KTM RC 390 Review – Race Test with Rennie

Review KTM RC 390 2022

Bike review by Rennie Scaysbrook

I am fortunate to ride motorcycles of different capacities, sizes, styles and speeds for a career. Almost every bike that I ride is fun in its own right, but there are few that can excite me like a small displacement sportbike on a track where you’ll only see top speed. maximum 160 km/h.

Increasing top speed didn’t really do much for me. Those are the corners where I have fun, and a small (readable, under 500cc) sports car like this KTM RC 390 is the perfect cocktail for you to revel in the joy of motorcycling.

It’s also criminally interesting to round up guys on big bikes and make them feel pretty self-conscious. Incredibly, many riders still confuse size with speed, ignoring the incredibly important lessons a bike can impart to them. The look of confusion on their faces as they took off their helmets and learned that a sportbike designed for “inexperienced riders” that had just disappeared from their pampered R1 was well worth the ticket alone.

Small bike is the best thing to use to get better. From Jack Miller down, small power machines on medium to slow speed tracks teach riders the finer aspects of driving at an affordable price. KTM has doubled down on this theory with the new RC 390, developing this machine with the man I shared a cavernous porch with at the Isle of Man TT 2022, Shaun Anderson, to get even more riders excited for the ride. the better the racetrack riding.

One of Anderson’s points in helping to develop the motorcycle was that it needed to be as easy as possible to convert into a race bike. The subframe is now removable and the bodywork is easier to remove with fewer tethers, so a race body can be quickly fitted for a weekend track trip.

The bodywork is said to be much larger overall than in 2021. The wider handlebars and spacious 13.7-litre fuel tank, perched on a 40% larger airbox and revised seats create a comfortable riding position. than for the taller riders out there. I raced an RC 390 in 2017 for a few laps in Alabama and, well, let’s just say the poor little bike looks like it’s had a hard time with my 183cm frame on it. .

Anderson’s growing mantra about the RC’s ease of turning into a track bike even extends to the frame, where there’s a brace on the inside of the frame that can be altered to vary torsional stiffness for life. racing, significantly changing the handling characteristics of the small pocket rocket.

In general, the chassis does not retain the rigidity of the previous RC 390, which is another criterion of Anderson. There’s a fine balance between on-road luxury and stiffness bred for the track, and the new RC leans more towards the luxury side of the equation to provide riders who are more likely to learn to read those What their bikes are doing underneath feels more user interface.

Much of the attention given to the new RC is focused on the Jenny Craig show. Weight has been reduced at every possible angle — 3.4 kg from the wheel alone, making a huge difference in unsprung mass. Less of that means less effort to turn, stop, and accelerate the motorcycle, giving the RC a competitive edge over the Yamaha YZF-R3 and Kawasaki Ninja 400 — which it needs since it only has one cylinders compared to the previous two for production. 43 horsepower and 37 Newton meters of torque from the engine are essentially unchanged.

Further weight savings of 0.95 kg have been reduced from the new ByBre brakes (again, more vibration-free weight) and 1.5 kg have disappeared from the revised trellis frame.

The chassis, which was already quite sharp in the exterior trim, has now become the ultimate point of agility on the track. With the weight saved, 390 scythes pierce the corners, chewing them like a hungry little hippo.

WP is once again responsible for the suspension (KTM-owned WP), with a fully adjustable 43mm fork that offers 30 big clicks on compression and rebound adjustment, as well as preload. The shock is not fully adjustable with preload adjustment and rebound provided but not the compression damping. While in top races, almost everyone will replace the inner fork and shock absorber for a more focused setup, the average fast day driver won’t need to, save Get a few delicious bucks in the process.

The engine is largely unchanged, but let’s not discount the larger airbox by 40% and the new exhaust system modeled after a Brad Binder RC 16 MotoGP weapon. A little bigger and much better looking, the exhaust completes the RC’s aesthetic nicely, giving it more of a track-style touch. KTM has also redesigned the RC so that the initial throttle response isn’t too abrupt, but, truth be told, it’s not that bad to begin with.

Additional credit must be given to the electronics kit for the RC. Saying the word “set” when talking about an entry-level sportbike seems a bit odd, since the electronics of the Kawasaki Ninja 400 and Yamaha YZF-R3 mostly consist of keys and an ignition barrel, but KTM sent it full. enough for RC riders. in this department. A five-inch, full-color TFT dash is mission control for the RC and it’s one of the most impressive on the market today for the price.

The electronics have a three-axis IMU and so you get ABS when cornering, traction control on/off, try when I dare, I simply can’t participate in my laps at Willow Springs’ Streets of Willow (and that’s a treat). One neat feature of ABS is that you’ve got Supermoto Mode, where you can disengage the rear ABS and back the little RC into corners. Again, this is a feature that some more than double-priced bikes don’t have.

However, one of the electronic additions proved to be quite troublesome at launch, and that was the optional quick-shifter. While it would be nice to have such an option for a small-capacity sportbike, the quick gearshifts are fickle and the right gear selection, especially when shifting gears, is a bit overwhelming. The removal of the old fast-shifting and off-road feature by matching downshift revs to the clutch has somewhat alleviated the problem, but the transmission remains a weak point in the RC’s arsenal.

By the way, the RC’s transmission reminds me of the first generation of the RC8 superbike, which had the problem of jumping out of gear when you least wanted to. Solid transmissions teach you how to shift smoothly—a lazy shift where you don’t get your foot out of the way or let it hang in the gearshift is punishable by shifting, so be direct and quick. is the name of the game.

The 2022 RC 390 costs $8399, about the same as the Yamaha YZF-R3SP and Kawasaki Ninja 400, but slightly cheaper than Honda’s CBR500R. With the KTM bundled with all that electronics, it makes a pretty convincing argument, but the proof is here. The RC’s racing heritage is unquestionable and proof that single-cylinder engines are far from dead, as many experts have suggested.

It’s a machine that will give everyone from Brad Binder to the teen on the street wanting their first sportbike a big smile, especially when you’re approaching that R1 at the local race day Yours, he hit the brakes, and you and your child railroad past orange weapons outside. Those are the times when you enjoy riding a motorbike.

2022 KTM RC 390 Specifications

Photos of Casey Davis