I can just imagine it. Hammering though the scorched sand of the Sahara. Battering through rocks and boulders at an amazing speed with the wheels skipping and gripping. OK. I'm on an Oxfordshire public road, I'm keeping to the speed limit, but the bike I'm riding is so easy to control, so comfortable, so nimble but so powerful that I'll have to be careful about my Dakar desert rallying day-dream!

And my mental wanderings seemed so real, riding the latest KTM 950 Adventure. Well, it is just about the nearest off-the-shelf bike there is to the out and out desert racers.

And while this bike must have been developed with the long-distance off-road race in mind, it is just at home on Tarmac.

A wide expanse of bodywork is dressed in striking KTM orange (should make cleaning the mud off a wheeze) yet the 75-degree liquid cooled, 942cc V-twin four-stroke motor sits with the cylinders pointing front-back to ensure a narrow girth.

Even the headlights are stacked piggy-back-style to keep things thin.

What is surprising, talking of narrow, is that the small screen really does work very well, as you sit on a comfortable seat high, high above everyone else.

The fact that it really is a big 198kg bike only really dawns when you swing a leg over the 915mm-high seat. I'm a six footer, yet found I could only just get both feet on the ground. It's a shame it is such a stretch as this will stop many shorter riders from enjoying such a fun machine.

The top off-road riders just love these big bikes, as the ride height is an advantage, not only for amazing ground clearance - the sump still has some serious protection - but it allows them good forward vision so they can easily pick out the best route over rough terrain. Stand on the pegs for an eye-in-the-sky vantage point and it soon becomes clear that the ultra stable KTM - be it flat out or at walking pace - has an amazingly low centre of gravity.

This must be helped by the five gallon "pannier" tanks, one each side of the frame. They are linked with a small pipe at the bottom. Hence the strange appearance of two filling caps.

And perched in between these tanks is a peach of an engine. It will propel you, thanks to a user-friendly 98bhp, well on the way to double the maximum legal speed limit without even trying.

Some seriously good White Power suspension is used to deal with the ground conditions, both on and off road. The rear mono-shock, with its remote reserve, has a fold-out knob to adjust rebound. This is so it can be used on the move. The huge upside-down forks also have pre-load adjusters that can also be turned with a gloved hand.

The 21-inch front wheel is shod with 90/90 Pirelli Scorpion tyres, with a fatter 150/70 on an 18-inch rear spoked rim. They seemed fine on the road and a brief excursion down rough tracks, but if you plan to get serious off-road, a change may be required.

A slick six-speed gearbox, served by a featherlight hydraulic clutch, is a joy to flick up and down through the twisties or in traffic. The harder you push this engine the more it likes it. On the other hand, if you are feeling lazy, use the engine's 72kW/8,000rpm of torque instead. It can pull, with that twin-cylinder buzz, from 3,000 revs, right up to a frighteningly fast 9,500 red line. To put this into context, using sixth gear (virtually an overdrive) there are just 4,000 revs on the clock at 70mph.

Some confidence-building braking is provided with two-pot Brembo calipers gripping the 300mm twin front discs, with a 240mm item at the rear. Hit them hard and although the bike dives into the upside-down forks, the front tyre buries itself solidly into the Tarmac.

The well-designed bike is quality from stem to stern. Tons of power, nimble handling for a big bike, comfortable, good lights, excellent instrumentation, an extensive tool kit (not that you will need it!) and it all comes in KTM Orange, of course.

Expect to pay £7,995 on the road, but keep some cash aside as there is a host of KTM accessories you may need - like the GPS kit, for example!

Demonstrator KTM 950 Adventure loaned by Premier Bikes, of 6 Park Road, Didcot. Telephone: 01235 519195