KTM pulled the covers off the new 1390 Super Adventure R this week, a bike the company says “Sits at the top of the off-road Adventure food chain.” And from the specs, it definitely seems like an apex predator.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t think adventure motorcycles could get much bigger. When I worked in that industry, 1200cc was considered sizable, and anything bigger was a touring bike. But KTM has proven that big bikes can still do small bike things, rider skill dependent, obviously.
But do we really need a 1350cc adventure motorcycle?
The ADV machine features all-new bodywork, LED lighting, a shorter, more off-road-focused windshield, and more storage options. KTM also increased the frame stiffness, which they claim improves handling and track stability.
KTM upgraded the protection pieces, too, with a reworked engine guard that provides better protection thanks to an additional arm toward the engine bracket. The new Super Adventure R is outfitted with a suspension setup suited for harder off-road use, with a 48mm WP XPLOR split cartridge fork up front and a WP XPLOR Progressive Damping System (PDS) shock soaking up the terrain at the rear.
Engine displacement has also been increased, from 1300cc to 1350cc, offering increased horsepower and torque thanks in part to an all-new CAMSHIFT technology that provides improved rideability in the lower RPMs.
Tech is ever-present these days, especially in the ADV space, so it’s no surprise the Super Adventure R is outfitted with KTM’s new premium electronics package, to include an all-new vertical-mounted 8” touchscreen. The display features an anti-reflex, anti-fingerprint, and anti-glare coating, and is the interface for riders to access the variety of ride modes on the Super Adventure R, along with built-in navigation that offers route planning, including waypoints, A-to-B planning, offline routing, and preset points of interest.
The KTM 890 Adventure R can do all the things. Consume concrete all morning, destroy dirt all afternoon, carry a considerable load of crap, and tips the scale around 464 lbs with all its liquids. The Super Adventure R, however, comes in at 546 lbs fully fueled, nearly 100 lbs more than the already beefy 890 Adventure R. It does make a lot more horsepower, though. Like, a lot more. 173 of them to be precise. That’s superbike stuff in a package that’s intended to be ridden off-road.
So, does the 2026 1390 Super Adventure R sit at the top of the proverbial off-road Adventure food chain? If you’re looking at a spreadsheet, sure. It makes crazy horsepower, weighs less than the BMW R1300 GS Rallye (593 lbs!), has suspension engineered to soak up the worst shit you might come across, and is equipped with a tech package that’s on par with a modern automobile. But do we need it? Is an off-road superbike what the motorcycle world wants right now, or, as we’ve written about recently, is now the time of the middleweight ADV machine?
I suppose we’ll see how it sells when the 2026 KTM 1390 Super Adventure R comes rolling off the Austrian production line in January 2026 and onto dealer floors in February.
