[RiderZone]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Did you see the last bit when he asked who is ready to complete the loop?

That SUMS up our Indian journalistic motorcycle calibre.

God help us all.

I am wondering if it makes sense to start a thread about how much we should base our own opinions on the videos/gibberish these guys routinely dish out.

To be fair to them, i wouldn't have fared much better. We don't have the bikes, facilities, or the culture around off-roading, hence no stamina or skills to be able to enjoy the 390 adv. That's why i believe it's a wonderful bike for India, great place to start developing some dirt love.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by RiderZone

To be fair to them, i wouldn't have fared much better. We don't have the bikes, facilities, or the culture around off-roading, hence no stamina or skills to be able to enjoy the 390 adv. That's why i believe it's a wonderful bike for India, great place to start developing some dirt love.

I think quite a few of us here on Team BHP would have done a lot lot better. I definitely dont look like a walking fat can of lard permanently hooked full time to a GoPro.

Maybe Team BHP should put together a motorcycle team and classify them around offroad, touring, commute, and track and send them out to review motorcycles, much like how cars here are done.

Would that be appreciated by the greater community? I wonder.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by Sheel

.............

Especially after seeing this -

Attachment 1963521

Picture is of a friend's GS, of course he is on Team-BHP and I will let him claim the picture credit and those stripped chicken credit.

Hahaha! I told you the bike can literally do anything you command! It can be your track bike carving corners. It can do offroad. It can do snow! It can carry your "Sabji Bhaji" from the local market. Just like any other bike!

So KTM, Splendor, Pulsar, Shine. They will all do all these jobs at different speeds, pleasure levels and feels but they will be able to do them no doubt!

By the way those Chicken Strips were worn off while riding against a ZX10R. Yes, if the rider is upto it, this bike can take the fight upto a ZX10R also. Videos are aplenty out there on what an ADV bike can do on the track against proper track oriented sport bikes. I kid you not!

By the way that Launch Video if you see it carefully will tell you the kind of expertise we have in India. I saw myself in all those journos! We don't have that kind of training to let go and have confidence on the bike. Just aim and shoot. Just like the presenter was mentioning in the video-" Just let go and it will take you up the hill like a magic carpet!"
We need a lot of training for that kind of confidence and being able to let go. I have dropped my bike many times doing off-road because of this and sometimes When I am in that kind of a Mode I have beaten kids half my age on bikes prepped for Raid de Himalaya as well on full blown tight off-road tracks.

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I am wondering if it makes sense to start a thread about how much we should base our own opinions on the videos/gibberish these guys routinely dish out.

It does make sense to dissect and debunk some of the pretentious garbage these guys spew, just for the benefit of people basing their views and decisions on their "reviews."

From the video, it seemed like some of these guys may have been struggling with basic clutch work to keep traction on those surfaces. No wonder they were complaining about the bike not having enough low-end torque even though its a 370 cc motor. And it didn't even look like a difficult trail.

For off-road usage, I would absolutely not take the word of these guys pretending to be something else.

I'd like to hear Ashish Raorane's views on the bike though.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

It does make sense to dissect and debunk some of the pretentious garbage these guys spew, just for the benefit of people basing their views and decisions on their "reviews."

From the video, it seemed like some of these guys may have been struggling with basic clutch work to keep traction on those surfaces. No wonder they were complaining about the bike not having enough low-end torque even though its a 370 cc motor. And it didn't even look like a difficult trail.

For off-road usage, I would absolutely not take the word of these guys pretending to be something else.

I'd like to hear Ashish Raorane's views on the bike though.

Hmm. Let’s see if we can start something based on the 390 adventure itself. But I guess we gotta ride it first before calling the kettle black lol.

Ashish apparently loved the bike. Watch upto 6.00, captures some of his riding from his perspective, as also behind the scenes chat on the trail with Adam, and Tushar Burman flaming himself. It’s just a monologue after that.

https://youtu.be/AS7dTMHUBnA

[IshaanIan]

I think having owned a KTM RC390 for over 4 years and having ridden several other KTMs based on the same platform (duke125, rc/duke200, duke250, old duke/rc390, new duke390) it is fairly clear to me (and I feel it ought to be with anyone who has had significant experience with these bikes), that the specs paint a clear and simple picture of the ADV390:

It is not going to be a revelation on trails since at the end of the day it is just an iteration based on a platform that has been designed for road/track use, without significant alterations to the engine power delivery characteristics or adjustable damping. Long travel forks and clever electronics are what you get which helps it earn its ADV badge. Definitely not a bad bike and ofcourse the classic disclaimer remains as is the case with all 390s: quicker than 95% of everything you encounter on the roads

Anybody in the market for an ADV would be happy with this, except someone who has already owned a KTM 390 as they might not find it absolutely worth it. Then again nothing comes close to it in the market as of now, so even 390 owners might just have to go with it if you absolutely must have an ADV.

Meanwhile I am still eagerly awaiting proper dirtbike and supermoto offerings from the brand in India

Felt like posting some images of my RC390 to remind folks of what any bike with any good rider is capable of:

[Romins]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

I am wondering if it makes sense to start a thread about how much we should base our own opinions on the videos/gibberish these guys routinely dish out.

