The bike is powered by a liquid cooled, four-stroke, DOHC 942 cc 75° V-twin engine, producing around 102 bhp (76 kW).

An alternative was the Swedish Folan 60-degree V-twin engine, however that co-venture was aborted after KTM was successful on the stock market.

[2] Early-1998, as the company grew in strength and the need to expand its single-cylinder range with a twin-cylinder product line, a new V-twin became a priority.

To do so, KTM assumed the entire R&D process in-house, and hired Claus Holweg as Project Manager from their Austrian neighbors Rotax.

After the critical votes, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer rejected the first draft of the Adventure except for a few details, chassis, and engine.

Later that year, Fabrizio Meoni won Rallye des Pharaons 2001 following superior victory on the Dakar in 2002, confirming the 950 Adventure was ready to market.

Rear shock on all adventure models of 950 and 990 have hydraulic pre-load adjustment accessible with a knob on the left side of the motorcycle.