Test Review | 2023 KTM890 Adventure R - Australian Outback

Hi, my name's Dave Darcy from Motorcycle Adventure Dirt Bike TV, and I am frothing. We are out in the Hatar Desert testing the latest offering from KTM, the 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R, and it's a cracking bike to test in these sandy and dirt conditions, and there's been some ups and downs to this test, I can tell you. Have a look at this. Now if you like what we do on Motorcycle Adventure Dirt Bike TV, for God's sake, subscribe! The 2023 KTM 890 Adventure R has hit Australian shores, and it's time for MadTV to give it a thorough test. We're on a one-way 1,700-kilometer trip from Sydney to the Hatar Desert. A five-day ride consisting of a wide range of road and track conditions, culminating with a day in a huge red sandpit filled with mouth-watering single and twin track. But it's not just about the bike, it's also about the adventure, and we're interested in how the land is recovering after huge damaging floods. The only way is west from here Dave, it's all west. Mate, two 890s, I just can't believe this. I've been waiting for this for a week, I got really excited. All right, well let's get this under road. I can't believe this, and what a place to meet. Clubby picks up a kebab shop where we live, near where we live. God, that makes me crack up. So what's the difference between a 22 and a 23? Not much, I mean it's a different colored fuel tank. This one's picked up the rally fuel tank. You've got slight improvements to suspension, and you've got this new look that, you know, it's cosmetic, but I think it's a good cosmetic change. It kind of integrates the headlight, integrates the headlight to the bike, and yeah, I just think it's more appealing, certainly more appealing to me. It's a pretty warm day, 30 degrees on the road, and we're in suburban traffic, and this is what you do on big dual sporters. I mean, that's the whole point of it, is to be able to work your way out of the city, and get to the places you want to go. We're slabbing it through the suburbia. The engine's pretty good on that. It just cruises along. It's much, you know, it's a very, it's a very linear power, so, you know, going through the suburban traffic like this, it just does it easily, you know. You can sneak it up a gear, you can be overgeared, you can accelerate overgeared, and it responds. Nah, it's a great engine for just cruising through this stuff. I mean, that's not what it's designed for, but hey, it does it pretty well. We're on the freeway to punch out some miles heading west. Most effective way to get out there. So, we're just under two hours in the saddle now, and we're out on the open stuff. There's a blustery westerly wind blowing, and, you know, the screen is designed for a dirt-oriented adventure, but I'd have to say it's very successful in what it does, and yeah, blustery wind, but it's still, my helmet is still stable. I'm still happy with that pocket it goes to there. Just the way that's designed, I can feel the pocket around there. Still very comfortable. The engine, I mean, we've come out of that suburban traffic, and, you know, I was hovering around 2,000, 1,900 revs, that sort of thing, in different gears, and, you know, it did that well. Yeah, it doesn't mind too much toodling along. You know, it's got a good flywheel. Yeah, now we're in the open stuff, and it knocks this over well. Just a little bit of wind noise. I think tomorrow, when we punch out a big day, I'll be putting in the air plugs. Well, you can't go to Bathurst without doing Mount Panorama. You I bet you Clubby doesn't open it up when we get on this straight here. I mean, we could be in jail before we even get to that sign, I reckon, with the power of these bikes. In addition to having one of the best racetracks in the world, Bathurst is the gateway to the west, and our staging area and planning point. The hotel we stay at has a large map of New South Wales that is ideal for quickly setting up a ride. I've been to Hilston before. That's a long way away. Well, it's 660 kms or so from Sydney. We're in Bathurst, 200 out, so a bit over 400 we'll make today. We can hightail it, Blaney, Kannawindra, Ugarra, Forbes for Smoko, and then we can pick up these tracks and roads we've done before along the edge of the Lachlan River. Yeah, they're lovely. We'll hit Condobolin, I reckon, just for a late lunch, and then bang, we'll pick up all these dotted lines, which are the dirt roads, which I haven't done before. We're going to run off the map, pick the dotted lines, bang, into Hilston tonight. And do you know what the Hilston region is famous for? No. Toby Price. Toby Price. Yep. He and his family, that little town there, or it's a locality, they lived out there when he was a young gun, and that's where he honed all his skills wide open on all those just big dirt paddocks and pastures out there. Toby Price area, right here where he grew up, and formed all his skills, mate, yeah. So anyway, there's a little hook there of why I picked Hilston out of all places. And then tomorrow, we just keep going west, mate. West. But we're off the grid tomorrow, okay? Yep. We're going to, one way or another, go through Ivanhoe, and hopefully still be able to pick up a little bit of fuel, and then boom, we still keep going west, and