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I like a lot of things about the KTM 890 SMT but my favorite might be the name. Supermoto Touring.
Basically, the stream of adrenaline a rider gets riding a dirt bike with slick tires on a go-kart track, combined with the all-day comfort of a cross-country touring machine. The name suggests capabilities that are, essentially, at odds with each other. The only way to be more direct would be to call it the KTM Cushy Hooligan 890.
Never mind whether it’s even possible to contain both of those things in one motorcycle. Let’s take a minute to consider how great it would be if every bike had the expectations built into the name. Honda CBR1000RR-R? No, Honda Ache Rocket 1000. A bigger engine than the Ache Rocket 600 and wholly different from the Honda Polite Sport 500, as the name suggests. We would all be better for it.
I digress. Back to the myriad questions this new KTM brings to light. Can the new-for-’24 890 SMT capture the capability and energy of both supermoto and touring? Is it possible to blend the Ducati Not-Quite-A-Dirt-Bike 698 and the Honda Butter Anvil 1800 into one, perfect machine? Or is there only an unhappy medium waiting as its destiny?
Recipe for an SMT
If you think I’m just trying to confuse you, don’t worry, the parts used to put the 890 SMT together will be familiar. The engine, frame, and rear subframe are essentially all lifted from the 890 Adventure production line, easy enough. That means less aggressive cams (and lower claimed horsepower) than the 890 Duke, despite the SMT’s 17-inch wheels and tires.
Crankpin offsets of 270 degrees are all the rage in the past 10 years — from Yamaha MT-07s to Honda Africa Twins, CFMOTO’s new Ibex 450 and Triumph’s famous Bonnevilles — mimicking the baritone and balance of a 90-degree V-twin. KTM P-twins use a 285-degree crank, a salute to the flagship (and deceased) 75-degree V-twins in the lineup.
The 890 SMT uses the same gearbox that’s shared between the 890 Dukes and Adventures, but comes equipped with the Duke’s taller final-drive gearing — 43 teeth on the rear sprocket rather than 45 on the Adventure. Mostly adjustable WP suspension offers 7.1 inches of travel for the SMT, which is a lot for a street bike and still a couple of inches less than the 890 Adventure R variants, predictably.
Rather than adopt the Adventure’s 5.3-gallon fuel tank, with its prominent lobes that droop down on either side of the engine, the SMT gets a 4.1-gallon unit that sits a little higher and exposes more of the engine. The seat is also lower on the SMT, 0.8 inches down from the Adventure R, which makes the fuel tank taller and more prominent in profile, as well as from the cockpit.
Most of the other bits of the 890 SMT are standard-issue KTM hardware, or have been altered slightly enough that they’re recognizable. A five-inch TFT display sits behind a shorter and narrower windshield (compared to the Adventure) and is controlled by Team Orange’s typical four-way keypad switchgear. Sport, Street, and Rain riding modes offer decreasingly aggressive throttle response, and there’s a Supermoto ABS mode that disables the rear anti-lock function. Traction control is switchable, even in motion, as long as the throttle is closed.
The MSRP for an 890 SMT is $13,949, exactly one thousand American dollars more than an 890 Duke and nearly two grand cheaper than an 890 Adventure R. The SMT test unit we got for this test came with an accessory Akrapovič exhaust ($945) and an optional carbon-fiber front fender ($368) that eliminates the dirt-bike beak seen in the brochure material and most showrooms. Plus, the Tech Pack ($630) which unlocks the quickshifter, cruise control, and extra-adjustable Track riding mode.
So, our tester was a few pounds lighter (thanks mostly to the pipe, according to KTM) and a couple thousand bucks more expensive than a base model, and the whole package weighed in on our scales at 447 pounds with a full tank. If you’re cracking your knuckles to tell the world how you feel about the accessories and pricing packages, give me a minute.
Touring and supermoto’ing
It’s at this point that I should come clean and admit that I am the owner of a 2006 KTM Wheelie Stilt 950. Technologically obsolete compared to this new SMT, but there’s a spiritual alignment beyond the obvious family connection. Both are based on an ADV bike, both are a little tall and absurd, and both machines are arguably answers to a question that nobody asked. I was more excited than usual to see what happened when I twisted the grip on the 890 SMT.
