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