike, 9 liter
0:20 tank, so not a huge tank, but 44 brake
0:23 horsepower engine, 21 18inch wheels. So,
0:24 it feels like KTM were taking it
0:26 seriously. And for the person who wants
0:28 a bike that's got trail capability but
0:30 also can has got maybe longer legs for
0:32 the road, it seemed like a really good
0:35 alternative to a say a CRF300L
0:38 um or a V 200. Obviously it's not got
0:39 the cockpit and the cowl in the bigger
0:42 tank, but you know as a as a hybrid
0:44 trail travel bike, the Enduro R
0:46 certainly at the price £5,700, it just
0:49 ticked a lot a lot of boxes for me. So
0:50 today I'm going to take it out the same
0:53 route. What I'm interested to see is
0:54 will it climb and will it do the same
0:57 sort of difficult track and trail as the
0:59 out andout trail bikes with a longer
1:01 travel suspension because this is WP
1:03 apex suspension so it's not got the huge
1:06 travel say as a CRF but will it still do
1:08 it uh and equally will it do it but then
1:11 also give the uh added benefit of
1:12 performance on the road that makes those
1:14 compromises on the trail worthwhile. So
1:16 there's a lot of unpicking to do on this
1:18 bike. I've got to be honest, this is the
1:20 bike that excites me the most just for
1:22 the price, the performance, the package
1:24 of off-road and on-road engagement. So,
1:25 I'm going to take this out. I'm going to
1:28 get kitted up. I'm going to take you out
1:31 for a spin and see how we do. 165 kilos,
1:33 I think it is. Still wearing the
1:36 standard Michelin Karoo 4 tires. Maybe
1:38 like a 60/40 tire. Maybe a slight bias
1:40 towards road. So, we'll see how they uh
1:42 they do on that that steep trail at the
2:10 >> Okay, so we finally got it going again.
2:13 I I think it just been stood for a month
2:15 or so and uh just lost charge, jumped
2:18 jump started off another bike.
2:20 Uh before we jump into this first lane,
2:21 I will say I did have issues with this
2:23 bike to begin with. I think we all did
2:25 that fueling and that throttle mapping
2:27 which in fairness to KTM they were very
2:29 quick to remedy. They put a new map on
2:31 it and since then it's a different bike.
2:33 It used to flame out and stall a lot of
2:35 the bike. It was very infuriating I have
2:39 to say and uh with that remap just it's
2:41 a different bike. So yeah, uh it was a
2:44 shame it came out with that floor, but
2:46 at least they did erectify it. I'm just
2:48 going to I got a car behind me, so I'm
2:51 just going to pull
2:54 see how it goes up. Heartbreak. Now, the
2:56 issue with the KTM,
3:00 it's a road by biased chassis and a road
3:02 bias engine. And I think there's a lot
3:04 of speculation
3:05 that it's not going to be any good off-road.
3:12 And I've got to say on that outing it's
3:15 not. That was really interesting. I
3:17 think I was catching that heel, that
3:19 side stand. It kept flaming out on like
3:32 I've got to watch that. I just got to
3:34 bring my foot a bit further forward.
3:36 It's almost like traction control
3:50 you know, uh, I'm going to give a really
3:53 quick quick verdict here. If you're
3:55 expecting this to ride like a 300cc dirt
4:01 bike, CRF vo rayu, forget it. Different
4:05 ball part. Are you worth?
4:06 I've done some adjustment on the
4:07 suspension. I'm sure we could optimize
4:10 it, but its ability to carry pace and
4:13 keep movement on that section there with
4:17 the rocks, it just couldn't do it. Uh,
4:19 Uh, yeah.
4:20 yeah.
4:25 And then just the engine, the suspension
4:26 just fold it. To honest, it fell down
4:29 straight away on that first hurdle. uh
4:31 uh
4:33 which is a shame given the fact they've
4:37 called it an enduro, but uh I think it's
4:39 in sticker alone that it's an enduro bike.
4:41 bike.
4:44 And so I would say if you're looking for
4:46 that bike that's going to ride like a
4:49 CRF on the dirt,
4:56 fans on, bike's overheating, I'm overheating.
5:02 It's funny, isn't it?
5:05 It's really funny like how
5:08 the way a bike responds puts you in a a
5:13 I was really looking forward to riding
5:16 this doing this this loop on this bike.