And we TBHpians should stop posting these videos in this forum and help them make their quick bucks. Human skill is 80% and the machine is just 20% ! Let's not forget that!

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Romins

And we TBHpians should stop posting these videos in this forum and help them make their quick bucks. Human skill is 80% and the machine is just 20% ! Let's not forget that!

Well, we can always downvote the videos enmasse. How about that? More power to the people?

[ashwin1224]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Well, we can always downvote the videos enmasse. How about that? More power to the people?

I actually logged into my Youtube account after years just dislike one particular video. Every vote counts.

[ihrishi]

So went to the Wakdewadi KTM showroom today after calling and taking an appointment only to be told on reaching that the bike isn't there. The staff is hopeless.
Went to Bundgarden for a TD. Its sad that the TD is only inside the campus, but then again you do with what you get.

Coming to the bike. Well. It is amazing and I absolutely loved it. My major concern was the seat height and it's a non-issue for me. And I am 5'7. Its a go from my side. Will be booking it as soon as my current bike is sold.

[CarManMotorcycl]

Originally Posted by Red Liner

Did you see the last bit when he asked who is ready to complete the loop?

That SUMS up our Indian journalistic motorcycle calibre.

God help us all.

I am wondering if it makes sense to start a thread about how much we should base our own opinions on the videos/gibberish these guys routinely dish out.

To be honest if India had the same number of off-road motorcycles as the Europeans or the Americans maybe they(us too) would've a lot more experience on the trails. I am pretty sure it's the first time the journalists have got such a difficult trail. Yeah you can convert a normal motorcycle to an off-road one but not everyone has the time to do that.

That aside, I also don't trust these journos with their comments and I only base my opinion of a motorcycle after riding it for a considerable distance.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by CarManMotorcycl

To be honest if India had the same number of off-road motorcycles as the Europeans or the Americans maybe they(us too) would've a lot more experience on the trails. I am pretty sure it's the first time the journalists have got such a difficult trail. Yeah you can convert a normal motorcycle to an off-road one but not everyone has the time to do that.

Then they should qualify their "advice" with enough disclaimers. Not allow us to find their inadequacy on other videos because of the erratic crap they dole out for viewership.

You keep waiting, you grow old, and die. That is the sequence.

Experience on trails is not about waiting for the right bike. Its about taking what you have and going out to do it. And do it enough number of times that things become a reflex offroad. We all have with the bike we have.

The euros and americans are good, because they get out of their comfort zone and go get it done. The same guys will come here, sit on a bullet for the first time in their lives and do ladakh in Indian traffic and get out alive.

A purpose built bike makes things easier and will mask your mistakes. Thats all. Your regular street bike will have you killed on the same trail if you are not careful. You need a hell lot more guts and camarederi to take a 17 inch wheeled street bike, rear set pegs with commuter gearing onto a trail.

Try it.

[drt_rdr]

Originally Posted by CarManMotorcycl

To be honest if India had the same number of off-road motorcycles as the Europeans or the Americans maybe they(us too) would've a lot more experience on the trails. I am pretty sure it's the first time the journalists have got such a difficult trail. Yeah you can convert a normal motorcycle to an off-road one but not everyone has the time to do that.

We've had the impulse since 2012, Himalayan since 2015 or something, g310gs and versys x since at least a couple of years, and the xpulse since half a year or so.

We've also had the big capacity adventure bikes like the big gs, tiger, multistrada and scrambler, and the Africa twin for quite a number of years now.

So, journalists have had all the opportunities they'd want on lots of different capacities since quite a while now.

The average rider not being comfortable offroad for whatever reason is perfectly ok. But journalists struggling with off-road riding is bad form for being professionals. Why should the average rider take their word if they're lacking the right kind of riding and evalution skill? You end up with poor evaluations like not enough low end torque, not enough travel on the suspension, should have come with spoke wheels etc.

We aren't even talking about hardcore offroading, but just about some trail riding. Everyone would have access to atleast some kind of trails outside their city if they wanted to go try that out. Trails around farmland and beaches are usually easy riding. Forest and hill trails tend to be anywhere between easy to difficult. It usually isnt a problem to find trails to ride on, and most people would have inevitably ridden some anyway for one reason or another.

[Red Liner]

In India, sad to say, Moto journalism is an accidental profession. Pretty sure the average BHPIan here knows more than the journo out there.

Let’s not even get vloggers into this discussion. That’s a big bucket of worms right there.

We are veering well off mainstream topic. Where the hell is the bike? Anyone have any word on test rides and delivery dates?

[indianexplorer]

Even the Lamborghini Huracan made to Leh and beyond. Obviously there were compromises and adjustments made all along the way. So the mere fact that the 390 adv made it through the trail with such ease when Adam Reimann rode it doesnt make it a great Adv and our journos all that bad. The pace is the key here. Adam rode at a pace that only hardcore off-roaders can manage, if you hear the audio in the unedited videos shared a few days ago in this thread, you can hear him constantly slipping the clutch.

I don't think we should disregard all the journos. I have seen Karthikeyan Singhee train at Big Rock and videos of Sagar train himself to ride off-road using a Tiger. They clearly seem to make sense that this is a bike that is more suited for touring than for ADV, with Sagar even going to say (mean) it will take you wherever you want to get to, but not in a true adv fashion.