bike on the planet. Well, naturally, some out
there will throw some anodised bling at
it. However, a truly serious dude (with a
correspondingly serious wallet) is is going to
be looking at the suspension as the upgrade
route. To improve on the standard WP springy
bits which are fitted to the bike, this owner is
going to have to man-up with the credit card
because the standard stuff is already pretty
damned good. To get better suspension for the
790 R, you’ll want to be looking towards the best
WP suspension components money can buy.
To be specific, I’m talking about the WP Xplor
Pro 48mm USD 7548 Cone Valve forks and the
WP Xplor Pro 6746 shock. KTM New Zealand
fitted these to a stock 790 R and sent it to us
to test.
Out of the box the replacement units provide
240mm of wheel travel at both ends, but internal
spacers can be removed by a WP technician to
increase the overall travel to 270mm. I tested
the new suspension in the standard length
240mm of travel mode and, to be honest, unless
actually racing, I’d be very reluctant to make the
bike any taller than it already is. The suspension
still works beautifully in the stock length, and
that extra bike height will just compromise ease
of use everywhere else.
As you might expect from some very spendy kit,
WP’s Xplor Pro suspension is fully adjustable for
compression and rebound damping and spring
preload at both ends. In fact, the shock has
adjusters for high and low speed compression
damping and a cool mechanical spring preload
adjuster which allows very easy and quick
adjustment with a T-bar. The overall build quality
is of the highest standard with the main aim being
extremely low fiction and superb motorcycle
control – to give an excellent plush ride without
compromising bottoming resistance, and allow
the machine to travel through rough terrain in
greater rider comfort, safety and control.
KIWI RIDER 101