5:18 It's it's the bike that excites me most
5:21 for many reasons. That power on the the
5:23 road and the optimism that it was it was
5:25 going to be
5:30 best for everything. But uh yeah. Okay.
5:33 Let's find out what it is good at as we
5:36 go along.
5:38 See, it's not too bad. I can get down
5:43 and paddle. Not too bad. No issue there.
5:44 It's drying out. The lanes are drying
5:48 out so much. Huge transformation when I
5:56 My bike. I should say about that side
5:59 stand cutting out. It has got the old
6:02 side stand location on it. I think as
6:05 they brought the bike through to market,
6:09 the side stand was moved in front or the
6:10 mounting point was moved in front of the
6:12 the foot peg and mine's mounted to the
6:14 rear. It's a cast aluminium one rather
6:16 than the steel one. that Adventure 390
6:18 Adventure that I raffled off earlier in
6:21 the year that had the front mounting uh
6:24 side stand. And I think a it looks
6:26 stronger and b it looks to remedy that to
6:39 Power is what it's got though.
6:49 and that WP Apex suspension which is I
6:52 always found great on the old 390.
6:54 Uh it starts to come into its own again
6:56 on this kind of road. It allows you to
6:59 cover ground with pace and also comfort
7:01 and control. It's it's a really nice setup.
7:02 setup.
7:05 I think the problem with the 390 with
7:07 this one uh unfortunately is
7:10 expectation. Um, with the all 390, we
7:13 kind of expected it to be a bit average
7:15 off-road. It was a 19in front wheel,
7:19 17in rear cast aluminium, I think 180 mm
7:22 travel where this 235,
7:23 you never expected it to be good
7:26 off-road and it but it was all right,
7:27 you know. I think it was better than we
7:31 gave it credit for. this with the right
7:33 wheels, the right ground clearance and
7:35 everything else. There's a higher bar
7:38 expectation which really magnifies your
7:40 disappointment when it doesn't perform
7:56 just in comparison to that very
7:57 yesterday. Now, obviously, we're on an
8:00 engine with more power, 44 brake or
8:02 whatever it is. So, a fair bit more
8:07 speed and slug than that Roge, but the
8:08 the difference here again, it always
8:10 comes down to throttle throttle
8:13 response. That's like a labored dual
8:16 response. Yes, it's giving me speed, but
8:18 there's not that direct kick feedback
8:22 between wrist, engine, back wheel. In
8:25 comparison, I'd say to the Virgin to the
8:29 CRF, which it all ultimately d um you
8:31 connected and dialed in. So you you feel
8:34 every rev build. You feel every ounce of
8:36 pressure you put on the throttle making
8:37 a difference to what's happening in the
8:43 it's a bit like that RA. Not as bad as
8:46 that R. It's better than it was when I
8:48 first got it. Okay, I'm still trying to
8:55 A useful test maybe for you, but
8:56 definitely for me this doing these
8:59 backto-back days, same route. It really
9:01 emphasizes what where bikes are good and
9:03 where some bikes fall down. Even though
9:06 in your imagination they excel, you
9:08 know. I thought this bike was going to
9:09 fly up that first leg, but compared to
9:11 that vege yesterday, different league,
9:14 that vege, where I think this bike is
9:15 going to do well is on a track like this.
9:17 this.
9:22 Yes, very nice. It's sharper. It's uh
9:25 it's more ready to race definitely than
9:28 say the VO or the CRF. I think it's more
9:30 akin in character to that RA in fairness.
9:32 fairness.
9:34 Like it's aggressive, but it's that it's
9:35 that flatness on the throttle. You
9:38 really got to come down the gears
9:40 to get the engine to spin and then it
9:43 spins hard
9:46 like there. I mean there. [ __ ] me. It's
9:49 like fast.
9:53 You know, it needs revs like that. It
9:55 needs revs. It ain't going to give you
9:59 any explosion if you're down uh down in
10:00 the revs and high in the gears. You got
10:02 to be down in the gears and high in the revs.
10:04 revs.
10:07 The problem there is though, that's the
10:09 way it wants the engine to ride, but the
10:11 suspension and the chassis won't let you
10:14 won't allow you to ride it like that on
10:17 the on the rough stuff on the trails. So
10:19 to me, we've got a slight mismatch in
10:25 The engine can't the chassis can't keep
10:29 up with the engine.
