BMW F 450 GS vs KTM 890 Adventure R on track

One standing-start lap of the Ref Ring, our 3.4 km circuit with no home-crowd corners. Every braking point, apex speed and straight is computed from the published specs, so the stopwatch has no favourites.

Read the full comparison

One lap of the Ref Ring

3.4 km, nine corners. Simulated from published specs, played back 3.7x faster than real time.

0:00.0

BMW F 450 GS

0 km/h / 48 hp / 178 kg wet

Gap

+0.00 s

KTM 890 Adventure R

0 km/h / 105 hp / 215 kg wet

Speed through the lap

0 to 215 km/h, shaded zones are corners

KTM 890 Adventure R takes it by 9.23 s, which is 345 m of daylight at the flag. Most of it came at Spec Sheet Straight.

BMW F 450 GS

1:57.02

top 162 km/h / avg 104 km/h / 9 corners won

KTM 890 Adventure R

1:47.79

top 203 km/h / avg 113 km/h / 0 corners won

Sector	F 450 GS	890 Adventure R
Sector 1	47.96 s	44.18 s
Sector 2	20.38 s	19.25 s
Sector 3	48.63 s	44.32 s

The working: every assumption in the simulation

This is a point-mass lap simulation from published specs, the same quasi-static method club-level lap-time tools use. It is an estimate for comparison, never a measured lap.

Rider: 75 kg, added to each bike's wet weight.
Drivetrain efficiency: 90 percent of claimed peak power.
Aero drag area by class, 0.32 (faired supersport) to 0.44 (adventure and enduro); air density 1.2 kg/m3, rolling resistance 0.015.
Peak cornering grip by class, 0.88 g (enduro knobbies) to 1.15 g (supersport rubber), adjusted mildly for load: lighter bikes work their tyres less.
Braking from the front brake spec: disc size and caliper type set the ceiling, grip has the final say.
Launch capped by the wheelie limit computed from wheelbase and seat height, and by tyre grip through the friction circle in every corner.

Race notes

The KTM 890 Adventure R laps the Ref Ring in 1:47.79 on paper, 9.23 seconds quicker than the BMW F 450 GS at 1:57.02. That gap is worth about 345 metres at the flag, and the biggest single chunk of it, 2.40 s, comes at Spec Sheet Straight.

Through the corners it is 9 apexes to 0 between the F 450 GS and the 890 Adventure R. Top speed goes 162 km/h to 203 km/h. A faster lap is not the same thing as the better buy, which is why the full comparison scores value, practicality and ownership too.

Simulated lap times from published specs with stated assumptions, not measured track data. The circuit is fictional and the physics are listed under the race. Read about both bikes: BMW F 450 GS and KTM 890 Adventure R.

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