we really are out there in Mungo National Park we go through. Now, I did have a plan from previous experience of running right through the heart of all the dry lakes. Roads are still closed, still underwater, still wet out there. We're going to have to loop a little bit further north, still be awesome riding, go through the National Park, and then the plan is for Poonkeri pub in two nights time, mate. Yeah, which that'll be sweet there. I've been to Poonkeri, haven't stayed there before, but it gets a real lot of rave reviews, the pub at Poonkeri, so that'll be a ripper night. Yep. Then, the next day, we just keep going west, Dave, and we're going to end up in Renmark, I don't know how yet, and then we'll go over there across the border in South Aussie, that's a beautiful town on the Murray River. Hopefully the Murray River flood levels have gone down a little bit that we can still get access to any of these roads and tracks that are close to the river. Yeah. And then the final day, Babushka, this area whole here is the Murray Sunset, National Park, Hattard Desert. Oh wow. All right, so that'll be fun and games in there. Bring your A game through in there, Dave, for sure the final day, and then we're going to end up at Mildura Sunday night, and Monday morning we hand the bikes off to the KTM dealer, and bikes only. Bikes only. How good is this new deal you've got, mate? It's excellent, isn't it? Yeah, so we leave the bikes there to be trucked back to Sydney, and you and I get on the Silverbird and fly home like rock stars. Gotta be happy with that. Gotta be stoked with that, mate. Getting the best adventure riding. Yeah, so that's the plan, mate, and like honestly, Dave, it all comes off the HEMA map. What's clubby found? What's clubby found? Oh yes, off-road, let's see how quickly I can do it. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. That's it. Seven seconds. I reckon by the end of the week, I'll be down about three. We're heading to Hilston, and this would be a 550 kilometre day. There was nothing technical, but where we could, we feasted on twin tracks and dirt roads like these. It's great soul food covering large distances and being smacked in the face with constantly changing sights, smells and sounds. Australian adventurers punch out huge kilometres on roads and tracks just like these. The big pumpkins cover this territory effortlessly. Look at that, that's the KDM pub. But I think, to be honest, Dave, any pub can be classified as a KDM pub. I'll drink anywhere. Let's just say the KDM 890 owners, they're not real Chardonnay drinkers, are they? I think a lot of them would be Toohey's drinkers, mate, yes. Look at this bridge, like there was serious flooding here. We're just a couple of kilometres out of, it's not Canawindra, it's Conoundra. But have a look at this bridge. This bridge has been smashed. Go at that. That is absolutely smashed, that bridge. You know, we knew we had flooding out west, but we had no idea. And just on that theme of extensive damage, this whole area was underwater and the flood gauges say about 0.6 metres under most of this. And the roads have just been smashed to pieces. It's going to cost gazillions to repair them. It's one thing good about the floods and that's the birds. So many little nesting birds there. Look at those little buggers there. This is so different to the last time we came through here. I can't get over it. We're heading towards Condobolin. I'm probably about, I don't know, 70 k's out, I suppose. I would hate to get caught on this flood plain in a fire. You'd be ratchet. Okay, so we've just filled up at Condo. There's the Lachlan River and it's still flowing, which is great to see. Lots of bird life at the moment. Now, something I've learned from the 890 is the fuel range indicator varies very wildly. And, you know, obviously if you've got the bike sitting on a stand on an angle, then that changes it. But even, you know, when you've got the bike flat and you're riding it, it moves around. It tends to be conservative, which that's good. It tends to tell you that you've got less fuel than you actually have. But yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, this bike has a range. If you drive it, you know, moderately, you should be able to get, you know, 380 k's out of a tank. You know, 360 k's out of a tank, I'd say. And if you were really miserly, I reckon you could pull a 400. But I may be wrong on that. But anyway, because of that wild variance, I'm going to rely on the trip meter to work out roughly when I need fuel. I think that's the best way to go. Clobby, we've been on the Lachlan River for, what, just about most of yesterday, either on it or near it or around it. Well, doesn't it come out of Waiangala Dam? Yes. Which is the other side of Cowra. Yep. Which is almost Bathurst. Yeah. And we rode 530 k's yesterday. Yeah. And here it is here, and it's still going south, so it must end up down with the Murray. Yep. Yeah. Have a go at this. We've lifted the road, otherwise it would remain, the road would remain blocked with the water. Have a go at it. Look, there's a star picket fence line here, so that's a metre deep just there. Wow. That's a lot of water, hey? A lot of work to make this bit of road. So they've just raised the road. Looks like it. I'm going to find something for you. You can't see it? Can't see it? All I've seen is a KFC box. Keep still. 