barrygrussell
Senior Member
Article originally published on www.garage49.com
Kunka Corporation, KTM's official distributor in Bangkok, made clear their intention to win leadership of Thailand's adventure bike sector
with a pulsating launch party at their Petchaburi Road showrooms.
The guest list included many of Thailand's most high profile bikers and the fact that the parking area was packed with exotic motorcycles indicated that Kunka's marketing team had done their homework. A number of the standard and the more hardcore R models were on display, each with a queue of potential customers waiting to try them for size.
The sales and support staff who I talked with were all well informed and spoke English: these things are important to a linguistically challenged marketing geek. I was greeted at sign-in by Khun Ling, who took me through to the showroom and talked me through the bike and the very enticing incentives designed to get people to place orders on the night. Then we took some photos and Ling got me a
cold beer and introduced me to some of the other staff and guests. Having known Kunka for two years none of this was surprising, as they set their customer service standards high.
Having ridden more than 60,000km on a 990 Adventure, its bigger successor feels a good deal more plush, thanks to the wider seat. It has a big, well laid-out display, which will tell you all about fuel consumption, suspension and riding modes, air temperature and no doubt much more.
The engine, which is a re-tuned (more torque, less power) version of the mighty RC8 R gives the 1190 Adventure the highest power-to-weight ratio in the class, delivering 150bhp in Sport and Street modes and 100bhp in Rain and Off-road modes.
Whereas the 990 was clearly positioned as an adventure bike for riders who might really take it off-road, the 1190 looks as though is has taken aim at the established class leader, the BMW R 1200 GS. The 1190's bodywork has softer lines than its predecessor and the 990's 21-inch front wheel has been replaced by a more road-friendly 19-inch version. However, nothing detracts from the new bike's sheer physical presence and, being a KTM, you always suspect that it will take whatever punishment you can give it and sneer "Is that all you've got?" right back at you.
Prices in baht are 1,199,000 for the stock model and 1,289,000 for the R version. If you can gather together a 20 percent deposit you can repay over 24, 36 or 48 months at a flat interest rate of 4.5 percent.
A road test beckons ...
