KTM Ph mulling local production

Adventure bike riders abroad will be happy to hear that the new KTM 790 Adventure will soon be available in the US. The US-spec models are reported to be priced at $13,499 and $12,499 (about PhP 710,000 and PhP 655,000, taxes and duties not included) for the Adventure R and Adventure trims respectively. These bikes will have the same LC8 parallel twin engine as the current Duke 790 Scalpel already available in the Philippine market, albeit tweaked for more low-end torque on off-road applications. It churns out 95 Ps / 83 Nm vs the 104 Ps/ 86.2 Nm (power/ torque) of the Scalpel. What's more interesting is that both the 790 Adventure and R variants will have a 20-liter fuel tank, positioned at the lowest possible spot of the bike, parallel to the crankshaft. This lowers its center of gravity and provides a narrower knee area for better handling off-road. Add to that the 450-kilometers manufacturer-claimed fuel range and this might be the perfect adventure bike.

Price tag for the new KTM 790 Adventure released abroad image

Philippine-made big bikes

It was recently reported that the Austrian manufacturer has already partnered with CF Moto to build a new manufacturing facility in China, dedicated to the production of KTM's LC8c engines. However, with Ayala-owned Integrated Micro-Electronics (IMI), based in Laguna, is already producing KTM motorcycles under the subsidiary, KAMMI. With facilities already in place, Philippine market KTM 790s could be produced locally.

Our source from KTM Philippines stated that KTM Philippines has already been gearing up for the production of KTM's big bikes since last year. The source also noted that the Duke 390, already being produced here, is, “almost the same size as the 790.” “For that reason, it is not far that the 790 (Duke, Adventure/ R) will also be manufactured here in the future, hopefully by 2020.”

Currently, the Duke 790 Scalpel is priced at PhP790,000. Will manufaturing the engines in China, or here in the Philippines lower down the price tag? We're not sure yet but one thing is for sure, Adventure Riders will surely welcome this new middle weight beast.