The engine combines powerful acceleration from the very lowest revs with an outstanding free-revving nature and refined engine running. Another big plus: It's extremely economical with fuel.

A lightweight, compact cylinder head contains four valves and a single camshaft placed over the intake valves, with a secondary balancer shaft driven by the timing chain. The intake valves are actuated by finger followers and the exhaust valves by a rocker arm.

A resonator chamber balances out pulses in the intake tract and makes the throttle response smoother with reduced vibrations.

Twin balancer shafts, one in front of the crankshaft and the other in the cylinder head, reduce vibration for a smoother ride.

The lightweight and durable forged piston is designed to reduce reciprocating mass which improves engine response.

Plain bearings are used in the conrod to ensure a reduced reciprocating mass, which helps the engine run smoother and therefore enhances its lively character. 

The PASC (Power Assist Clutch) ensures the rider needs minimal input to operate it, due to less engine torque transferring to the clutch plates. The slipper clutch prevents rear wheel lock-up under aggressive downshifting, which reduces destabilising rear wheel chatter on the tarmac when braking sharply or decelerating into turns.

The smooth 6-speed gearbox with Quickshifter+ allows quicker clutchless up and downshifts when you're in the thick of the action. This not only enables the rider to be in more control of the motorcycle by keeping a full grip of the handlebars, but also improves rear wheel traction.

The KTM 690 ENDURO R is equipped with ride-by-wire system, which processes throttle twist grip movements with the help of electronic sensors and activates the throttle valves to control throttle action. This significantly improves the response, giving the rider better throttle control of the potent single-cylinder and a smoother ride.

Electronic fuel injection and engine management allow performance perfectly suited to the riding conditions. The result: even more and even better controlled power, lower fuel consumption, and less emissions, plus the benefit of features like MTC (Motorcycle Traction Control), MSR (Motor slip regulation), and Quickshifter+. The rider has the choice between three different mappings to influence the engine characteristics. A twin-plug ignition system controls two differently sized spark plugs in the cylinder head independently from each other, for more efficient combustion and a smoother, precisely controlled combustion sequence at all times.

Besides its fuel efficiency the KTM 690 ENDURO R saves its owner even more money, thanks to long service intervals of 10,000 km.

Annoying rear wheel chatter? Prevented reliably by the slipper clutch that's fitted as standard.

The exhaust system is made using high-quality stainless steel. It’s routed as close as possible to the bike to help with the slim profile, and the exhaust shape has been optimised for hard offroad usage.

Accessing the airfilter during a ride is easy thanks to the airbox being located under the seat. This makes servicing the bike simple, and strees free, when you’re off the beaten track. 

The frame is manufactured from lightweight sections of top-quality chrome-molybdenum steel tubing of varying thicknesses. This type of balanced frame design provides high torsional rigidity for best handling and rideability, while a more specifically-tuned longitudinal flexibility can absorb the wheel impact energy, supporting the suspension for reduced rider fatigue.

The innovative use of the rear fuel tank as the main structural element of the subframe, keeps weight low and eliminates design complexity.

This swingarm design allows for an optimal mounting position of the rear shock ensuring a high progression rate. The single-component casting process eliminates any inconsistencies and weak points that would be inherent in a welded swingarm.

Highly rigid forged triple clamps with an offset of 24 mm (adjustable to 22 mm), provide a solid grip on the forks for precise handling. They allow forwards and backwards adjustment of the handlebars in four different positions for optimum rider ergonomics.

Riding over rough terrain is made easier with the WP XPLOR 48 upside-down fork. The KTM 690 ENDURO R’s split fork design was originally developed by WP and KTM for the EXC models. It is fitted with springs on both sides with separate damping functions – compression on the left and rebound on the right-hand side. The cool thing is they have no negative influence on each other. Therefore, damping can easily be adjusted via the dials on top of both fork tubes, with 30 clicks of adjustment each.

The WP XPLOR shock absorber is connected to the swingarm by a linkage. This ensures a progressive suspension character and a high resistance to bottoming out. Fully adjustable, including high and low-speed compression, you can set up the shock absorber to any circumstances and rider preference.

