No one can accuse KTM and its parent company Pierer Mobility Group of resting on its laurels. When not acquiring new brands it’s near-constantly refreshing its fleet. The most recent example? KTM 690 Enduro R and 690 SMC R prototypes spotted out testing near home base. 

It was spy shot legend Bernhard Höhne who caught the bikes in the wild for Cycle World, pics showing computer modules mounted on each of their tails.

The bikes are a future Enduro R adventure bike and SMC R supermoto, models that share identical mechanicals and bodywork, with the SMC R deviating mainly with its twin 17-inch rims and more taut, street-tuned WP Apex suspension. Therefore, we’ll concentrate on the Enduro R since it’s so popular with the adventure bike crowd. 

The most notable upgrade we’re likely to see is a goosed LC4 single. One giveaway there will be a displacement bump is what appears to be a larger radiator hiding under new panel shapes, but you can also see new covers for the generator and clutch. 

Mounting hardware as well as support structures for the cylinder walls and undercarriage appear to have been repositioned, telling us the main engine castings are likely new. At the same time we see the cylinder heads are relatively unchanged, which indicates the increase in capacity will come mostly via a larger bore, longer stroke or combination of the two, something similar to what we expect as KTM’s 1290 LC8 transitions to a 1390 in 2024. 

Now before you get steamed up about adventure bikes getting bigger rather than shrinking to be more friendly off-road, that bump in displacement doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a weight gain in the future model. In an effort to stay one step ahead of ever-tightening European emissions standards that dumb down output, manufacturers have been bumping capacity rather than submit to a decrease in horsepower. As a bonus, we often see an extra punch, and lately that punch hasn’t always meant extra weight. 

Most other parts on these bikes look to be carried over, at least for now, including wheels, brakes and that plush WP XPLOR suspension on the Enduro. The chrome-moly steel trellis frame looks unchanged, although you can make out tweaks to points where the revised engine is attached. The stainless steel exhaust is also the same in shape, but appears roughly welded as if it hides internal updates that allow it to mate more readily with a revised LC4 single.  

The test mules are wearing some experimental bodywork too. The side panels have been completely reshaped, with the rear sections looking more trim with less of a flare toward the back. The forward portion appears more angular, dropping lower into a more squared off bottom edge in order to hide that enlarged radiator, while a the leading edge is higher and sharpened to a tip that flows straight forward, across each fork leg to blend with what looks like a front fender borrowed from Gas Gas’s ES 700 and SM 700.

Above the fender is a reworked nose, featuring a headlamp that appears further recessed within flattened cowling, and toward the back we see altered passenger footpeg brackets that look longer and slightly more swept up and back toward the bike’s rear fender. 

Of course, this is only the first sighting of models that could be two years in the pipeline, so much could change along the way. The 690 Enduro R and SMC R models haven’t seen an overhaul since 2021 though, so by the time they’re finally unveiled, we’ll be more than ready. 

Author: Jamie Elvidge

Jamie has been a motorcycle journalist for more than 30 years, testing the entire range of bikes for the major print magazines and specializing in adventure-travel related stories. To date she’s written and supplied photography for articles describing what it’s like to ride in all 50 states and 43 foreign countries, receiving two Lowell Thomas Society of American Travel Writer’s Awards along the way. Her most-challenging adventure yet has been riding in the 2018 GS Trophy in Mongolia as Team AusAmerica’s embedded journalist.