KTM 390 SMC R (2025 - ) review

The lairy supermoto image aligns perfectly with KTM’s corporate persona of stoppies, skids, wheelies and general lunacy. And in its combination of signature orange-painted trellis frame, long-travel WP suspension, rorty engine and lightweight thrills the 390 SMC R feels like peak KTM, at least for those on a budget and A2 licence. Built around the same 399cc single as the 390 Duke and sharing much in the way of its platform, the frame under the SMC R is actually closer to that of the off-road Adventure and Enduro models, just with 17-inch road wheels and rubber. It’s very light, minimal and built to do one thing, and do it very well. Which you’ll either love or dismiss at first glance!

At 860mm the enduro-style bench seat seems a long way off the ground for shorter riders but once you sling a leg over it the suspension compresses enough to make it manageable, the slim frame and lack of weight contributing to the sense of accessibility. And, once you’re up and running, the upright riding position is confidence-inspiring with a commanding view that makes carving through traffic a breeze. It’s a good size as well, managing to feel substantial enough not to feel too toy-like while still making the most of its minimal build and lack of weight. If you want to adjust the riding position the bar risers can be reversed for more reach, the pegs also offering a choice of positions.

Let’s just generously say the SMC R has other talents, and nobody buys a bike like this for practical reasons. The seat isn’t actually as excruciating as it looks, unless you’re unlucky enough to accept a lift on one as a pillion. Suffice to say, this isn’t a bike for racking up big miles. But with a nine-litre tank nor is it capable of them. Bad luck if you like big displays and lots of info as well, the SMC R taking the basic slimline screen from the Enduro. Good news? If you like the idea of off-road attitude with road-focused wheels and tyres but want a bit (all relative) more practicality you can have the X version of the 390 Adventure, which is built around the same foundations but has a little more in the way of protection and features.

KTM says the SMC R is actually the lightest of all the 390 range, weighing in at a smidge over 160kg fuelled and ready. This paired with the suitably up-for-it power delivery of the 399cc single combine for suitably exciting performance, the 45 horsepower and 37Nm nudging against the limits of what you can ride on an A2 licence. It’s a strong, gutsy engine as well, the immediate throttle response helped by the fact it’s not got much to work against and pulling hard in the environments it’s built for. Which, for us, was a blast along lumpy Northamptonshire back lanes to a privately hired go-kart track to properly let rip in a controlled environment. While no two-stroke the power band is narrow enough that you’re working the gearbox hard to keep the motor on the boil, making the extra money required to unlock the quickshifter function worth forking out for. Those among us with the necessary denial/talent to pop wheelies seemed to have no problem doing so, the ABS switchable so you can turn it off at the rear for backing it into the turns, supermoto style. For a bike of this weight the single front brake was absolutely fine, too.

Again, accepting that a supermoto is built to operate in a very specific environment so long as you stick to what it’s good at you’ll be having a riot. And what the SMC R is good at turns out to be the kind of bumpy back roads you might not take with anything this side of a full-on adventure bike. Credit due to KTM’s route-finding for our launch ride, this taking in seemingly endless lanes across rolling farmland where the combination of sticky tyres and long-travel suspension turn out to be just the job for dealing with the lumps, bumps, cambers and potholes like they’re not there. On faster roads it’s a little out of its depth, but if you stick to twistier, more nadgery stuff most riders would avoid you’ll be having a blast. And on the track we were impressed at just how composed the suspension felt, with a suprising lack of wallow once settled into the mid-stroke of its 230mm of travel. That does mean you can play with weight shifts under braking and acceleration, even if you’re being more sensible than the average supermoto rider and keeping both tyres on the ground. These talents also work around town, where again potholes, speed bumps and other urban obstacles (up to and including traffic islands and, indeed, stair sets and entire roundabouts if social media is anything to go by) can be treated as launch pads for all manner of antics. We’d never encourage such behaviour, of course. And we’d advise caution against in taking KTM’s marketing invitation to ‘Behave Somewhere Else’ literally. Unless someone it’s been good enough to hire out a kart track, as we were lucky enough to have at our disposal for the afternoon!

A sub six-grand starting price looks good given the kit on the bike, and the fact an equivalent Suzuki DR-4ZSM is closer to eight. The lack of weight should mean the SMC R is relatively gentle on brakes, chains and tyres (assuming you don’t take up the implicit invitation to do skids and burnouts) and, while fuel stops will be frequent given the size of the tank, it won’t cost a fortune to run.

Our test bike had a bit of a wobble but this was traced to a flat battery rather than any inherent fault. Saying that, KTM has already had a couple of recalls for the SMC R and wider 390 range, including one for weak side stand springs and another for the ECU to address low-speed stalling. These will obviously have been sorted on any new bike you’re buying, and any existing models already in the market. But check the service history to be sure the updates have been carried out.

KTM’s extended support package is pretty decent, the warranty lasting up to four years while the standard 12-month roadside assistance can extend to up to eight years if you commit to main dealer servicing. Following the initial 1,000km (call it 600 miles) initial check these come round every 10,000km (a little over 6,000 miles) or annually.

You wouldn’t expect bells and whistles on such a minimalist machine and, sure enough, the SMC R is relatively stripped back, though the spec does focus on the stuff that matters. So, you get fully adjustable forks and shock from KTM’s in-house partner brand WP, the clickers for rebound and compression on the headstock easy enough to adjust on the fly. There’s also rebound adjustment at the back, in addition to damping both ways. Electronics are also decent, and configurable across the two rider modes to finesse how much intervention you want from the traction and wheelie control or ABS. If you’re going full supermoto and want everything off you can set the Sport mode accordingly and it will remember your settings when you turn the engine off. So, no need to dive back into the menus every time you fire it up. In this mode the display reverts to the absolute basics of speed and gear, the street mode offering more. Given how much well it fits with the power delivery and character of the bike it’s annoying to know it comes with a quickshifter fitted but you have to pay extra for it to work, but that’s been KTM’s MO for a while now. And if you want to spend even more there’s a vast range of anodised trinkets, louder Remus exhausts, fancy mirrors and more besides in the accessories catalogue.

If somewhat older (and more risk averse) than the target demographic we had way more fun riding it than we expected, especially along the country lanes of our test route. While we didn’t test the theory we imagine it would also be just as effective on city streets. The style and lairy image might limit wider appeal but the pricing is keen, the build quality and style is bang-on and if it suits your particular needs the SMC R delivers on the promise. If you like the sound of that but want something a fraction more usable there’s always the 390 Adventure X as an alternative.