In recent times the Indian market is being offered with new Adventure class motorcycle with the demand increasing in the Adventure Touring segment. Motorcycle manufacturers such as Royal Enfield offer the Himalayan and BMW Motorrad offers the G 310 GS in the premium segment. But Bajaj-partnered Austrian brand KTM offers one of the most advanced and capable Adventure motorcycles KTM 390 Adventure positioned in the sub-400cc displacement segment in the Indian market.
The brand now plans to launch a quarter-litre Adventure motorcycle which will help compete with other manufacturers and bridge the huge price gap from the competitors. In this comparison, we are going to pin the upcoming KTM 250 Adventure against its big brother the KTM 390 Adventure and see what features and technology you get with the added price tag.
Engine:
The KTM 250 Adventure is speculated to come with the tried and tested 250cc single-cylinder, 4-Valve, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, DOHC engine that churns out 30 Hp of power and 24 Nm of torque coupled to a 6-speed gearbox with an assist & slipper clutch. The same engine does duty on the 250 Duke. The brand is likely to tweak the final drive ratios to give the Adventure class motorcycle highway-friendly tractability. The 390 Adventure is powered by a BS6 compliant 373.2cc single-cylinder 4-stroke liquid-cooled unit that makes 44 Hp of power and 37 Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed gearbox with PASC assist/slipper clutch. The 390 Adventure makes 14 Hp and 13 Nm more than the 250 Adventure.
Design:
The KTM 250 Adventure is speculated to share the chassis and mechanical parts with the KTM 390 Adventure and apart from the engine, the 250 Adventure is likely to share most of the body parts with the 390 as well. In terms of design, both the motorcycles are likely to be similar with a few differentiating factors such as the headlamp unit. The 250 Adventure is likely to come with a halogen headlamp but recently the brand upgraded the 250 Duke with a LED cluster headlamp and the upgrade could get trickled down to the Adventure as well. It is also likely to enable the company to streamline the process. But the brand is expected to make subtle changes on the front end and the tail lamps to add the differentiating factors.
Suspension & Dimensions:
As mentioned above, both the models are likely to share parts and the 250 Adventure is likely to feature the same long-travel suspension setup that does duty on the 390 Adventure. While technical details of the 250 Adventure have not been revealed yet, the 390 Adventures features a 43 mm WP APEX upside-down front fork with 170 mm of suspension travel and preload-adjustable WP APEX monoshock on the rear with 177 mm of suspension travel. The same setup is expected to be used on the 250 Adventure. If the Chassis and suspension are shared the 250 Adventure is also expected to be the same size as the 390 which measures 2,154 mm in length, 900 mm in width, 1,400 mm in height, 1,430 mm of the wheelbase, 200 mm of the ground clearance, 855 mm of the seat height and weighs 158 kg Dry. Both motorcycles are also expected to share the 19-inch front and 17-inch rear alloy wheels, but the 390 Adventures comes with a 320mm single disc with a radially mounted calliper on the front the 250 Adventure could get a smaller 300mm disc on the front.
Electronics Package:
In terms of the electronics package, the KTM 250 Adventure is likely to sport a full-colour TFT display similar to the one on the 390 Duke and the 390 Adventure, but miss out on features such as MTC (lean angle sensitive) disengageable traction control system, Cornering ABS and a bi-directional quickshifter seen on the 390 Adventure. The 250 Adventure is expected to get a dual-channel ABS with supermoto mode (rear-wheel ABS deactivation).
Price:
The KTM 390 Adventure is priced at INR INR 3.04 lakh ex-showroom, India while the KTM 250 Adventure is speculated to be priced at INR 2.50 lakh ex-showroom.
2020 KTM 390 Adventure
Upcoming KTM 250 Adventure