KTMS ADVENTURE ANIMALS

Going to bike launches is a lot of fun. The manufacturers put on great events to showcase their latest models and we (the journos) get to see what the bikes are capable of. So with the invite to check out KTM’s latest offerings, we packed our adventure gear and trekked up to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains for the Asia- Pacific launch of the company’s new adventure bike range: the 1090 Adventure R, 1290 Super Adventure R and the 1290 Super Adventure S.

I was pretty pumped about this bike launch. Not only was I keen as mustard to get my hands on the new 1090 Adventure R and 1290 Super Adventure R, but the test route was on great tracks I know well. This was definitely going to be a great opportunity to see if these bikes live up to the hype surrounding them. I’m sure we’ve all seen KTM’s marketing videos showing these bikes are capable of almost anything. Now it was time to find out if the average Australian adventure rider was going to have half as much fun on these bikes as the marketing says we will.

“It didn’t take long to realise this bike was well and truly going to handle anything we were going to throw at it”

The off-road component of the route for the 1090 Adventure R and 1290 Super Adventure R is a pretty well-traversed path for adventure riders and one well suited to the intended use of these bikes. It kicked off in the myriad fire trails through Clarence and along