10:33 We need this engine in a 690 chassis. I
10:46 I mean bloody hell. You can get yourself
10:53 A lot of trouble.
10:56 If speed is what you want, I think KTM
11:08 I'm going to hit you with a very early
11:11 verdict on this. if you like the KTM and
11:13 there's no reason not to actually if you
11:15 apply it if you approach it in the right
11:17 manner and we'll come to it a bit later
11:18 with the road section and the other
11:21 trails but the enduro is not good enough
11:23 as an off-road bike to justify not
11:25 getting the adventure which is better as
11:27 a road bike and as a travel bike tank
11:29 bigger screen bigger cockpit I rode an
11:31 adventure the other day quite briefly
11:34 but I loved it I just love the
11:35 everything about it it's cockpit it's
11:38 engineed on the road it got a far
11:41 broader spread of talent than the
11:44 enduro minus the expectation with how
12:06 Service intervals 6,000 miles, which is
12:07 better than the old one, which I think
12:09 was 4 a half,000.
12:12 I say the price is really good. 57 62
12:15 for the adventure. Worth 500 quid every
12:16 day of the week. Like the old one, the
12:19 fan's always on. It's a little bit
12:20 annoying. It makes you think the box
12:29 Looks amazing. Goes amazing in the right revs.
12:31 revs.
12:34 Is it an is it is it a trail bike? No,
12:36 it's not a trail bike. It's a gravel
12:38 track. It's got a higher bar than say
12:41 that Kle 500 that I rode the other day,
12:43 but it's not got as high bar as a CR
12:46 F300 age ray. And I'm going actually say
12:48 it's not got as high bar as that CF
12:51 motor, which that first lane that that
12:53 CF motor eats up that go there in
12:56 second. Easy open throttle.
12:59 This was like a pinball. You will felt
13:02 like a pinball going down a very stoner
13:04 strewn alley.
13:24 Also got a comfortable seat. I've got
13:25 good brakes.
13:38 I think this bike punishes me for being
13:41 a short shifter. I'm in fifth now, which
13:43 is going to accentuate that boggy
13:45 throttle. What I need to be down is to fourth.
13:47 fourth.
13:49 And then we start getting some pickup at
13:53 five 5 half th000 RPM. If I hold it
14:07 It's in another league to the 300s, obviously.
14:09 obviously.
14:10 And I have to be honest, it's in another
14:12 league to that Himalayan 450, which I
14:14 spent a week on in Morocco a week or so
14:17 ago. That bike had not got this
14:19 mid-range to top end shove that this has.
14:22 has.
14:23 I think that Himalayan engine is a
14:26 little bit more refined, but this is
14:28 more exciting.
14:30 And it's why I'd probably say if you're
14:34 looking for a 400 450 class bike, let me
14:36 put my visor down so you can hear me
14:37 better. If you're looking for a 400
14:40 450cc bike for the road, and let's be
14:42 honest, a lot of people are. I think the
14:46 adventure our version of this bike has
14:48 got a more refined travel engine
14:51 certainly at higher speeds than the
14:53 Himalayan engine. I think this rewards
14:56 speed better than that Himalayan.
14:58 I think the Himalayan is probably a
15:01 better chugging lugging bottom end
15:03 pickup kind of engine and this has got
15:06 it at the top end. So I think you got to
15:08 pick your poison. For me, that Himalayan
15:10 was fantastic up to about 65 and then
15:11 you start realizing it's quite quite a
15:14 vibe engine. I just never se happy at 70.
15:15 70.
15:17 This this is happier at 70, but it's
15:22 less happy say 25
15:25 on in a tour gear. Very different engine
15:26 like you couldn't get more different
15:30 engines than this and that 450 engine.
15:31 And I will say if you're interested in
15:34 trails that Himl 450 is a good trail
15:35 bike as well.
15:36 We'll prove it in a couple of days time,
15:38 but that lane 450 would have caught that
15:40 way. And I think it would. Well, again,
15:43 I'm trying to I'm trying here to marry
15:45 my expectation and my memory with the
15:47 reality of putting them back to back.
