The 2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke R Gets Even More Insane

When KTM launched their 1290 Super Duke R as a 2014 model, it entered the market as the king of the hill and blew us away. Since then, the super naked market has become one of the most competitive (and most fun) in all motorcycling, and KTM has no plans to be dethroned. Today, at the EICMA show in Milan, they released a refreshed version of the bike with a whole host of changes that will make “the beast” even beastlier.

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The first noticeable change is the makeover given to Super Duke. The new LED headlight and daytime running lights match are designed to fall more in line with the KTM's updated adventure bikes. The body work is also new, and further sharpening the bike's already sharp lines with tank spoilers and new air intakes.

The bars are slightly wider, and have been moved lower and further forward to improve the handling for sport riding.

But the changes aren't purely cosmetic. Not by a longshot.

Power grows from 170 horsepower to 177, thanks to an updated 1,301cc LC8 V-Twin engine. To refine the ride, KTM have shortened the velocity stacks 10 mm to broaden the powerband. New resonator chambers on the cylinder heads help make low rpm power smoother and new, flat designed titanium inlet valves with a chromium nitride coating allow for a compression bump to 13.6:1.

The fork is a new 48 mm upside down WP unit that separates damping circuits and has stiffer fork springs and sportier settings, and are adjustable for rebound and compression damping. The WP shock is also new, and gets a heavier spring.

The Bosch powered Motorcycle Stability Control (MSC) has been bolstered, now offering multi-stage and lean angle sensitive ABS and traction control as well as a "supermoto mode," which should disable ABS at the rear.

While the new 1290 Super Duke R comes pretty stacked, they have a bunch of additional options if you really want to get nuts. The "performance pack" includes a quickshifter, motor slip regulation, and KTM MY RIDE, which connects your phone to the bike's display. There's also the "track pack," which includes a track mode rider setting, allows you to kill wheelie control, traction control slip adjust, and adds launch control.

Finally, KTM have added a few touches for those of us who want to live with this bike daily instead of just embarrassing people on the track. The display is a new, full-color TFT unit that provides all the information you could ask for and in a refined way appropriate for a bike of this level. They've also added cruise control, and a new keyless system which they promise makes for less hassle instead of more (how is this always so hard?).

Next year’s super naked shootout is going to be a day to remember...