20 k's ago. Can you see anything now? Where are we, Dave? There. Can you see it yet? Oh, I see something in there. Hey, mate. Oh, no way. Hello. Is he on the road? Yeah. There you go. Look at that dude. Can't hold him by the tail or he loses his tail. Hi, mate. How you going? All right, I'll just take him off the road a bit. I think I hate him being near the road. There you go, mate. There you go. Harry Butler. Calmer, clubby. Calmer. He was heading onto the road and I just thought, ****, he's going to get run over. Why does he not try to avoid you? I don't know. It's just that sort of lizard. Down a minute so you can get a better feel for this road. So you've got a couple of inches of sand and you come out of sand, you've got this rough gravel, you've got ruts, you've got a couple of bulldust potholes. I've hit one a minute ago. And you've got this stuff. And I'm cruising along at highway speeds on this bike and the suspension is just soaking it up. It's carving through the sand. Here's some rough stuff. So when I talk about the greatest improvement to this bike is the thing you can't see, it's obvious, but you can feel, it's the suspension. The way this suspension is dealing with these minor imperfections is much better than it did in the 2022 model. Yeah, it's a notable improvement. For me, it's the best improvement on the bike. You know, the cosmetic one's nice, a nice new front. But at the end of the day, for me, it's, you know, when you've got long miles, I've got 200 kilometers of this today, right now. And, you know, it just makes life more pleasant and enjoyable to ride the bike and doesn't fatigue you as much. It's early afternoon and we're heading for Poonkeri, to a pub we know is bike friendly. But confirmation that we're in the outback relies on us seeing that ochre red dirt for the first time. A late afternoon blast on Twin Trail was a great way to finish the day. Well, it's been a long time since I left where I'm from to start the journey I'm still on to get to you. You see, I've come a long way. I'm not the man I was that day, but I'm still searching for the things that I like. Ah, what a lovely town here. It's been so long, I don't know what I'm running from. And everywhere I go, my problems, they still seem to show. No secret to this trip. This is how we do it. This is how we rock and roll. Clubby's got the map out and he's looking at it assiduously to ensure that we continue on our correct course of navigation. Where are we Dave? We're 137km from Poonkeri. Poonkeri, I think we'll go that way mate. Down towards Mungo National Park. Ever been there? I haven't. I've only done Menindee. This is the township of Poonkeri, 100km east of the South Australian border. It's got a wonderful phone connection so you can keep in touch with your loved ones. It's a good pub too, bike friendly. This is our bike friendly publican. It's like Dakar now. That's it, Dakar for pensioners. So Clubby, let's have a look at this pre-filter. Yeah that's um, time to give that a bit of a change I reckon. It's not going to hurt. That's it. It's ******* clean as a wisp on the inside. Poonkeri is nestled on the Darling River and water levels are steadily dropping following the floods. The Darling is the third longest river in Australia at 1472km and it has a chequered history of mismanagement and all too frequently runs dry from overuse by irrigation. We spend the day following the river to its meeting point with the much cleaner and longer Murray River. In the west the twin trail isn't technical but there's a heap of fun to be had blasting down these meandering tracks and if you come in too hot into a corner nothing too serious is going to happen. I'd usually say the deeper sandy sections keep you on your toes but the reality is on an 890 it doesn't because it carves up these trails like hot butter to a knife. These types of trails merely showcase the 890's dirt prowess. It truly is an exceptional dirt oriented mid-size adventurer. God, I was enjoying that two months then. Clubby, we're here. So all the rivers run to here, is that right? Right there. That's it. Darling on this side, Murray River over there. That's it. And it's right here at Wentworth which is just down the Murray River from from Meldura isn't it? Somewhere down there. Yeah. Look at that. Oh Meldura. So Murray River comes in from the east. Yeah. And then we've got Darling River. Yep. Our Pooncarie Road, that's where we've come from up the north. Oh. And Banker. They meet right here at Wentworth. And there it is. I never knew that date. I didn't either. It's funny, I know every road in Australia but I've got no idea about where rivers go in Australia. We're a day out from Hatter and making good speed across the flood plains. It's easy to keep focused on the track ahead but you can't let your guard down and it's tempting to let the 890s have their head but very high speed in the outback can turn to crap very quickly. Time to stop and soak it all in. In the absence of our dust trails we're almost absorbed into this vast flood plain. And on the fifth day the adventure gods created Hatter, the home of Australia's largest desert race. If you want to test dirt orientation of a bike there is no better place on earth than