15:49 So, as I say, this is as useful for me
15:52 as it is for you. Cuz people will say to
15:53 me, "What do you advise I buy?" I get a
15:55 lot of that now, like, "Oh, I'm thinking
15:57 about a bike for this. What do you
16:00 think?" And I'd like to give people as
16:02 accurate answer as I can. And these
16:04 backto-back days are helping me. iring
16:06 out my
16:08 uh missed memories. Let's call them that.
16:17 In terms of power, in terms of this kind
16:20 of riding, do you need more than the 28
16:22 horsepower in those 300cc bikes? I
16:25 honestly I don't think you do. There is
16:26 no gain because when you start
16:29 accelerating into the power above 28
16:30 brake horsepower, you're kind of going
16:32 too fast for these kind of roads, these lanes.
16:33 lanes.
16:35 You know, it's only if you start hitting
16:36 the open highway and wanting to
16:38 overtake. But I know a lot of riders who
16:40 don't do a lot of overtaking. There's a
16:41 lot of riders who don't use much more
16:44 than 20 25 brake horsepower in a bike.
16:45 They're on big bikes, but they don't use
16:47 a fraction of the power.
16:50 I think there's this misconception
16:53 this that these smaller bikes can't do
16:56 it, that they're no fun, that they flat,
17:01 slow. Look, I hate to be the bearer of
17:03 bad news, but I think the slowness tends
17:04 to come from the rider and not from the
17:08 bike. Ouch. Sorry about that. I'm going
17:09 to take you down here. Going to aim for
17:12 another trail. Yeah. All right.
17:20 I'm just going to tack this bit on now
17:22 just in case I forget to say it later.
17:25 But um
17:28 for me, if you want a trail bike,
17:32 get a 300cc trail bike. You know,
17:34 whichever the other three I've reviewed.
17:37 If you want a travel bike with a little
17:39 bit of trail, little bit to moderate
17:46 This
17:48 is lost in no man's land. Unfortunately,
17:52 this it's not got the ability for the
17:54 trails and it's not got the protection
17:56 for the travel. Now, they do sell you
17:59 the Explorer suspension for this. I
18:00 don't know how much it is. I think it's
18:01 about 12,400 pound. That's upgraded
18:04 suspension for the Explorer uh for the
18:05 for the enduro. And you can get it for
18:09 the Adventure. And I get a feeling that
18:11 this bike was always meant to or needed
18:13 to have that Explorer suspension, the
18:15 better suspension on with the more
18:17 travel, etc. to justify the existence of
18:20 the Enduro. Cuz with this road bias
18:22 suspension, it's not an Enduro. It's not
18:26 a trail bike. It's a roadbased adventure
18:29 bike without a fairy with a beak and
18:31 everything else. Shouty loud orange graphics.
18:33 graphics.
18:36 So, I think if you do like this bike, I
18:38 think it's going to pay dividends to
18:40 invest in that suspension
18:42 because then the chassis will match the
18:44 engine and the visuals of this this bike.
18:47 bike.
18:48 I'm going to turn left here. Going to
18:50 take you onto a trail. This is kind of a
18:52 moderate trail with a little bit more of
18:53 a twist in it. You might have seen it on
18:56 the other videos. I'm hoping I can get
18:59 up here without not too many issue.
19:02 These Karmet Mets a good tire. I like
19:04 them on the road. They've got a nice
19:08 onroad level of grip and roll and
19:10 balance. They don't feel like an obly
19:11 tire. I don't think they're the last
19:13 word enough for a grip, but I think
19:16 they're a good all rounder dualpurpose
19:18 tire for this kind of bike. If you're
19:19 not doing as many trails, you might want
19:22 to switch to like a Mer C07 or something
19:24 like that. Just bear in mind they are
19:25 difficult to get on and off if you have
19:29 to fix a puncher. And you know, um I
19:33 think the lack of tubeless
19:36 like now if I get a puncture
19:37 like what what am I going to do here
19:40 realistically? Um,
19:41 I haven't come out with my levers. I've
19:44 come out with a kind of tire foam and
19:46 hopefully that'll do the job. But if I
19:48 was on a trip, I've got no center stand.
