KTM 950 Adventure

The Tough One

Ohio, the Spring of 2006. It was standing there, all dressed-up in day-glow orange, seeming to stare, as though daring me, through its double headlights. I thought, this is definitely not the bike you would buy for a Sunday outing to the next café, although it would certainly draw plenty of attention. No, this is a bike meant to be ridden hard and pushed to the limits, wherever and whatever they might be.

Its name and concept, directly derived from the 950 model KTM used for the Paris–Dakar Rally, suggests that the KTM Adventure can take you anywhere. And that's how Ramona and I treated it, taking it anywhere – and everywhere. Some of the toughest test rides North America has to offer anyone who isn't a motocross champion were waiting for us. Our route took us through New England and into Newfoundland, where the bike had to undergo its first rough challenge, crossing the entire island on an abandoned railway line. All of the ties had been ripped out, and the KTM took the loose gravel, deep sand, and river crossings in stride, almost as though we were riding in the park.

Not just an off-road expert, the 950 also showed good form with its highway capabilities – comfort and high-speed stability – from the northeast corner of the continent all the way to Tennessee, where we put it through more trials on the Trans-America Trail, an extremely tough, off-road traverse of some 4,800 miles to the coast of Oregon. That description hardly does it justice, though. In fact, Sam Correro, the man who mapped the trail, recommends that the route is "Only for use with light, off-road, single-cylinder bikes." And there we were with two cylinders, a bit on the heavy side, and carrying lots of luggage to boot – clearly not the setup originally envisaged! But, true to its name, this capable orange machine mastered the whole adventure very well, and the off-road riding was so much fun, we were always looking for the next stretch of gravel....

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