KTM 790 R: WP Pro Suspension Review

How do you make class-leading suspension better? You own a suspension company!

I feel confident in saying the new KTM 790 Adventure R has the best suspension of any bike on the adventure market for handling tough Aussie off-road conditions. I consider the whole bike package a game-changer. Fantastic adjustability and bottoming resistance make it a delight to ride off-road.
But you know what? It’s funny what you get used to. And I only say that because I’ve since experienced better. Riding the 790 Adventure R fitted with upgraded WP Xplor “Pro” suspension is proof of this. As good as the stock suspension is, the WP Xplor Pro gear is next level! Read on to find out why…

Many years ago, KTM acquired WP, a company that manufactures many motorcycle components – including suspension, frames, radiators and exhausts. In those years, they’ve figured out how to make springy things go up and down in a very controlled fashion. And their latest suspensders for a range of off-road models – the Xplor Pro 7548 Fork and WP Xplor Pro 6746 Shock Absorber – is arguably their greatest achievement. This fork fits a few other KTM Enduro models, but the shock is unique to the 790 R.

TECH SPECS – FORK

Cone valve technology, offering almost limitless damping and reduced harshness
Lightweight construction
All adjustments made externally
Stroke indicator rings
HQ slippery coating
Retail price: $5899 AUD

TECH SPECS – SHOCK

Friction-optimised components
High- and low-speed compression damping adjustment
All adjustments made externally with regular tools
Retail price: $3099 AUD
A note that the standard supplied springs are the correct rating for a rider weight of between 75-85kg. Luckily, I fit right in that sweet spot so I could achieve the correct sag settings. Alternate springs are available for different weight riders.

PRICING

Let’s get this out of the way early on. You might have noticed above the retail pricing of this suspension totals $8998 AUD. Near enough to nine grand! More than a third of the price of a new 790 R. Nine grand to replace suspension that is already deemed by many to be best in class. Why? Is it worth it? This is a question I’ve been asked many times already.

Now that you’ve cleaned the cornflakes off your computer screen, let’s have a closer look at the riding performance of this WP package.

HOW’S IT WORK?

Now to get into the testing of it. I have had three good opportunities to test this suspension:

First was at the Australian KTM dealer launch for the KTM 790 Adventure, held in May of 2019 at Conondale, Qld. Along with the dealers, I got a chance to sample a kitted-up 790 R with the upgraded WP Xplor Pro suspension back-to-back with stock-suspended bikes over an Enduro test loop.
Second opportunity came several months later in September when I was lucky enough to borrow the WP-equipped bike over the course of two-week period doing the normal sort of riding I do – coaching days and reconnaissance riding for future events over typical adventure terrain. Most of this riding was in Victoria.
The third opportunity was at the KTM Ultimate Race Qualifier at Stroud, NSW in October (run in conjunction with the Transmoto 6-Hour), where I got the opportunity to swap back-to-back a couple of times on my stock bike versus the WP pillows. And that provided great comparo around the Transmoto Enduro race track.

These three scenarios gave me a really good broad spread of terrain and situations to appreciate the suspenders.

But if the stock suspension is so damn good, why would KTM and WP go to all the trouble of offering a complete of replacement suspenders? ‘Because the rest of the chassis is capable of making use of it’, would be one response I’d offer.

In summary, it gives you more control, you can ride faster with greater safety, and it’s more predictable. If there was one compelling reason for you to buy, I would say safety. Safety might sound weird as a reason, but this suspension just never puts a foot wrong and remains very predictable. So there, go and tell your wife you need to spend another $9K on your new 790 for safety reasons!

One particular jump on the dealer launch test loop was very telling for most of us. There was a nice kicker about one metre in height with an up-ramp a little over a bike-length and a nice long downhill landing area. Danny Wilkinson (the photographer) was set up here with his flash to grab the money shots and he certainly did! The first time I came around and hit this ramp, I landed and thought, ‘I can hit that harder!’! I did a U-turn and hit it again. Same result! I hit it a third time and the bike still had more to give. I could not believe how fast and hard you could hit this ramp and the bike soaked it up like no one’s business.