Hatter. The sun is shining and there are endless fast-flowing tracks and single trail and if you want that deep stuff that assisted the old pensioner departing his mount, it's there too. I can't think of a better way to show you how good the suspension is on this bike. That's a reasonable height to drop a 200 kilogram bike fully laden with rider and gear. Naturally the full travel of the suspension is used but the landing is soft and controlled. No harsh bottoming and the bike is ready for the next obstacle. The 890s are eating up these conditions and powerfully demonstrating their dirt orientation. In the mid-twin class there is no model out there that comes close to the KTM 890s handling in the And this observation is even more apparent when the bikes are fuel full. The low slung fuel tank keeps the load low and centralized and greatly assists the handling. To cut through this sand I've activated rally mode and I'm sitting on slip control three but when I'm in the deeper sand I turn traction control off. But I find myself returning to slip control setting three, my happy place. Surprisingly clubby keeps the bike in off-road mode with the traction control off and frankly it doesn't seem to be holding him back. In previous reviews of the KTM 790 and the 2022 KTM 890 I've gone into some detail about rally mode and slip control and how it assists riders and what it brings to riding pleasure. I don't intend to repeat myself and for those interested in the right hand corner of the screen click on the links provided to those reviews. Our final piece of twin trail as we prepare to leave the desert. Time to reflect on this five day 1700 kilometer test and the cracking adventure we've just had on these bikes. We've traversed the state of New South Wales from east to west culminating in today's wrestle in the desert sands of Hadar in the Australian outback. Clubby and I pride ourselves in taking on these long adventures and really getting to know the bikes and it's time for us to share our thoughts. Day five clubby what do you reckon what a cracking couple of days riding brilliant. It's been that good Dave hasn't it yeah like the whole way five days blue skies like this this is the first day we've had a bit of cloud and a bit of wind and what about the 890 Dave. I kind of feel like every time you get an invite to come out and ride the latest KTM hard adventure bike I think they won't mind us saying that you kind of feel like you've got to throw a couple of brave pills down and man up don't you yes and um I think the first thing that we both noticed about the bike when we left Sydney did that first road ride in the evening up over the Blue Mountains to Bathurst it's just more comfortable isn't it in the suspension yeah for that kind of you know initial travel just you know nice easy compliant first part of the suspension travel just makes that road riding easier a little bit of changes as we've mentioned with the bodywork down there with the new piece of the fairing panel that that takes the the side plates of the bike up into the headlights around gives it a lot more rally look than what it previously did. I don't know if the screen has changed slightly or not you get wind noise from the screen but I wouldn't call it bad buffeting or turbulence or disturbance and I'm 5'10 in the old money I can just tuck my head down to get low enough for those big highway miles to be comfortable on it the seat I find comfortable six hours maybe I start shifting a little bit of weight off one butt cheek to the other but otherwise fine for touring how good is it on this bike that the rally foot pegs mate they're that long they're just brilliant for all those big days we've had in the gravel standing up just fabulous ergonomics engine wise mate it's an 890 that's all you need to say you've got all the electronics you could ever want to play with but what's been really interesting for me today I've purposely just worked with off-road mode out here in the sand traction control off and just letting off-road mode do its thing and no issues you know I mean rally's always there if you're ponying up for the tech pack but you get that to start with don't you now with that whole new demo mode uh setup that KTM's got you know a lot of people wienering and whinering about that but hey that's the way a lot of brands are going with that kind of technology you know you can experiment with it initially then decide if you want to pay up the ABS has worked fine out here the off-road setting turns the ABS off at the rear that's really necessary out here in the sand particularly in any of the tighter and more technical sand that we got in today to be able to lock the rear wheel up off-road mode ABS I need to find out if it's different to rally mode front ABS or not on the higher speed gravel stuff that we were riding in the previous days just felt a little pulsing at the front brake as if perhaps the calibrations might be different in rally for the front ABS actuation but I mean no major issue but just something else that I noticed fuel economy we've run nearly 1700 kilometers this ride overall we've averaged just on 20 kilometers per liter except for the one session where we found some private property with tarmac runway airstrips in it and we could sustain a little bit higher than normal highway