In recent years KTM India is launching updated version of its motorcycle line-up with much premium features which used to be in mid or top segment premium bikes.
Even after getting huge updates on equipments and electronics KTM still manages to hike prices with minimal margin where it surprises Indian audience after being in budget.
All these steps have helped this most sophisticated brand to make a value for money product in India from its negative image which was formed in last few years, as it was earning tag of being bike of squids aka chhapari gang.
KTM’s bikes in India
KTM has a glorious history in Austria from so many decades but it entered in Indian market with the joint venture of Bajaj pvt ltd.
In 2012 ktm launched its first ever bike duke 200 in india which was a success start for this brand and soon ktm came with more powerful machine ktm duke 390 which was known as killer machine as it has very raw power and in very affordable price which made its reach very easy for thise riders who didn’t have prior experience to handle such power.
Following year ktm launched a full faired bike in both 200 and 390 cc option. The design of this bike became very popular in youngsters which later attracted some customers who started ruining its image by doing some nonsense acts in their sociel media and in cities which caused nausea in cutizens.
Despite being a decent affordable brand in india ktm started having bad reputation and decline in sales post pandemic.
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Introducing adventure segment with its 390 cc in india and globally
KTM showcased adventure 390 first in Milan in November 2019 and later in india in india bike week festival Goa on 6 December 2019 and booking started soon on 10 December.
Later KTM launched adventure 390 officially on 20 January 2020 and deliveries were started for its customers both for India and internationally.
This move was a massive hit in biking community as indian customers were getting their hands on a very powerful machine in adventure segment and it was offering tons of off-road features which no any other company was giving to their customers at this very reasonable price, not even slightly higher cost.
After seeing positive results KTM india decided to make it more affordable for beginners and budget friendly customers. So they launched 250 cc adventure at the end of 2020 which opened doors for those riders who were fine with less electronics but they wanted to enter in off-road culture.
Changes between 2020 to 2024 in adventure 390
Adventure 390 was launched initially in Jan 2020 with tft screen, alloys wheels, traction control cornering ABS, then later quickshifter was added by a software update.
In next year there wasn’t any update in mechanical system and there was only graphics changed with new colour options.
In 2022 spoke wheeled was launched globally with optional tubeless spoke wheel version and improved tft and quickshifter.
Indian customers got these options in india in next year with no any major change mechanically or graphically.
Updated adventure 390 in 2 different variants
After some minor updates in adventure 390 since it was launched in 2020, KTM india followed adventure to make some major updates after updating their rc and duke models.
In January 2025 ktm officially announced new version of adventure 390 with 2 different variants to give more options to customers by using new lc4c engine which ktm using in duke generation 3rd.
Both varients using same engine but there was different electronics used in lower and upper varient.
Differences between ktm adventure 390x and 390 s variants
Adventure 390 s or knows as standard was launched with adjustable front and rear suspension, cornering ABS, traction control, cruise control, 21 front and 17 inches spoke wheels, three riding mode, quickshifter, 5 inches full coloured tft, and cornering traction control.
And another variant x with a big price difference near 80 to 90 thousand, was launched with less features.
Major change was in rim size it was having 19 inches front wheel and same 17 inches rear but alloys wheels as it wasn’t aggressively off-road oriented bike.
X vareint was missing traction control cornering ABS riding modes cruise control adjustable suspensions quickshifter spoke wheels etc.
Changes in new updated x variant
As always KTM always improves its service and products by taking people’s feedback seriously so it decided to reduce the gap between both variants by maintaining same price range.
So ktm has launched another updated version of adventure 390x by making some valuable changing by adding crucial modes in x variant. Now it is packed with cruise control, riding modes, cornering traction control after hiking slightly more price with minimal number of 12 thousands only.
Differences between both variants after recent updates
Now there is a question if ktm has added so many common features in their lower varient then what makes standard adventure worth buying?
So here is one mjor difference which still makes standard worth considering off-road bike. Bike comes with adjustable front and rear suspension and 21 inches front tyre with spoked wheels with 10 mm extra seat height. These are main characteristic of bike which makes it rugged off-road bikes for very tough trails
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On the other hand, second variant X is more touring and highway focused bike which has dual sports tires 19 inches front wheel with 100 mm profile which makes it more touring natured bike to maneuver very easily with its less weight. Wheels are alloys with tubeless tyres.
How to choose between both X and standard variants
Now here is point that which bike is more suitable for you, so if you are into hard-core off-roading and frequently visits some tough trails over the highways and decent off-road patches during your long rides then you should definitely go for ktm adventure s because its adjustable front and rear suspension and longer front wheel makes off-roading experience great.
And if you don’t want a bike for completely off-roading purpose then you should go for x variant which still saves lots of money by providing same value only suspension and tyre size with spoked wheels is different.
