KTM introduced this adventure-focused model for the 2017 model year as part of its updated travel-enduro lineup, positioning it between the smaller-capacity 1050 and the larger 1290 family. The bike was conceived as a more off-road-oriented alternative within KTM’s big-bore Adventure range, with the R designation signaling the tougher, rally-style emphasis that has long been central to the brand’s identity. KTM’s 2017 launch materials presented it as a new addition to the Adventure family, and the model then carried through at least the 2018 and 2019 model years in KTM’s own parts and service documentation. By 2019, KTM’s North American press materials still listed it among the Travel Enduro lineup, alongside updated graphics for that season.
This nameplate appears to have had a single continuous production run. I did not find official KTM references showing a separate earlier or later revival of the same exact marketed model name, and KTM’s later adventure lineup moved on to the newer 790 and, eventually, larger-displacement successors. As a result, the model is best understood as a short-lived but important bridge between KTM’s 1050/1190-era Adventure bikes and the newer-generation middleweight and heavyweight Adventure machines that followed.
Enthusiasts generally remember it as one of KTM’s more focused big adventure motorcycles of the late 2010s: less road-biased than the standard variant, and more clearly aimed at riders who wanted a factory-built machine with a strong dirt-road and rally-raid flavor. In KTM’s own marketing language, it was part of the company’s push to broaden the Adventure family while keeping the brand’s off-road credibility at the center of the lineup.