SECOND OPINION

Across the weekend of the KTM Ultimate Race Qualifier at Stroud, I rode with Steve Robinson, who competed in the Merzouga Rally race in Morocco earlier in the year as a final competitor in the KTM Ultimate Race. While we were sweep-riding at the Stroud event, we were able to swap bikes back-to-back around a full-on Transmoto Enduro race track full of singletrack, ruts, rocks, braking and accelerating bumps and logs.

We named them “WP Pillows” after feeling the difference back-to-back.

Two key standouts from this experience:

At one stage, Robbo smashed into a log that he didn’t see in the dust going hard in second gear. This log was about 250-300mm in diameter and he made no attempt to wheelie over it before smashing into it at pace. It likely should have been a trip over the bars and straight into the back of an ambulance, but the WP Pro suspended bike soaked it up and barely deflected. Robbo’s heart was pumping afterwards because he realised what he had just got away with.
Arthur “Simmo” Simon (who won the KTM Ultimate Race weekend) was the only competitor aboard a bike with WP Pro suspension. In fact, Simmo had his modified to increase the travel to 270mm by removing some spacers inside. Simmo’s final lap time was about 30 seconds faster than his rivals. And I during the award presentation, Simmo put a big part of this extra speed down to the WP Pro gear.

RIDE FEEL

These are the key differences in ride feel for me:

Less deflection
Gets better drive and traction
Sits higher in stroke
Firmer damping, while still being more supple everywhere due to less stiction
The bike does sit fractionally higher overall so your seat height just got a little bump upwards, but it’s not that noticeable

COMMENTS

Don’t just take my word for it. This is what some other riders have said after riding the WP bike:

“Unreal!”
“That bike is a game-changer”
“The speed I was going was getting scary”
“They’re like WP pillows”

Of course, not every adventure rider wants to go boosting their circa 200kg bike into low orbit, so how does it benefit the “average” rider?

I say, “Good suspension is good suspension everywhere”. By that, I mean: if you have good suspension under you made of quality components that are correctly set up for your weight and riding style, then I believe that suspension can be dialled in to work really well in the diversity of riding conditions an adventure rider encounters.

LOOKS

To look at the suspension, the difference to stock suspension is not immediately obvious. And to be honest, that is a bit disappointing. I reckon most people that are spending several thousand dollars on trick suspension would want a bit of obvious bling-factor with anodised fork coatings visible or some different colour scheme. A trained eye will notice the larger fork caps and extra high-speed compression damping adjuster on the shock, but a casual observer walking past your bike may not pick up on it. And that is probably exactly what WP were going for – performance over looks. This gear is built to work and not just hang off the bike for wank factor.

SUMMARY

For me, the biggest difference is in three key areas:

Deflection – the bike is safer to ride because it just doesn’t deflect sideways off square-edged bumps.
Better traction – the wheels do a better job of staying in contact with the ground and delivering drive.
Even better-bottoming resistance – I say “even better” because the stock 790 R suspension does an excellent job of this anyway, but the Xplor Pro suspenders are simply better again after big hits.

DO YOU NEED IT?

Have you not read a word above or looked at any pictures and just skipped straight to the summary?! Of course, you bloody need it! I’ve been asked several times, “Is it worth getting” or “Do I need it”? My answer to that is, “If you have the funds available and you love having the best gear, then yes it’s absolutely worth getting”. If on the other hand you aren’t flush with funds, then rest assured the stock 790 R suspension is best in class. Can it be better? Yes!

If you are somewhere in between and need to get it past the ‘Minister For Finance and Domestic Affairs’, one approach you could take is to say it’s for “safety reasons”. This is more truthful than you might think because the number one biggest difference I noticed is the bike doesn’t deflect sideways off sharp-edged bumps or rocks as much. At all, actually! You can hit things at pretty much any speed (within sane reason) and bike just soaks it up without getting messy.

HOW DO YOU GET IT?

One option to get yourself a set of the good WP suspension on a 790 is being one of the lucky 500 people that secure an order on the yet-to-be-released 790 Adventure R Rally. That special model comes tricked-out with the good WP Xplor Pro gear straight out of the crate. Interesting side note is the Rally model features 270mm travel from the ‘same’ suspension. The extra 30mm travel is achieved by changing some internal spacers apparently. If you’re not one of those lucky 500 Rally purchasers, then get in touch with one of the WP Suspension authorised dealers .

The authorised dealers in Australia (at time of writing) include: