As awesome as this bike is, I was disappointed in the off road performance of the forks. Off road, the front suspension is harsh, at least based on my experience. To further explain, it's like there is little to no progressive feel to the forks. You really feel every "stutter bump" or "washboard" almost to the point of losing control. I would have bought the R model to get the adjustable suspension but my legs aren't long enough to make that work. I hit some rocks and pot holes pretty hard and the forks never bottomed but it's on the small stuff that I found problems. Outside of replacing the forks, I assume my only solution is to send the forks off for more suitable springs and valving. Any thoughts from others on this?
Hornblower
I'm my opinion, I wouldn't buy the standard 790 adv unless you only ride on street or dirt roads, for 1000 dollars more the R is well worth the extra money for its suspension. You could always get a custom, lower seat for the R.Anyway It looks like your going to have to get better springs and valving if you want to get into some rough stuff, sorry to hear that, they really are two different bikes.
I seriously considered the R but a low seat alone would not have been the answer for me. Even on the standard, I'm on my tip toes. This, in itself, is not ideal but acceptable. My riding is probably 80% street and 20% dirt and gravel roads so I believe the standard is a good choice for me and will be even better once I upgrade the forks. As popular as the 790 seems to be, I'm sure there will be many choices on suspension upgrades in the near future.
For anyone interested, I am finding solutions for upgrading the forks on the 790 Standard. One product I'm considering is from Andreani. It's called the Misano kit and it's a fully-adjustable cartridge kit. It features compression in one leg and rebound in the other, along with manual preload adjustment. Springs for my weight and riding style are included. With installation, I'm looking at around $800. Of course, I can also go with Ohlins but at a substantially higher cost.
I visited the suspension company today (Fast Bike Industries) and, after looking my bike over, they recommended a different solution than before. One of the problems with any solution right now is that the aftermarket is not quite ready for this new KTM model. So, for now, I'm in a holding pattern but the offerings from Nitron look pretty good to me. It's just a matter of when they will have a product for the 790 ADV. It could be 30 days or more. If I go with a complete solution (both front and rear), it looks like I may be able to lower the seat height up to an inch or so without sacrificing any suspension travel. Being height challenged, that sounds pretty good to me.
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