Quick Ride

Quick Ride

KTM 640 LC4 ADVENTURE R The bike more traveled

SOMETIMES, you just need to get away from it all. And for anyone who has ever dreamed of riding off into the sun-set-a desert sunset-KTM’s 640 LC4 Adventure R is a prime candidate as the companion of choice.

Orange and gray in color and packing 7.5 gallons of gas, the Austrian-built Adventure R will carry you to places that are otherwise unreachable. Marketed as a cross between a dual-purpose bike and a rally racer, the street-legal, 344-pound machine combines features found on the 640 LC4 Dualsportmotorcycle (yes, that’s its actual designation) with styling from the company’s Dakar winners. Obvious differences between the pair are the R-model’s larger gas tank, its dual-headlight fairing and its rally-style liquid-crystal display that tracks time, distance, speed and trip length.

Housed in an LC4-style steel frame (with extra tabs for the fairing and gas tank), the Adventure’s liquid-cooled, sohc, fourvalve, 625cc Single is mated to a wide-ratio five-speed gearbox. Suspension is by WP, with the 50mm fork and linkage-equipped shock absorber yielding 11.0 and 12.6 inches of travel, respectively. Both units are fully adjustable.

To fully experience the latestgeneration Adventure’s capabilities, KTM invited editors to California’s Mojave Desert for a three-day tour. Right off the bat, we noticed the new, softer suspension settings. Now geared toward graded dirt roads rather than bumpy single-track, the suspension is much plusher than before, especially on pavement. Softening the suspension also helped to tackle one of the bike’s sore spots-its tall seat height. In fact, the distance from the top of the reshaped, more comfortable saddle to the ground is now 36.2 inches, down a full inch from earlier models.

Unfortunately, engine vibration-the other sore spot-remains considerable. Despite the presence of a small gear-driven counterbalancer, the big Single isn’t very street-worthy, putting it at odds with the updated suspension. In years past, we’ve played down the Katoom’s vibe factor, but with new, smoother-running offerings from BMW, Husqvarna and Suzuki, the bar has been raised. Power-wise, however, the Adventure R remains a winner. Throttle response is snappy, and the engine pulls hard and revs out well. Kudos also to the beefy aluminum skidplate protecting the engine.

At $8198, the Adventure R is significantly more expensive than most of its competition. How to justify the extra bucks? Think in terms of taking a month-long motorcycling vacation, only you get to keep the bike at the end! Well, it works for us. -Jimmy Lewis