19:49 I don't know if there's a center stand
19:51 option for this. And I've got to get
19:52 that wheel out. I' got to prop it all
19:54 somehow. I got to break that be, which
19:56 if I'm on my own sometimes can be
19:57 difficult. And then I've got to get a
20:00 tub in out and one in without nipping
20:08 it would earn me towards the Himalayan
20:11 with tubeless or a CF motor 450 MT with
20:13 tubeless. You can have fun with tubeless
20:16 tires. Julian on who was helping me in
20:19 Morocco, he had a he was on a loner F800
20:21 I think it was or an F900 and then he
20:23 got a tubeless front tire uh which had
20:26 got a rip in it like a sidewall tear and
20:28 you couldn't put a tube in it cuz the
20:30 valve was on the side. It wouldn't take
20:32 sealing cuz it was too badly gone. So in
20:33 the end you had to get a truck stop
20:35 truck repair shops put a patch on the
20:37 inside. So it's always possible that
20:40 you've got less options with a tubeless
20:41 but you've got more repairability
20:43 roadside in the middle of the night when
20:46 it's dark and rain
20:48 pulling back this pace and focusing on
20:50 the talking.
20:53 This is okay. It jigs around a lot. Can
20:55 get a lot of movement.
20:58 That throttle's all right. It's all
21:00 right. I got to be honest. That's the
21:02 best I can say about it at the minute.
21:10 I've been on three bikes so far that are
21:13 better for this, you know. What gear in
21:15 third? Let's get a second. Let's get
21:17 this little section here done. Let's see
21:30 Oh, yeah. Yeah.
21:34 Yeah, guys, this is a road bike.
21:35 I ain't going to [ __ ] you any
21:37 longer. It's a [ __ ] road bike. It's a
21:39 road bike with some off-road look and
21:41 big wheels. That's not built [ __ ]
21:43 trail ride. Not buy in a million years.
21:46 Don't let anybody [ __ ] you.
21:56 Everything you eat, you feel. Everything
21:59 you that you get deflected by on that V
22:01 yesterday coming up that lane there.
22:03 That's probably what I was having to
22:06 make sure I recorded. I was in second
22:08 focused on where I was going. I was I
22:11 was running the throttle open, letting
22:13 the bike rev, letting the bike move and
22:16 absorb. when I was growing up that bike
22:20 in control, comfortable, confident, sure
22:24 footed on a 4,000 pound bike on this
22:29 today. I was getting kicked like a mule.
22:30 Takes a different stance. You got to
22:33 back your pace off maybe,
22:35 but it doesn't allow. This didn't allow
22:38 me to ride and enjoy it.
22:41 It made me back off.
22:43 It made it hard to work. If you're a
22:44 novice, you're going to struggle on this
22:48 bike more than you would on the 300s.
22:50 I think if you're an advanced rider,
22:51 intermediate to advance, you're going to
22:54 get frustrated and quickly realize that
22:55 there are better bikes for this job than
23:07 That fan is on again. It's like my old
23:11 390. I'm going to say this. Is this new
23:14 390 better than the old one?
23:16 I'm not convinced it is, you know,
23:18 because with the old one, it did what it
23:20 it looked like it could do. It was a
23:22 great road bike with a bit of trail.
23:24 This can't do what it looks like it
23:25 should do, and there's a disappointment
23:27 there. And I've got to say, I think in
23:29 the engine, the engine in the old one
23:31 was a bit better,
24:15 Heat. Heat.
24:36 I think you know what I'm going to say,
25:18 I'm not going to go and do that last
25:19 line. [ __ ] hell. Wing mirrors everywhere.
25:21 everywhere.
25:24 I'm going to do it. Okay,
25:26 Okay,
25:30 fan's still on. [ __ ] fans always on.
25:37 It just can't You just can't do it with
25:39 any grace. It's not in the same ballpark
25:41 as a 300 trail bike. And maybe we were
25:43 incorrect in thinking it might be, but
25:45 it's not my fault. It's not our fault.
25:47 It's KTM's fault. Enjo
25:49 bike. Not trail bike, it's a road bike.
25:52 It's a good road bike. As I say, if you
25:53 want a road bike though with some trail,
25:55 light trail, get the adventurer. If you
25:59 want a trail bike, get a 300 CRF ray. I
26:02 mean, actually, I tell you what this
26:04 does. It makes you think when that ray
26:07 is right with the right power, that's
26:08 going to eat this. That ray is going to
26:11 eat this alive. Eat it for absolute
26:13 breakfast. Cuz that ray came up there.
