Let’s talk about SAS baby – this slightly sporty long-haul adaptable tourer, built to check off boxes.
An ideal application for the KTM Super Adventure S is touring ‘civilized’ countries, one or two up, with luggage. It is in no way made for true off-road use. The adventure-labeled extra suspension run as well as the larger diameter front rim (compared to a purely touring bike) make it more apt to navigate some mountainous or less well-kept roads, but nothing more. For highway, the wind protection is appreciated but noisy, and the mount for the GPS is attached to the windshield, which makes it vibrate so much at times, you wonder if Tomtom is administering a Rorschach test.
The last generation electronics and their intuitive user interface are fun to discover – adaptive cruise control is its own world full of normally unthinkable applications (ever tried riding arms crossed while passing a tour bus? – perhaps not recommended). I enjoyed figuring out that signalling left for passing overrides the bike slowing to match the speed of the vehicle it’s following. I also conveniently had it follow law enforcement vehicles, without fear of ‘cramping their style’ or falling too far behind. Shout-out to the relatively smooth quick-shifter and auto-blipper, considering the difficulty in making this happen with a big V-twin.
How it rides… The preload on the electronic suspension is rear only, which created incredibly frustrating situations by improperly changing the geometry of the bike. The rear height influences heating the front tire, how much muscling is needed steering and counter-steering the mammoth around serpentines, grip, chattering, turn-in, etc. Ideal geometry for sportier riding (max rear height) meant I couldn’t even reach the ground fully tiptoeing. KTM’s luck is relying on the performance of most adventure tires, which allows leeway for inexperienced riders, in that they don’t have to worry as much about warmup or front end grip.
“I know a guy, who has a friend, who’s fast on his SAS!” So what. He’d be faster on any bike made to be faster. This bike is a comfy long haul tourer akin to a SUV.
“Did you see what Johnny Bigballs does with this bike off-road?” Yup. (enter unimpressed/eyeroll emoji) He’s sponsored and every time he drops the behemoth, the entire filming crew runs to help him pick it up, before replacing all scratched and damaged parts and shooting again.
KTM doesn’t really label it truly off-road capable, despite cleverly opening up the treasure trove of off-road PowerParts to clients of the SAS. The bike will navigate imperfect roads and tolerate wide dirt roads and some gravel… Don’t be fooled into thinking I didn’t put her in Off-Road and in Rally mode to see how the suspension and different braking parameters work. Off-road begs for max suspension travel, so I raised the preload right up. This made the rear end come up upon braking faster than that of a Latina at a twerk-off competition. The rear brake disengages ABS so as to initiate an easier slide – enjoy learning to swing-tail à-la-supermoto on a 245 kg Angus. Most surprisingly and confusingly, the suspension remained very stiff, which made me question what conditions KTM were considering when creating the Rally and Off-Road protocols. Such suspension settings would be suited to higher speed and harder-impact obstacles – neither of which should be attempted on this bike, especially with the standard Mitas Terra Force-R which are designed as a 90/10 adventure tire. Changing to knobbies on cast aluminium rims is trouble waiting to happen. Again, handing out cheques the SAS’ posterior can’t actually cash, yet conversely and assuredly bringing in cash in the form of optimistic and delusional clients.
Though I seem nitpicky, were I at least 15 years older, on the precipice of ending my riding career, planning on retired touring and taking the missus on the back, I’d consider this bike as a contender.
It really is a lovely Austrian answer to BMW’s R1250GS. Cheaper, lighter, and a touch ‘sportier’. I think that was KTM’s main goal, without questioning too much else. Just build it in orange and they will come!
Writer:
Peter ‘Safety Bear’ Bokor