The KTM wheels use lightweight, CNC-machined hubs and high-end 21" and 18" rims to combine maximum strength with minimum weight. They're fitted with MITAS E07 tires - a great offroad tire that offers excellent grip and will last a long time.

Sublime class-leading BREMBO brakes combined with lightweight wave discs –  300 mm diameter front and 240 mm on the rear wheel – to provide a crucial combination of stopping power and a consitent brake feel.

The large fuel tank has a capacity of 13.5 litres. It is also a load bearing part of the chassis, making it stiffer for optimal feeling and control.

Despite its thoroughbred offroad chassis, the 690 ENDURO R also numbers among the curve-bandits on the road. Two major contributors to its excellent tracking stability are the lightweight tubular trellis frame made from chrome-molybdenum steel and the high-quality die-cast swingarm - both of them extremely torsion-resistant.

By professionals for everyone: The KTM 690 ENDURO R's WP upside-down fork, with a whole 250 mm of suspension travel and 48 mm outer tubes, is adjustable in many ways and masters the balancing act between everyday, road and offroad use with the greatest of ease. It is designed as a split fork with separate damping circuits (compression damping on the left fork tube, rebound damping on the right) that can be adjusted independently from each other. This means that they cannot interact as they do in conventional open bleed systems - thus guaranteeing even sportier, more purposeful and rider-optimized ride characteristics. The pivot-arm articulated WP pressurised-gas monoshock with 250 mm of travel even features high-speed and low-speed compression adjustment.

The lightweight tapered 808 mm wide handlebars are rubber mounted to reduce vibrations. Their width and shape are aimed at providing maximum control in all situations.

Sophisticated "No Dirt" foot pegs prevent jamming up of the pegs, even when digging your way through deep ruts or navigating wet terrain. Rubber inserts can be mounted for street use to help reduce any vibration that might be felt through the pegs on smooth roads.

The KTM 690 ENDURO R's seat height is 910 mm for ease of access without sacrificing ground clearance, while the seat material is developed for offroad usage, and is slightly textured to guarantee optimum wet and dry grip.

Electronic fuel injection, ride-by-wire and the engine management system (EMS) make it possible to offer innovative yet easy-to-use electronic rider aids. These features can be selected, deselected and utilized to put the potent new-generation LC4 motor to effective use in a much wider range of terrain types and conditions.

Two ride modes (1) Street mode (2) Offroad mode: "Street mode" for sporty throttle response where wheel slip and wheelies are kept to a minimum for optimal street performance. "Offroad mode", by contrast, produces smooth throttle response with Offroad Traction Control, which allows wheel slip and front wheel lifting without hindering performance. The modes are easily switched over from the handlebar, making adjustment to the character of the engine possible on the fly. Traction control can be disabled if needed.

Lean-angle sensors keeps track of the angle of the bike and send information to the ECU and relevant control units, which use this data to adjust traction control and ABS actuation.

The MTC (Motorcycle Traction Control) lean-angle sensitive traction control system reacts immediately the instant the rear wheel rotation speed becomes disproportionate to the riding situation. In mere milliseconds MTC reduces engine output with an extremely smooth, barely perceptible intervention at the throttle valves, until slippage is reduced to optimum proportions for the selected ride mode and current angle of lean. For particularly ambitious riders, the traction control can also be switched off.

Quickshifter+ uses two sensors, where one sensor on the shift arm detects the movement on the shift lever rod when the rider upshifts and the system cuts the injection instantaneously. As soon as the second sensor detects the gear engagement it reapplies the injection and opens the butterfly valve, ensuring fast and smooth action at all throttle openings and engine speeds. When downshifting, the system matches the engine speed to the speed of the lower gear.

KTM's Cornering ABS mode allows riders to always use the full power of their brakes in all conditions, while taking the lean angle of the motorcycle into account. In the optional Offroad ABS mode, the ABS only acts upon the front wheel, while cornering-sensitivity is disabled. In extreme scenarios, the rider can also choose to disable the ABS completely.

When activated, ABS works on the front wheel only in the offroad ABS mode of the KTM 690 ENDURO R. The rider can then fully lock up the rear wheel for offroad vehicle control, while reduced ABS activation on the front wheel helps with effective deceleration on loose surfaces. The ABS is no longer lean angle sensitive in this mode, nor does it detect the rear wheel lifting.