6/18/23
Think about what bike you’d really want for touring the high Alpine passes of Italy, Switzerland, and Austria. What motorcycle would give you the comfort to cover the miles that fill the valleys between those corner-filled passes while still delivering an exhilarating ride once there? KTM thought long and hard and came up with a redo of one of its legendarily bonkers streetbikes: the SMT.
Back in the days of the 990cc LC8 engine, KTM unleashed the 990 SMT on the world and it quickly became an orange cult classic—thanks to its sport-touring capabilities and hooligan supermoto abilities. But its production was short lived, and those in the know tightly held onto their 990 SMTs. Now, KTM has brought the SMT back but based on the middleweight 890 Adventure.
While the KTM 890 SMT is not available in the US until next year, we had Cycle World contributor Adam “Chad” Child report back to us from the 2023 model year press launch in Sardinia. While the ribbons of grippy asphalt may not be nestled between snowcapped peaks, the island’s road gave him plenty of corners and time on the 890 SMT to find out if it lives up to the former model’s reputation. Check out his review here to find out.
Also, since supermoto and supermoto-inspired motorcycles are some of the most fun you can have on two wheels, check out some of CW’s previous SM reviews below. There are plenty of sideways corner entries to keep you more than entertained.
As always, there’s more than we can fit into this email. Check out cycleworld.com for additional tests, reviews, and news.
Ride on,
Justin Dawes
Executive Editor
