Sorry if my view on the new one has come across so negative, not trying to offend anyone, it's just I'm so underwhelmed by it. I was hoping KTM would not ruin a great bike by following the crowd and ending up with an (at best) average and generic looking bike.
Unfortunately they seem to have in this case.
At the end of the day KTM want sales, if that means losing your money to get a few more Ewan and Charlie wannabes to defect to KTM then they'll happily drop you or I in a heartbeat as well you know and has been demonstrated here.
The new bike is whats term'd as progress, sales of Multistrada's with all their gizmos, German tractors, Triumph Explorers are exactly what KTM want a chunk of.
I have to admit the new bike looks a million miles away from the old adventure, shame for you diehard 950/990 adventure owners as you've almost lost what would have been your 'next step' upgrade to a newer model of the same bike you own but in this case it isnt.
The R in terms of looks is your best bet and im sure when the likes of JCE etc. get churning out aftermarket cans that look better than the OEM or the akra offerings, it may help improve the bikes looks and luggage capacity on the one side.
As a bike with its bells and whistles its a good bit of engineering and design apart from the aesthetics, though for me the looks of the multistrada piss all over the 1190.
If i could have multistrada looks with KTMs guts it'd be a very nice bike
For us SMT owners it is probably the next step and i look forward to it, even though the non R doesnt float my boat as much as the R
For you Adventure owners its unfortunately a case of suck it in and stay brand loyal or maybe time to switch brands for a year or two to see whats on the other side of the fence.
For the 1190 owners, have fun with your new toys, for the 950/990 owners enjoy it for as long as you can
