DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS

KTM’s 790 Adventure and Yamaha’s equally long-awaited Ténéré 700 took contrasting routes in search of middleweight adventure bike supremacy so - which one ended up ahead?

- Roland Brown

The middleweight adventure class is arguably motorcycling’s most vibrant, and the 790 Adventure and Ténéré 700 are among its biggest stars. The Adventure sees KTM attach its dual-sport values to the popular 790 Duke, while the Ténéré applies Yamaha's desert-race heritage to the hugely successful MT-07.

Bikes like these make plenty of sense. Open-class adventure bikes have sold in huge numbers of late, but weight and cost creating an obvious gap for smaller, lighter and less expensive alternatives. as their performance and sophistication have increased, so too have their size, weight and cost creating an obvious gap for smaller, lighter and less expensive alternatives.

A mid-capacity dual-purpose model has long seemed logical from KTM, whose multi-cylinder range began in 2003 with the Dakar racer-inspired Adventure 950. Since then the firm’s Adventure V-twins have grown to 1290cc, leaving a sizeable gap to the single-cylinder 690 Enduro R. The 790 Adventure splits the difference neatly.