speeds and then it does start sucking juice for sure the cable clutch surprised to see Kato still working with a cable clutch I'd describe it as more than adequate but it's not as beautiful a light feel as hydraulic KTM clutches that you see on the models listen overall summary it's done this ride awesomely no issues no negatives and it just it's just the KTM ready to heart adventure I'm going to modify this slogan ready to heart adventure bike not ready to race ready to heart adventure this thing and for all you guys you all you typical big brawny blokey KTM orange pill poppers who just love these 790s 890s you're just going to love this one guys you really are get a ride on one guys get out there and then get out here in some hard off-road and do it justice okay that's all I ask of you guys give the bike a real try and that's me getting blown away whoa jesus christ what the hell was that have a go at this we finish your interview the bike's now covered in tumbleweed that's bloody sharp too so clubby just complimenting what you had to say agree with everything you say but if there was a theme to the 2023 KTM adventure R is refinement and they've gone back and they've listened to riders and they've done a couple of things that really improve this bike in looks you've heard clubby talk about the looks but the one that really impresses me is the one you can't see and that's the trail feel of the bike and what they've done is they've just softened the suspension for those long miles and you know we punched out some big days and that suspension is just amazing it doesn't beat you up anymore so that's a huge tick they've also done some work beyond the front end and the nice looking in terms of the language for access to abs traction control and you know power control settings for the bike the most notable is on off-road now when you press off-road abs on the rear goes off but also the language to get into rally mode all that has been simplified again and arguably is you know the best language there's only a couple of languages out there that that are as effective in terms of what the rider wants to instantly almost instantly get to what they want so that's brilliant they've continued to improve the the traction control module itself the borscht module and again it it's just on another level and of all the bikes we've tested you know ktm are right up there there's only a couple of bikes in that echelon that have traction control power settings abs all sorted and it's seamless and in fact it makes you a better rider and a safer rider and will certainly save you at the end of the day when you're tired so clubby's talked about the rally pegs brilliant you can sit on them or stand on them all day brilliant but my favorite is the flippy mirrors and they're great you just flip them out of the road you flip them back and they're in the right position and you know they're about probably the cheapest part you can buy in ktm but i reckon it's a cracker i'm picking up on what clubby said with the weight we you know that's the compromise that we has of journalists using different bikes the tillamook up high you know didn't suit this bike and it as you can see i've unloaded it today and you know to get the best handling in these dirt conditions if i had my way if i did this again i think i'd do a great basin and again get that weight low and forward and if was a pointer for that 50% of riders who are new to motorcycle adventure that come on to mad tv you've got to try to get all your heavy weight centralized and low if that was the best pointer because when you get in the dirt then you won't do these kind of wobbly things another modification of the bike that i noticed the difference with is the windshield now the windshield provides no buffeting but more importantly it punches the wind around your shoulders so you don't get any movement i can hear the sloshing bottle thing but you don't you don't get any movement at all and it's really good but if you're gonna go at speed put some earplugs in because it is noisy and it's you know at the end of the day it's a compromise this is a dirt oriented adventurer you have that any higher it whacks you in the face or whacks you in the neck so it's a good compromise well done ktm that that's a great improvement in terms of the overall ergos both clubby and i moved the handlebars forward to their most extreme forward position and you can see it there one two three and both of us like that better and it allowed us to sit on this bike all day seat's comfortable foot peg to seat ratio is excellent you know the ergonomics for big days in the saddle are good yeah you're not looked after as well as some of the super tourers but just get your head behind the screen get some earplugs in and pop your uncle love the fuel tank low we came into the the desert today full of fuel and you know the bike is just stable and you'll see you know we were fairly hitting it in the single trails and some of the more open stuff and you know it's just a wonderful handling bike just a quick note for riders the tires that we have on the bike aren't standard we have a pirelli rally on the front now that's an exceptional tire i am supported by pirelli but i know a lot of people who put pirelli rally on the front because they're just a great tire and on the