Photography by Joe Bonnello
Go off-road riding anywhere in the world and you’ll probably see more orange than in a pumpkin patch. Austrian motorcycle-maker KTM has a bewildering array of off-road machinery, covering every dirt-oriented kind of riding from motocross to rally racing to supermoto.
But there’s a cleaner, paved side to KTM’s corporate persona. Since developing its 950cc V-Twin, the company has enlarged its range to include street-only motorcycles as well. We’ve had the 950 Supermoto in 2006 and the 990 Super Duke for ’07, but the lineup still lacked a real superbike, a fully faired road machine with roadracing aspirations. Wait no more.
At Milan, KTM unveiled its new-for-2008 1190 RC8. It’s based on the concept shown at Tokyo in 2003 but it uses the second-generation version of the 75-degree, liquid-cooled, four-valve V-Twin. It now displaces 1148cc, is fuel-injected, equipped with a six-speed gearbox, and makes a claimed 155 hp. It goes into KTM’s unique tubular spaceframe for a package that weighs just 419 pounds with the 4.1-gallon tank empty. Like other KTM models, it is equipped with race-ready hardware like Brembo four-piston radial-mount calipers and fully adjustable WP suspension. U.S. availability is still to be announced.
CW has a 990 Super Duke in our long-term fleet and we fight for the key, we like it so much. So we should really be head-over-heels for the 990 Super Duke R; it gets a 10-hp bump to 130 hp thanks to new pistons and exhaust headers. Then there’s the upgraded suspension and triple-clamps for sharper handling, a steering damper, a new tailsection and a bright orange frame.
Rounding out the line is the return of the single-cylinder KTM streetbike, the 690 Duke. It gets similar styling to its Super big brother, road-oriented suspension, an underslung exhaust, die-cast swingarm, fully adjustable WP suspension (with rear linkage) and a 65-hp 654cc, four-valve Thumper motor compete with slipper clutch and EFI. It weighs in at a claimed 331 pounds with the 3.4-gallon tank bone-dry.
With these new models, KTM now offers a full range of sporting streetbikes coupled with a factory capable of high production volume. So if you see bright orange on the freeway and it’s going faster than traffic, you’ll know it’s not a wayward traffic cone.
Sound Off! Will KTM be a player in the streetbike market?
