Now a ton of people around the world didn’t even know the KTM 250 Adventure existed. The bike has been out in India for some time and it’s just been released in Malaysia. What is the KTM 250 Adventure? Put simply, it’s a budget 390 Adventure with the Duke 250 motor shoe-horned into it. The 250 Adventure has the same frame, chassis, seat height, tank, suspension, brakes and wheels as the 390 Adventure. Bar the motor, there are some differences, the 250 has a halogen headlight instead of the split LED system on the 390, the dash doesn’t feature Bluetooth connectivity, the tyres are MRF Mogrip’s and there isn’t traction control.
The motor is straight out of the Duke 250. It is a 248.8cc, DOHC single cylinder with 30bhp, 25nm of torque, a slipper clutch, 6 speed transmission and fuel injection. The engine is also Euro 5 compliant.
While the bike is essentially the same as the 390 Adventure, unfortunately the weight is too. The bike is 374lbs ready to ride, 2 kg’s lighter than then the 390 on account of the smaller motor. Now the 390 is already quite the porker for its engine size, so I don’t have high hopes for the 250’s performance.
The price in Malaysia is 21,500 Malaysian Ringgit (RM) which equals roughly $5366 USD or 4713 Euro. I’ve had a look at the 390 Adventure price as a comparison and it comes in at 30800 RM ($7687 USD). This is actually considerably more expensive than the 390 in Europe and the USA. Here in the USA it is $6649 and in Europe 6699 EUR. Looking at KTM’s prices, the 250 Adventure would definitely come in a fair bit cheaper than that, I’m thinking it would be roughly $5000 USD/EUR.
So as I mentioned earlier, the 250 is a cheaper 390 Adventure without some of the fancy stuff. Realistically, traction control isn’t a big loss in my opinion. Sure the updated LED headlight would be great, but they had to keep prices down.
Now to answer the question in my title, will it be launched worldwide? I’m thinking it will be. I mean the bike is already Euro 5 compliant and KTM stated recently they are trying to get buyers into their ecosystem by getting them onto smaller bikes first. Not a bad idea. Looking at the KTM website it is available in most of Asia and India, so you would think the rest of the world will follow.
To some people, the 390 Adventure may seem like quite a bit daunting to begin with. KTM currently have nothing smaller than the 390 unless you get a Duke in a lot of markets.
While this type of bike isn’t for me, I know it will appeal to a lot of people. Why? The first reason is it’s a versatile bike. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is a going to be a good off road bike. The rider triangle is terrible for standing up, the foot pegs are angled forward like a street bike and the bars are way too low. But it will make a good commuter, touring bike and tackle some light off road stuff. So if you are going on a big trip, you won’t have to worry about dirt, gravel or muddy roads. The second reason is price. The 250 Adventure will be cheap to buy, cheap to insure and run. Not much in the motoring world is getting cheaper, and bikes certainly aren’t.
What do you think? Should KTM launch the 250 Adventure worldwide and would you buy one? Keep it OnTheBackWheel people.
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