26:15 Well, from a chassis point of view, the
26:18 engines are still a bit dull. This came
26:20 up there terribly from a chassis point
26:22 of view and if I'm honest an engine
26:25 point of view. The ray when it's sorted
26:28 will be a genuine high performance high-end
26:29 high-end
26:33 trail rally track bike.
26:40 I feel really really deflated. I got to
26:42 be honest. I love everything about this
26:45 bike. The way it looks.
26:46 Am I being too old? You tell me. Am I
26:48 being too hard? I'm going to look for
26:49 positives. I don't think there's
26:50 anything wrong with that exhaust
26:51 location. I think it's great for luggage
27:00 That's your lot. I'm going to take it
27:01 back on road. I'm going to show you what
27:03 it can, you know, a bit more road bias
27:05 stuff. But I think my trail days on this
27:07 are done. And I think that in itself is
27:09 the biggest testament to what I think
27:12 about it. That I'm cutting short my day.
27:14 I'm not doing that hard lane cuz I ain't
27:16 going to enjoy it one bit. You know
27:18 what? I like to enjoy my trail riding. I
27:27 What I find a little bit bizarre about
27:30 this bike also is um
27:32 in off-road mode, which we're on now,
27:34 which you need to put in off road mode
27:37 to disable the traction control and ABS,
27:38 which is, you know, how you're going to
27:41 ride it on the trails. And that also
27:42 gives with it a sharper throttle
27:44 response. When you put it in a road
27:46 mode, it brings in traction control and
27:48 ABS, puts them back on and softens the
27:50 throttle. It's like it's backwards.
27:52 Usually an off-road setting has a
27:55 thought softer throttle to prevent, you
27:57 know, wheel spin or step out at the
27:59 rear. It seems like they programmed it
28:01 completely backwards. And I don't know,
28:02 I'm assuming it was by design that it
28:04 was like that, but it doesn't seem to
28:06 make a lot of sense. And I have to say
28:08 just changing the modes isn't very
28:11 intuitive on this. You have to go into
28:16 some menus. Ride mode. Ride mode.
28:17 Press down. Street mode. I'm looking
28:19 down. What am I doing? I can do it on
28:21 the flying fairness, which is, you know,
28:22 I think that's nice that I can put it in
28:27 street mode um while I'm riding.
28:28 And actually, that's softened off that
28:30 throttle a little bit. Actually, that's
28:32 made it better for street. No surprise
28:34 there. Why do I have to put it in sub
28:36 menus? Why do I have to scroll across,
28:39 scroll across, activate to do it, you
28:40 know, and and then they let me do it
28:42 while I'm riding. But I'm looking down
28:44 and making three or four inputs to
28:46 change it while I'm riding. You know,
28:48 either make it to easy to change whilst
28:50 you're riding or make it difficult to
28:52 change but not allow you to do it while
28:54 you're riding.
28:57 It's like they just can't figure them
29:00 stuff out.
29:02 But otherwise, again, looking for
29:04 positives. I think it seems a
29:06 wellappointed, well finished,
29:09 welldesigned bike that feels good
29:11 quality. And I've got to say the 390, my
29:13 original bike, the 2020 bike that I've
29:14 had on fleet for 5 years that I'm just
29:16 about to sell, I haven't had a bit of
29:18 trouble with it in 8,000 mi, 9,000 mi,
29:20 actually 10,000 mi it's got on it. It
29:22 know it's had a lot of riders, had a lot
29:25 of abuse, but it's it's ran like a Swiss
29:27 watch, never let me down, just needed
29:29 consumables. So this notion that these
29:32 KTMs aren't reliable, I think is not
29:34 necessarily true. In fairness, Indian
29:38 built bar bikes are seem very reliable.
29:39 And from an ownership point of view, I
29:41 don't think it's a bad thing that
29:44 India's bought out Austria.
29:46 The Europeans, our Western nations, just
29:50 don't seem able, capable, or arguably
29:51 too greedy to run a company properly.
29:53 They just seem to drive it into the
29:55 ground and take advantage of the
29:58 customers. The Indians and the Chinese
30:00 seem to, whether I'm right or wrong in
30:02 this, I'm not time will play out, they
30:03 seem to have more respect for the
30:05 consumer and what the consumer's been
30:08 asking for.
