KTM Is Developing Another Off-road 390 Model

[Admin]

New spy shots show KTM continuing development of a more hardcore 390 Adventure-type model. (Benhard M. Höhne/BMH-Images/)

Don’t read too much into the cosmetics of this prototype KTM 390—spotted on test at the firm’s Austrian base—but if you peer underneath the lashed-together bodywork, there’s a brand-new frame and suspension. We see that as evidence that the firm’s development of a future off-road-biased single-cylinder model is progressing.

One of the reasons that KTM favors tubular steel trellis frames over aluminum chassis is the ease with which they can be modified. During a bike’s development, steel tubes can be readily cut and welded as engineers play with a bike’s geometry, and for this prototype KTM hasn’t even bothered to add a coat of paint to the metal. A layer of surface rust might not look pretty, but given the short life span of a development chassis subject to continual updates, the extra effort for a polished finish clearly wasn’t needed.

Related: KTM Announces Base-Model 890 Adventure

A new tube-steel chassis and larger wire wheels suggest a more dirt-biased machine. (Bernhard M. Höhne/BMH-Images/)

It’s the same story with the minimal bodywork, thrown together from parts-bin components just to get the prototype on the road, with a front fender from the firm’s Enduro range, the headlight from a 390 Adventure and an alloy fuel tank that’s simply a rectangular box. Under the engine, the alloy bash plate is an existing PowerParts option for the 390 Adventure. These parts aren’t the ones that matter when the goal is to develop a chassis that’s a step forward from the current design.

The new frame itself shares its overall design with that of the next-generation 390 Duke, as well as spinoffs including the planned Husqvarna E-Pilen electric bike and a KTM-branded E-Duke version. Compared to the current chassis used on the 390 Duke and 390 Adventure, the new design is a more conventional trellis design of the sort that Ducati used for decades. At the moment, both 390 models have a thick upper frame tube on either side running from the swingarm pivot to the steering head, with a strengthening trellis of thinner tubing hanging below it. On the new design, there are equal-thickness upper and lower main tubes, with slimmer metalwork between them in a triangulated layout for rigidity.

It means the trellis sections on each side sit higher than before, showing more of the engine and requiring a distinctive alloy bracket, much longer than the one on the current models, to reach down to the engine’s front mount. We’ve seen exactly this design on spy pictures of the next-generation 125, 250, and 390 Dukes, and it looks like it’s being adopted for the future off-road models as well.

New aluminum swingarm and higher exhaust for added ground clearance also differ from the units on the 390 Duke prototypes. (Bernhard M. Höhne/BMH-Images/)

Where this machine does divert from the next-gen Duke is in its swingarm. Duke prototypes have already been seen with near-production swingarms, made from cast alloy with a fan-shaped design of external bracing on the banana-style right-hand arm, which curves over the exhaust. On this prototype, however, the swingarm looks to be machined from billet aluminum and seems to be even more curved—presumably adding the ground clearance and suspension travel needed for an off-road machine. The exhaust also differs, adding an extra end can where prototype 390 Dukes have allowed gas to exit directly from the under-engine collector box.

The 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wire wheels suggest either a new 390 Adventure or perhaps a 390 Enduro. (Bernhard M. Höhne/BMH-Images/)

If this prototype is for a future 390 Adventure, it indicates that KTM is taking the bike in a more off-road direction, adding 21-inch front and 18-inch rear tires on D.I.D DirtStar wire wheels instead of the 19-inch, 17-inch alloys of the existing model. The same wheel design is used on other KTMs including the current 890 Adventure R, and with both the 1290 and 890 Adventure ranges featuring alloy-wheeled, road-biased models and wire-wheeled, R-flavor versions, it makes sense that the next 390 Adventure lineup might include the same choice. Alternatively, this prototype could lead to a separate 390 Enduro model, sitting below the 690 Enduro R in the range as a street enduro with the style of KTM’s competition models.

As it’s still in rough prototype form with minimal bodywork, we don’t expect to see this particular project completed for the 2023 model year. (Bernhard M. Höhne/BMH-Images/)

Either way, the prototype is clearly still in the early stages of development, so we’re unlikely to be looking at a 2023 model here. Instead, it’s likely that KTM’s 390 range revamp will start with the new 390 Duke for 2023, with the Adventure—potentially derived from this prototype—following it for the 2024 model year.

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[skyrider]

that bike looks like it's going rusty 

[billy sugger]

Awful headlight design 

[Stu]

looks more of a prototype to me!