1190 Adventure Blog Day 6: Extra time for USA

Day 6 of Kutti’s Blog from the Adventure unveiling and test in Tenerife. Media from USA, Germany, Holland, Belgium and Mexico say goodbye. Welcome to Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal…

Good day again! The American group with 5 riders is scheduled to departure this evening. So we used some additional riding time by taking out a couple of bikes that were washed and prepared for the next day’s schedule and headed out. We grabbed the road to the Pico del Teide volcano; up the mountain and back again. A wonderful ride. The ‘express-division’ with testers Blake Conner und Marc Cook could not resist the opportunity to try out the 1190 Adventure with all electronic assistance riding systems deactivated. Thus they were able to discover first-hand that power-wheelies and slides can be controlled perfectly and are no problem at all – at least with the new Adventure. Thanks Guys – that was a fun outing!

In the evening we welcome the next group. The Austrian guys nearly didn’t make it but finally turned up ok after a fifteen hour travelling odyssey. Nevertheless at dinner the Austrian table forget their arduous journey with plenty of laughter and some good food.

We also have a special guest on site: KTM factory rider Marc Coma, multiple Dakar winner and FIM rally raid world champion who missed out this years Dakar due to injury, has joined us to try out the new adventure. The way he checks out the new bike in detail clearly shows how keen he is on riding it. Where are the keys?

The evening ends with a friendly surprise for me. Renowned Italian tester Federico Aliverti (from Motociclismo magazine) has devoted himself to some extra work during the nights over the past nine months, writing a book. Through 300 pages he talks about his life and job as motorcycle tester. Somewhere inside I get mention too, so I get presented with an exemplary copy of ‘Voglio fare Tester’ as personal present. Grazie Federico! I will try to pay back with a superb ride on a super nice bike next day.