The Company Backing Norton Just Built A $5,000-ish Adventure Motorcycle Loaded With Big-Bike TechRideApartinfo@rideapart.com (Enrico Punsalang)Tue, September 15, 2026 at 12:21 PM UTCAdd us on GoogleIIrmUS6VEFAApparently nobody told TVS that cheap adventure bikes are supposed to come with cheap-bike equipment.There was a time when buying a small adventure bike meant accepting a pretty straightforward deal. You got a modest single-cylinder engine, basic suspension, ABS if the manufacturer was feeling generous, and maybe a small LCD screen that looked like it came off a microwave. That arrangement apparently isn't good enough anymore, because TVS just brought its RTX 300 to Europe with an equipment list that would've looked ambitious on a much more expensive motorcycle not too long ago.If TVS isn't a household name where you live, there's an easier way to place it. This is the Indian motorcycle giant that owns Norton, having acquired the historic British brand in 2020. Norton now sits within TVS's broader corporate structure, while TVS itself has been making an increasingly serious push into Europe. So, no, the RTX 300 isn't some random mystery ADV that showed up on Alibaba with a suspiciously familiar headlight.The RTX 300 starts at 4,890 euros for the Essential version, which works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of $5,700 at current exchange rates, though direct currency conversions obviously don't tell us what a hypothetical US MSRP would be. Europe also gets the better-equipped Adventurer for 5,290 euros. Both are scheduled to become available there starting in November 2026.TVS Apache RTX 300 - HeroTVS Apache RTX 300 - RidingPhotos by: TVS Motor CompanyAdvertisementAdvertisementUnderneath it all is a 299.1cc liquid-cooled single making 36 PS, or roughly 35.5 horsepower, and about 21 pound-feet of torque. It gets a six-speed transmission, an assist and slipper clutch, a steel trellis frame, an aluminum swingarm, a 41mm upside-down fork, and 7.1 inches of travel at both ends. Ground clearance is just under 7.9 inches, seat height is about 32.9 inches, and curb weight comes in around 397 pounds.But the spec sheet gets considerably sillier once you reach the electronics. The RTX 300 gets four ride modes called Urban, Rain, Tour, and Rally, along with ride-by-wire, traction control, switchable ABS, and a 5-inch TFT with navigation mirroring. TVS also offers cruise control, while the Adventurer adds a bidirectional quickshifter and tire-pressure monitoring. That is an absurd amount of gadgetry for something sitting near the bottom end of the ADV price ladder.From India To The WorldBajaj Is Open to a Strategic Investor for KTM. So Long As They're In It For the Long HaulNorton Wants To Give You an Unlimited-Mile Warranty, With a Small CatchNone of this automatically makes the RTX 300 better than bikes like the KTM 390 Adventure, Royal Enfield Himalayan, or CFMoto Ibex 450. It's smaller, less powerful, and we'd actually need to ride the thing before declaring it the bargain of the century. But its existence says something interesting about where inexpensive motorcycles are heading.AdvertisementAdvertisementEntry-level bikes used to compete primarily on price. Now they're competing on how much stuff manufacturers can cram onto them without blowing up that price. And if a roughly $5,000-ish ADV can show up with ride modes, traction control, cruise control, a TFT, and an optional quickshifter, the definition of "budget bike" is starting to get a little ridiculous.Source: TVS Motor Company