Roland Sands Design KTM 1290 Super Adventure R Dakar tribute revealed

THE KTM 1290 Super Adventure R is already one of the most extreme large-capacity adventure motorcycles money can buy. With around 160bhp on offer, top-class suspension and extensive electronics, it’s actually quite hard to conceive how the ADV machine could be made any better.

Roland Sands Design KTM 1290 Super Adventure R

Well, questions like that are the kind that the team at Roland Sands Design in the states just love to answer, and their latest creation is just the kind of response we like to see! The bike is an unashamed tribute to the KTM 450cc rally bikes raced by Matthias Walkner, Toby Price, and Kevin Benavides in this year’s Dakar Rally, although the alterations to the machine are more than skin deep.

While the lovely Red Bull paint job is the first thing you notice, peel back the skin and the bike is massively updated over the stock machine, with improvements to the chassis, engine, wheels, and brakes, all helping this already capable machine go just a little bit further.

First up, the bike was helped to breathe a little easier, thanks to an SAS Stage 3 Canister Removal Kit, new velocity stacks and intake, and titanium exhaust with SC-project end can. The bike then went under a weight loss program, with the tail being tidied up and new side panels fitted to mimic the look of the Dakar racers.

The rolling stock was the next to see an update, with super-strong Excel Takasago rims brought in to handle the rigors of the world’s most extreme off-road rally event. Those rims were shod with aggressive Dunlop off-road hoops, a D606 at the front, and a D908RR. Braking power is provided by Brembo GP4RX calipers with Galfer sintered pads slotted into them.

To finish the bike, it was bestowed with a range of crash protection, hand guards, fog lights, and the obligatory Rally Pack of electronics courtesy of KTM.

We like it, we like it a lot!

KTM 1290 Super Adventure S review