I have been waiting for this motorcycle for a very long time and I am sure even you were. I have always been a fan of Adventure (ADV) motorcycles and have been riding them for years, but I’ve always preferred taking them off the road rather than saddling up and touring on tarmac, as ADVs were the only bikes that came close to make you feel free and explore the roads less taken. Somehow, I couldn’t get enough of this dual nature of ADVs. However, I yearned for something more, something off-road focused which could whip through the dirt and put a smile on my face. And finally, it’s here! KTM has brought in the 390 Enduro R to Indian shores. Equipped with all the bells and whistles on paper, the 390 Enduro R is by far the best offering in the Enduro motorcycle segment in India. But does it stand up to its badge name? Was the wait even fruitful? Let’s find out!
From the first look itself, the Enduro R will have you smiling ear to ear. It looks exactly like what the label says. The minimalistic design at the front, with its compact enduro mask wrapped around an all-LED headlamp and the front fender mounted right underneath it tells you that this kid likes playing in the dirt. Come to the side and you will notice a similar story being carried along. Being an enduro motorcycle, the design is simple but aggressive. It gets a flat seat, a raised fuel tank with a tall filler cap design and high-tolerance plastic shrouds on the shoulder. If you squint your eyes enough, you will find that the chassis and stance is pretty similar to the new 390 Adventure’s. That’s because it is! Obviously, with a few changes in the front and rear subframe to accommodate the enduro design language.
The flat seat surely adds to the overall appeal of the motorcycle and helps it look very purpose-built. The seat height is 860mm and a person with a height of 5-feet 7-inches can easily put their feet flat on the ground without having to tip-toe. The interesting design choice, however, is the exhaust. It gets the same underbelly exhaust tucked behind the bash-plate like you see on the 390 Adventure. It’s interesting because traditionally, enduro bikes are equipped with upswept exhaust cans that run alongside or even underneath the seat ensuring that the bike can wade through water without any issue. The upswept position also helps protect the exhaust from all the bashing off-road motorcycles are usually subjected to. KTM claims that it has designed the baffle and the internal components of the exhaust in such a way that water-wading won’t be an issue—even if the exhaust is completely submerged, the bike won’t give up on you.
The 390 Enduro R runs tube-type wire-spoke wheels with a 21-inch at the front and an 18-inch at the rear as opposed to the 21-17-inch wheel setup that you see on its ADV sibling. I wasn’t surprised to see a tube-type wheel setup instead of tubeless tyres as enduro motorcycles are destined to suffer all kinds of abuse when they are made to take on their purpose of existence seriously. There are chances that you might bend a rim or two while manhandling this one on the trail and you don’t want to have a tubeless setup when that happens. The rims are shod with Mitas Enduro Trail+ dual-sport tyres. The sizes are 90/90-R21 at the front and 140/80-R18 at the rear.
Coming to the features, the 390 Enduro R is equipped with a slim 4.2-inch TFT display with Bluetooth connectivity. This means you can access music, incoming calls, notifications, turn-by-turn navigation and riding modes via the console. Speaking of riding modes, you get two of them, Street and Off-road. While the Street mode offers a more relaxed ride experience, the Off-road mode enables you to switch off the traction control and rear ABS and helps you take proper control of the bike off the road. You also get a dedicated button on the switch panel to turn the rear ABS off. This is indeed a great feature as you don’t need to fidget with the joystick and the menu and can turn it off on the go with the simple press of a button.
At the heart of the 390 Enduro R is the same LC4c 399cc single-cylinder engine that you get in the Duke and the Adventure. Even the output is the same. It churns out 46PS of power at 8,500rpm and 39Nm of torque at 6,500rpm. This, combined with a 14-48 sprocket setup, makes for a fun-loving, dirt-flicking motorcycle! The moment you twist that throttle you will notice a pretty familiar engine tune. It is aggressive and torquey! Hill climbs? Easy-peasy. It won’t stall on you. The power is very accessible and you will appreciate it when you are about to lose the momentum in a fesh-fesh situation while climbing up the hill. Although, I would have liked a more linear tune as the current one feels like this bike is built to serve your tarmac needs as well, thus making it more of a dual-purpose motorcycle than a true enduro. The jerky power delivery in the lower rpm ranges did seem a bit bothersome in certain sections of the trail but one will need more saddle time to get used to the nature of the engine.
As we all know, KTM has specced this Indian version a bit differently than the one available globally. What we get are 43mm WP Apex open-cartridge front forks which are fully adjustable and get 30-clicks of adjustment for compression and rebound with a travel of 200mm. At the rear, you get a WP Apex single-piston monoshock which offers 20-clicks adjustability of rebound and preload with 205mm of travel. In comparison, the 390 Enduro R available globally gets 230mm of travel for both the front and rear suspension. Even with the reduced travel, the Indian Enduro R’s ride quality isn’t something that will bother you. The current setup is quite agile and offers a settled ride while tackling obstacles and riding hard on trails. I personally feel the long travel suspension would have helped with the ergonomics though,as the international variant gets 890mm of seat height and 272mm of ground clearance. Gladly, KTM India has confirmed that a separate variant with the upgraded suspension featuring 230mm of travel at both ends will indeed be launched at a later date. The Mitas Enduro Trail+ tyres grip the ground really well and will give you the confidence to keep up on the trails and attack obstacles, even while using difficult lines.
Given the fact that the Indian variant has been designed keeping the average height of Indian customers in mind, if you are as tall as me (6-feet 1-inch) you won’t be at ease while standing on the footpegs and riding off-road. That’s because, you will find yourself reaching for the handlebar as it sits a bit low and even the footpegs are placed low and more towards the rear than where they should ideally be on an enduro motorcycle. With my US-12 size boots, my left foot hit the side-stand on multiple occasions while standing up and riding which is something that vertically gifted people will experience perennially.
Braking duty is handled by a 285mm floating disc and a 2-piston ByBre radial caliper at the front and a 240mm floating disc and single-piston ByBre caliper at the rear. The brakes offer good bite and provide confidence while tackling downhill stretches, loose gravel and off-road sections. Overall, the suspension, tyres, brakes and the engine output help the Enduro R handle rough terrain really well which makes the 390 Enduro R feel a bit more capable than the average dual-sport.
With a price tag of ₹ 3.36 lakh the KTM 390 Enduro R seems like an apt bike for the beginners who want to venture further into the dirt. Though it carries an Enduro R badge, it handles more like a dual-purpose motorcycle. Well, was the wait fruitful? I would say it was partially so. With a few changes in ergonomics and engine tuning this could be THE enduro motorcycle that you would ever need. Ah well, gotta wait for the variant with the upgraded suspension now…