30:10 the European or operations just seem
30:12 very arrogant and that's what's dri
30:14 driven them into the ground unfortunately.
30:16 unfortunately. Um
30:17 Um
30:19 I hope I'm not padding time. I'm just
30:24 I'm going through the debate in my mind
30:26 as to whether I like this bike or not.
30:29 But uh as I say that debate is sealed by
30:30 its ineffectiveness on the trails
30:33 certainly when they're challenging
30:35 because it unpicks any purpose for this
30:38 bike existing. If it can't perform on
30:39 the trails you may as well get the
31:04 60 mph, 5,000 RPM.
31:08 Um, yeah, it's just under 1,000 RPM for
31:09 every 10 mph.
31:21 See, I briefly touched 70 then, and it
31:24 felt like nothing at all. And actually,
31:32 that if you wanted to make pace on an
31:34 adventure bike or a trail bike, let's
31:36 let's pretend for a second. If you're
31:38 wanting to cover ground on motorway and
31:41 fast a roads,
31:43 there is still merit for the 390 Enduro
31:46 and Adventure. Most certainly the Adventure.
31:48 Adventure.
31:51 I'm going to go back to base now
31:53 and I'm going to grab the DRZ and take
31:56 that out. Cheers. Actually, before I
31:58 sign off, I'm going to say that the DRZ
32:01 is going to completely invert every
32:03 statement I've made about this bike.
32:06 It's going to be great off-road
32:08 and terrible onro. So, we'll see where
32:10 the compromise is best for people. All
32:18 Okay, so that's the KTM 390. uh enduro
32:21 are I got to say disapp disappointed. I
32:22 was really looking forward to bringing
32:24 this bike into this test. I thought it'
32:25 do really well. I thought it' bridge
32:27 that gap between trail bike and like
32:29 something that could do road work as
32:30 well. I think in a cold light day when
32:32 I've ridden them back to back and I was
32:34 out on that road yesterday. This is this
32:37 is not in that same capacity to me on
32:39 those sort of rocky climbs and things.
32:41 more technical t side of of trail
32:44 riding. And in a way, possibly this is
32:47 an unfair test on the KTM. Maybe the
32:49 test doesn't suit the bike's
32:51 capabilities, but that's the test I'm
32:53 giving it. And I think on this occasion,
32:55 in this test, it just it fell flat to be
32:57 honest. It wasn't fun to ride. It wasn't
32:59 capable to ride on the trails. I think
33:02 easy track, mid midst track, it'll be
33:04 fine. And I think if you bought one and
33:06 you want to buy one, I think as long as
33:07 you're not pushing it too hard and
33:09 expecting it to perform like a, you
33:11 know, a 300cc trail bike, I think you're
33:13 going to be happy with it, I think it's
33:14 going to perform well enough. And then
33:16 equally on the road, it does it does
33:17 blister along. I mean, it's got a
33:19 blistering engine that the engine when
33:21 you're on tap, when you're open, is its
33:23 strongest point. And then the the
33:25 suspension works really well. I mean, I
33:27 guess that that kind of concludes where
33:28 we are with the suspension. The fact
33:31 that the bike rides really well on the
33:32 road means that it's never going to ride
33:34 really well on the trail as well. It
33:36 can't do both ends. It can't excel at
33:38 both ends. And this excels on the road.
33:40 And if you're after a bike to do mainly
33:42 road work, do a lot of like pottering
33:45 around your local area or you know
33:46 Sunday blast and things like that with a
33:48 bit more attitude. Keep up your mates
33:49 with bigger bikes, that sort of type of
33:52 riding, occasional motorways. Then
33:53 either one of these or the adventure. As
33:56 I say, the adventure I think um you can
33:57 forgive the adventure more sins because
33:59 it's not pitched as an enduro trail
34:00 bike. It's just pitched as an adventure
34:02 bike. And in fairness, a chassis is good
34:05 enough for an adventure bike. And if you
34:07 give it the adventure name and the
34:08 cockpit and everything else, then I
34:09 think you're going to be a lot more
34:11 forgiving than you are with this with
34:14 the enduro badge on it. So yeah, sorry
34:17 to say on this test of this KTM 390, it
34:20 really disappointed and um it's it's
34:21 definitely going to finish bottom of
