Will KTM launch a new 890 Adventure in 2020

With the news that KTM are advanced in the testing of a new 890 LC8c engine, it looks like a foregone conclusion that it will find its way into an Adventure bike. That would make the 790 obsolete. I can't see KTM keeping both engines in production as they will be too close performance and weight wise.

Maybe, maybe not. Doubt that the 790 platform will be made obsolete by the rumoured 890... Just my opinion.

Sure, not the whole platform but the engine definitely but maybe suspension/brakes/electronics?

A 690-790-890-1090-1290 doesn't make much sense. Although they are very different. upgrading the 790 to the 890 maybe. Although I hope it doesn't add any weight. I'd be happy with a 700-750 twin that was 50 lb lighter than the 790 with the screen and dash from the 790.

Doubt it.

If bikes were all about power everyone would own a 1290. People like the 790 because it’s lighter and more agile than the big bikes.


I’d be more interested in a 690 or 390.

Well, the 890 engine is coming, so which if any existing bike will be dropped?

So?

Ninja edit...

Probably the one with poor sales.

790duke.

So let me get this straight: The 890 is for the rider who wants something more than a 790cc bike but doesn't want a 900cc - 1000cc bike??? Hopefully KTM doesn't go the BMW car route, ie the 2, 3,4,5, 6, 7, 8, and X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7.... Sometimes too many choices is no choice.

An 890 would add weight, if you factor in fuel economy will be worse, either reducing range or making me carry auxillary fuel to meet the range I want. Neither is acceptable to me as the 790 checks the perfect amount of power to keep me interested and amazing fuel economy / range.

What's 'acceptable' to you isn't the discussion. KTM won't stop development of a bike because you don't like it. A 1290 isn't 'acceptable' to you otherwise you'd own one but KTM has sold thousands of them. The discussion is how, if at all, will KTM adjust its range of bike offerings now that the 890 engine is on its way and being road tested right now. Will there be an 890 Adventure and if so, will they drop the 790/1090 or keep them both?

Agree. A 700 twin would work. Make the 690 a twin.

700 or 690 twin is out of scope here, neither exists. The 890 does exist.

Why so defensive? We’re just discussing. If they can make it bigger, they can make it smaller also. I love my 790.

Nothing defensive at all. They have made it bigger and have not made it smaller. So the discussion is about the 890 which is being road tested, not about bikes that don't exist in any form or manner.

Which would make your hypothetical 890 Adv out of bounds for discussion.

I have read that this is mostly about smog. The 790 Duke, with its higher state of tune, doesn't pass EURO 5. The 790 Adventure does pass, but barely. The 890 can make similar or more power with a milder state of tune, and thus pass smog rules more easily. I see a lot of potential in these engines. A 790 makes maximum power at a little over 9000 rpm. Given its stroke, it should be able to turn 12000. Free the 890!

An LC8 v-twin, no matter how compact it's made - will be heavier than the extremely compact parallel twin in the 790.

Since the original 950/990 LC8 morphed it's way up to 1090, 1190, and 1290, getting more powerful and not that much heavier - it doesn't make a bunch of sense to put the smallest and least powerful iteration of that design into a bike that cries out for a lightweight powerplant.

...but I've been wrong before


(the Euro 5 compliance thing makes sense though)

Nope, read the title of the thread, totally within the 'bounds' of discussion. Every engine that KTM have made that's larger than the 690 has ended up in an Adventure bike. KTM have made the 890 engine and it's being tested right now.