back is an mt21 pirelli um it's a more trail oriented tire not one i normally would pick but actually i've quite liked it it's performed well in the range of conditions that we've ridden in another benefit to the rear tire is that it's a little bit cheaper than some of the other pirelli alternatives out there and if you have a look at it now it's lasted pretty well it's had five days uh of lots of tar dirt and i've been giving it a smashing today and it's holding up so no it's been a good tire i'm i'm rating it higher than i had i definitely think it did this job well so where does this sit in comparison to the 1290 adventure r well clubby and i have ridden both these bikes extensively and on this five day trip there's probably a half a day yesterday and today when this bike just shows its dirt handling and its finesse and superiority in the dirt the 1290 is a brilliant bike and would do all this stuff really well and in the first couple of days to be frank it's probably better than this bike in those hauling out those long miles but at the end of the day if you're one of those adventurers who like the dirt and want to have fun in the dirt then this is the bike for you and yeah look chris birch and other summer experts can throw those big 1290s around like they're they're a two-stroke but at the end of the day for me immortals throwing them around like a two-stroke the 890 is for me and the 1290 is for those longer open miles clubby we've hit mildura what a bloody ripper and i'd just like the big shout out to bikes only that have become an official sponsor of mad tv and so what happens this is a one-way trip we've ridden 1,700 kilometers across the state had some brilliant times and now we just put the bikes on a truck and it takes it back and we get in the bird and fly back to sydney thanks again bikes only brilliant to have you on board and look forward to working with you more on some of the trips that we're going to do on these bikes so i've just got to say thanks dave this has been an awesome five days 1,700 k's glad i got you into the haddock glad you put a little bit of extra sand in your jocks your socks and your helmet yesterday out there on the old stockery that was a bit hard going and just a massive thanks to mototech kdm here in nodura opening up on a public holiday monday to receive the bikes back ready for bikes only to ship them back to sydney as we bolt out now to get the plane back home brilliant times mate brilliant kyle's a bit shy but we better where is he there he is zoom in on him thanks mate did you hear a rumor that it was his birthday as well it's his birthday happy birthday mate if we could have made the case we would have but thanks again carlton awesomely appreciate it all right good stuff let's get out of here let's catch the bird yep the plane awaits mate the plane awaits desert eggs they're coming in they are too get out of here how they doing today adventurers they're staying in the pub clubby is that a dog rooter oh it's a husky it's a husky husky 701 oh my god there's an x mate and a desert egg mate in here in here welcome adventurer come in don't crash now right what you got to do hang on you got to get around that log so you got to go wide oh he nearly god he couldn't have he couldn't have timed that any better clubby and we tried and he's got his crash bars in place yeah oh yes the wisest money you spend on that don't want to put it on the ground he's got his adventure works bags steve smith will be happy he's the guy that sells these bags that's a good bag that's a good bag there you go um here comes his mate see if they can get see if we won't tell them the test oh hey clubby look at this pistons you go around that log get ready clubby here we go ah he's a good rider oh 701 oh he's hit hey clubby he's hit the panniers 701 close to my heart look at this there's a rally clubby is that a rally good to meet you dave mate yeah yep lance is it what'd you say hey mate dave hey dave sorry leaky leaky what's your name phil hey mate how are you dave two beers look at that he's got an ai vest look at that here give us a 30 second how how long you had it come on you're in the ducati yeah this oh about um three months all right has it gone off yet yeah twice twice has it been useful prematurely yeah yeah did it save you from injury no it didn't save me from injury it got me very embarrassed number of times do you reckon it'd save you in a big get up oh yeah yeah it's 500 good 500 bucks to recharge yeah well there you go that you're the first bloke we've seen with it on just the old um what's that jersey called yeah that's just uh yeah yeah that's the yeah yeah yeah i've got one of those yeah you get a whole one for woodsy's gents yeah come on let's have a look at you when you blew up it's like a you could blow up in the darling river and float down he could all he's got to do is fall off five k's an hour i reckon i could use it surfing too my mate in germany came off at 40 k's in the snow and it discharged before he hit the ground so i reckon it saved him yeah did you always hit the did you hit the ground yeah and then it went off or you're just going 15 kilometers per hour so you did you hit the ground it went off or it off before you hit the ground i think i think so it always happens like yeah yeah yeah ah interesting