As the spec sheet and research suggested, the first impression feels pretty similar to an 890 Adventure. It’s more approachable than the ADV bike, even if it’s still tall for a street bike. It seems narrower and less substantial, in part because it is but also because the bodywork is slimmer and the windshield takes up less of the rider’s field of view.
The biggest difference, noticeable almost immediately, is the change in attitude that the 17-inch front wheel delivers. The SMT has more forward weight bias and the smaller wheel shod with sporty rubber brings a new level of precision to the chassis. Just turning through intersections and sweeping along highway on- and off-ramps on my first ride home, the 890 SMT was already scratching a little bit of supermoto itch.
Pretty soon I had the SM ABS setting on and the tail waving around entering the office parking lot, and was sprouting little wheelies when the time felt right. My colleague, Ari, took the SMT for an errand and came back grinning sheepishly, basically saying all he wanted to do was find places to break the law.
The 889 cc parallel twin jumps to life with the same frenetic energy as we’ve all come to expect, and it translates that bubbly personality and light flywheel effect to the riding experience nicely. It’s not as throaty or regal as a 75-degree twin but it sounds sweet and is an objectively good performer. It’s punchy and strong practically everywhere in the rev band, without being overwhelming.
Ari did note that it’s a little vibey at 80 mph on a Southern California freeway, which is true. With more than 100 claimed horsepower on tap, it doesn’t feel strained at all, just a little more alive in the grips than I (and he) was expecting, considering the adventure-touring DNA. Still, it’s a pretty agreeable place to sit. The riding position is fairly compact, with a short reach to the low-rise handlebar and footpegs that seem a shade high, probably in part because of the lowered seat.
It’s just on the sporty side of neutral, which is a good thing around town and on the open road. At six feet, two inches tall, the little Frisbee windshield pushes nearly all of the air away from my chest at speed. If I sat unnaturally upright and stretched my neck toward the sky, I could just about get my head in quiet, undisturbed air. Otherwise, a small dose of turbulence was always washing around the bottom of my helmet.
In other words, for me the 890 SMT gets a passing grade for touring, even if the aero and seat comfort are slightly limited. And it’s properly rowdy, too, an excellent concoction of agility and stability and have-fun-ability. Put luggage on it and aim for the horizon or ride it around an empty parking lot, you’ll be smiling.
However. The truth is that a lot of the riding that we, the motorcycling public, do on an average weekend or vacation day isn’t defined by the polarized ideals of touring or supermoto sliding. It’s a more banal blend of roads and experiences — an hour-long slog on a bumpy and crowded freeway to get to the foothills where you fight a little bit of traffic before you finally break free and bask in the bliss of an empty road, with a few lovely sets of corners and an iced tea at the end of it.
My ride to get the photos for this story was just such a journey, minus the iced tea, and it’s ultimately what snapped the 890 SMT into focus. The highway miles melted away easily enough, with decent wind protection and cruise control doing their job, plus enough room to move around on the seat that I could avoid the spots that wear a little thin after an hour or two.
When I got to the hallowed lane of pavement clamoring drunkenly up the side of L.A.’s San Gabriel Mountains, I didn’t need a raw, rigid, featherlight supermoto. I wanted a fun motorcycle to ride, one that’s able to be silly if I ask it to be but mostly just energetic, linear, and easy. And that’s what I got. A transmission that is ultra communicative, brakes that are nothing short of awesome, and a feeling in every corner that a little more speed or a little less would be just fine. Both rambunctious and accommodating. It’s brilliant.
Cynics might ask why someone would buy this bike rather than the 890 Duke R, which makes something like 15-more peak horsepower, carries 50 fewer pounds, and costs $1,000 less. If pure performance is what you want, the Duke display is the place to shop, certainly. But, the SMT’s sweet spot for fun seems to target a lower speed, which I find endearing and more useful, not to mention it’s likely to be more comfortable in almost any situation.
SMT anthropology
KTM’s 890 Adventure R is already a nice sport-touring bike, as are many other mid-sized ADV machines — they’re often stable enough to inspire confidence on a twisty road and comfortable enough to sit on all day. Practically, the KTM 890 SMT is just an 890 Adventure with street wheels and tires, plus a smaller fuel tank and suspension that’s more taut. Adventure-touring bikes have become popular in part because they are good road machines, and KTM has exposed and accentuated those qualities in the SMT by stripping away weight and highlighting the quality of the platform.
