350cc KTM 390 Adventure Features Explained

Ever since the 1st-gen KTM 390 Adventure was launched in India a couple of years ago, this bike has always been one of the most feature-loaded bikes in its segment. It has always had the useful bits, the hygiene features and then some more, to really stamp its authority as the most modern adventure bike of its segment. And now that the 350cc KTM 390 Adventure is here, let’s take a quick look and see if the bike still dominates the others in terms of features: 

Convenience Features

For starters, the 5-inch TFT is crisp, easy to read and definitely makes the bike feel a lot more premium over the older-gen’s TFT. 

The console has Bluetooth connectivity, through which you can have music controls as well as turn-by-turn navigation. The former is definitely important, for we’re sure a lot of you will take your KTM 390 Adventure out touring. 

And then there’s the LED headlight. While the quirky design might not be to everyone’s taste, it’s a powerful headlight and will illuminate the road quite well. If you’ve touring intentions or travel around early in the day (or late in the night), you could actually manage without auxiliary lights as well. 

Safety Features

Yes, the 350cc KTM 390 Adventure has a smaller engine now, but it’s still a bike that makes more than 40PS, making it plenty fast for our environment. So we’re happy KTM has given it a suite of rider aids as well, accounting for our unpredictable roads. 

For starters, there’s dual-channel ABS as standard. Then you have cornering ABS and traction control, meaning both systems will also work when the bike’s leaned over, the time when you need traction the most. 

Our roads are unpredictable and often a smooth patch of tarmac suddenly has some sand, gravel or even rocks on it. These are the times when something like lean-sensitive traction control really comes into play, ensuring you don’t spin your tyre and end up losing control. 

These Features Are For Fun!

But then it’s a KTM bike, of course, it goes above and beyond the hygiene features. And for that, you have off-road ABS and traction control, which can be switched off. When you’re having some fun off the road, as you would with this KTM adventure bike, you might want to switch off the traction control and ABS to slide the bike around and have some fun. Sliding around is quite normal when going off-road and that’s exactly why KTM has given the bike this feature. 

And to top that is the most fun bit about the bike, the lovely bidirectional quickshifter. It’s a bit sensitive and doesn’t like riders casually hanging their foot very close to the gear lever, for that could end in a misshift. But once you realise it needs a bit more attention and start paying it that, this quickshifter works beautifully well, especially in the higher revs. Ride the bike hard and the grunty engine responds well and the quickshifter will keep up in the fun as well. It’s very satisfying! 

To answer the point we raised in the intro: yes, the bike is still pretty much the leader when it comes to features in this segment. Today, even much more expensive adventure bikes like the Royal Enfield Himalayan 450, the  BMW F 450 GS and the Honda NX500 don’t offer the kind of features the 350cc KTM 390 Adventure does, as standard. 

All said and done, the new Adventure comes in 2 colour options, and we have explained them in detail.