Tuning and polishing an adventure bike’s street potential to make it cohesive, and then convincing us that it’s a supermoto isn’t just marketing, it’s actually a truth that lives inside a lot of ADVs. In this case, with some extra Austrian spice. It’s the ease of use of a Kawasaki Versys 650 and the eager energy of a Yamaha Tracer 9 GT, with stellar brakes and up-spec suspension. It’s the whiff of Euro-spec performance that you get from a Ducati Multistrada V2, with less bulk.
I know, I know, I’m falling in love with a newer and more refined version of my own bike. Accuse me of that if you want, it’s fair. The thing is, as long as you can tolerate the seat height, I don’t see any big misses in the design or in the performance. It’s not as raw as my own KTM, but it’s also less demanding and narrower, and definitely better all around. In fact, I’m struggling to come up with competitors, in almost any price bracket, that can match the 890 SMT’s sporting poise, playful attitude, and day-to-day utility.
As for the stuff bolted onto the bike to make it better, I say save a grand and keep the stock muffler. You won’t notice a couple of extra pounds and the Akrapovič kit doesn’t do much for sound as far as I can tell, being behind the catalytic converter. Instead, spend $270 on heated grips that can be controlled in the dash, because a bike this good deserves them. If you’re into touring, drop another $250 for a center stand. You’ll have almost enough money left over to get the Tech Pack, which you absolutely should.
What about the moral line that KTM is leaning over, you ask? Charging consumers to unlock the use of hardware that’s already on the bike? It feels to me like a fancy hotel asking for $30 a night to access WiFi when it’s free at the Motel 6. Not illegal or anything, but it bums me out. KTM’s pay-to-access policy undoubtedly offers a more affordable version of the bike to people who don’t want features like a quickshifter or cruise control, but I still can’t get behind it. Bump the base price if that’s what it takes. This bike would still be a good deal at $14,600, plus whiny cheapskates and journalists wouldn’t have such an easy shot to take.
Believe it or not, software paywalls aren’t even the saddest critique I have of the 890 SMT. The worst part of this bike might be that in reaching for the two extremes of SM and T, the identity of the bike is lost. It just doesn’t look like anything, except a KTM adventure bike and that doesn’t do it any favors in terms of hinting at what it can actually do. By not looking like a sport bike, or a dirt bike, or any specific thing, it somehow promises less of each of the two genres it’s trying to represent. That’s a shame because this motorcycle is terrific at so many things, better even than some machines which look like they have more purpose.
The engine could be a little more charismatic and yes, it suffers from the other imperfections I talked about. For me, those peeves are nothing compared to how energized I feel when I ride this machine and how confident I am that it can do what I want it to. Is it a supermoto and a tourer all at once? Maybe not. But it is one of the most versatile and engaging street bikes I’ve ridden in a long time.
| 2024 KTM 890 SMT | |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $13,949 |
| Engine | 889 cc, liquid-cooled, eight-valve, parallel twin |
|
Transmission, final drive |
Six-speed, chain |
| Claimed horsepower | 103 @ 8,000 rpm |
| Claimed torque | 73.8 foot-pounds @ 6,500 rpm |
| Frame | Tubular steel trellis |
| Front suspension | WP APEX 48 mm fork, adjustable for spring preload, compression, and rebound damping; 7.1 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension | WP APEX shock, adjustable for spring preload and rebound damping; 7.1 inches of travel |
| Front brake | Dual J.Juan four-piston calipers, 320 mm discs with ABS |
| Rear brake | J.Juan two-piston caliper, 260 mm disc with ABS |
| Rake, trail | 25.79 degrees, N/A inches |
| Wheelbase | 59.1 inches |
| Seat height | 33.8 inches |
| Fuel capacity | 4.17 gallons |
| Tires | Michelin Power GP, 120/70R17 front, 180/55R17 rear |
| Measured weight | 447 pounds |
| Available | Now |
| Warranty | 24 months |
| More info | ktm.com |
