BMW R1200R vs. EBR 1190SX vs. KTM 1290 Super Duke R - COMPARISON TEST

Are you looking for the modern-day motorcycle equivalent to a muscle car? A bike that provides the heavy-metal soundtrack to your ride and makes you want to bang your head? A great-handling, powerful machine with comfortable upright ergonomics and something that makes you flash your lighter in the air for an encore?

Look no further than an open-class naked, as one of these motorcycles should tick those boxes for you, and it's literally about the most fun you can have on two wheels. For our test, we rounded up three sporting twins that we feel cover the spectrum of super nakeds from hard to heavy, including the new sportier BMW R1200R, EBR's 1190SX naked superbike, and the current king of the hill, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R.

We’re not going to pull your chain. These bikes can’t do it all, but they come damn close. As commuters, they will make you get up and head out the door an hour early just so you can extend your ride to work by 30 or 40 miles. As weekend warriors, you won’t find too many other bikes that are more entertaining strafing apexes and getting your adrenaline pumping. The one place they fall a bit short is on longer-distance rides (which we did anyway), where the lack of a fairing or any means of storage limits their utility and comfort. Even then, you’ll have a hard time not smiling.

BMW R1200R: Shoot to Thrill

This model has been a fixture in BMW's lineup in one form or another for ages, but as the Bavarian company continues its path through a midlife crisis, so does its product line. The old R was getting pretty stodgy, the hairline receding, and the belly starting to get a bit plump. But BMW has clearly been on a mission to change its image, to shelf the perception that it only made bikes for baby boomers. You can pretty much thank one bike—the S1000RR—for opening the door to a younger generation of BMW customer. But, across the range, BMWs have been injected with a sportier genealogy (little blue pills?), and the R is no exception.

One look at the front end of the R1200R was all it took to understand that BMW wanted a sportier chassis. Gone is the Telelever front end, and in its place is a 45mm inverted telescopic fork. "I was very impressed with this R1200R's sporting capability," Road Test Editor Don Canet said, "particularly so considering its comfort and convenience features, including a tail rack and centerstand. Pretty unassuming bike at a glance, but it makes easy work of winding back roads."

When you are choosing your option package, make sure it includes ESA; you will thank us. “ESA II’s Dynamic mode delivered great feel and feedback when heating up the pace on winding roads,” Canet added. “Dynamic felt harsh on the freeway, but a push of the button to toggle into the Road setting frees the damping and allows the bike to float over bumps and slab joints.” Our only comfort gripe is the exceptionally close seat-to-peg relationship due to the 31.1-inch seat height. There is a much taller option. If you have legs, you will want to opt for it.

The R is the lightest BMW to use the latest liquid-cooled 1,170cc boxer twin. The engine provides excellent thrust, and the quickshifter keeps it on the boil with ridiculous ease, while the no-clutch auto-blip downshift is pure magic.

Those not in the know will totally underestimate the R’s potential; it is as much of a “sleeper” as there is in motorcycling. The R is the AC/DC of our group; it pumps out a simple, rhythmic cadence and is anything but flashy yet rocks loud and hard. It’s only when you really wrench the bike’s throttle and tap into the 78.5 pound-feet of peak torque hammering out of sweeping bends that you really get it. On the B-Side, hit the freeway, click it in sixth, hit the cruise control, and the engine is supremely smooth, making for a relaxing ride.

EBR 1190SX: Ace of Spades

What can we say about EBR other than it is quickly on the way to either representing motorcycling's proverbial unicorn or the dodo bird, depending on your opinion. Either way, the reality is that we already had an 1190SX on order from Erik Buell and company just prior to creditors' dead-bolting EBR's doors back in April. So when a crate with this seriously endangered species showed up on a truck for Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer and me to unload, it was akin to an Elvis sighting (skinny Elvis, by the way).

The single most frustrating thing about the SX, and EBR in general, is that there is so much damn potential in this package. Haters are going to be haters, but when Buell the man was finally untethered from his umbilical cord to Harley, he was able to start to prove that his concepts and solutions weren’t just gimmicks but had sound engineering and provided excellent performance.

In stripped-down SX form, the 1,190cc, 72-degree, liquid-cooled twin is essentially the same specification as the one in the RX superbike. In the SX, the engine produced 154 hp and 84.6 pound-feet of torque, which means it's giving up 7 hp of top-end power versus the 2014 RX we tested. Unlike the BMW and KTM, which between the two feature virtually every electronic bell and/or whistle currently utilized in motorcycling, the EBR has a much more basic electronics package. What you get is 21-level traction control, but since the SX doesn't use ride by wire, there are no power modes or true wheelie control, etc.

Compared to the other bikes in this test, the EBR is a bit gruff and grumpy (and also louder since the factory muffler was replaced by stub stacks), kind of the motorcycling equivalent to Lemmy Kilmister, Motörhead frontman. Off stage, it’s a bit uncomfortable and not in its element, but once in front of the microphone, the bassy twin produces a raw, fast, furious, and unapologetic soundtrack to your ride. It never feels snappy or aggressive, but it does drive hard. Somehow it’s almost turbodiesel-like and nearly as quick as the KTM at the strip. A bit of low-frequency vibration through the handlebar and footpegs, a deceptively slow-revving nature, and less-than-perfect fueling keep the SX engine from feeling as refined or as exciting as the other two machines here.

But that chassis! Man, does this thing handle. The bike snaps into turns instantly, is dead stable and neutral once there, and grip from the front end is totally dependable. After many years of Buell and EBR rim brakes that were just okay or somewhat flawed, the SX testbike’s rim brake worked very well, but where is the ABS?

KTM 1290 Super Duke R: Whiplash

Our love for KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R is well documented. How can you not love an audacious machine that takes the term “brute force” to a whole new level? And yet it provides a means of taming it—via its excellent electronics—for when you don’t feel like jumping into the mosh pit.

It might be a bit too much to say that the Super Duke R is all about the engine, but when something steals your attention as much as the 1,301cc twin in this bike does, it’s kind of hard to ignore. Those two massive 108mm pistons pound out a deep beat reminiscent of Lars Ulrich drilling his Tama double bass drum kit into submission.

For sure, this bike makes an impressive 151 hp, but it’s the Hayabusa-like 95 pound-feet of torque that hits you like a concussion grenade. With the ride mode switched to Sport (ultra snappy) and the TC turned off, you quickly discover how raw and brutally fast this bike is; clutching up fourth-gear wheelies at ridiculously illegal speeds is so easy that we would strongly advise against riding in any mode other than Rain (soft delivery/less output) around town. It’s your license. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

But for sure this bike has a lot more up its sleeve than simply a kick-ass engine. The chassis is amazing too. As the flagship sportbike in KTM’s lineup, the Super Duke R got all the good stuff: Up front is a burly, fully adjustable 48mm inverted WP fork that provides excellent feel and damping, while a shock of the same make controls the single-sided swingarm out back. Its Brembo monoblocks are near perfection too. We pretty much left the manually adjustable suspension alone. The fork and shock provided precise damping on a wide variety of twisty roads, from potholed to smooth, yet proved to not be punishing on the freeway.

On that subject, the night of our photo shoot, I rode the Super Duke 175 miles home from above Santa Barbara after already logging 325 miles that day. I can attest to the fact that despite the lack of a fairing, the ergonomics and seat proved to be amazingly comfortable, which was the last thing on earth I expected this master of mayhem to provide.

CODA

If this were a huge outdoor music festival, someone has got to be the opener, and someone has to be the headliner. That’s just the way it is. So who hits the stage before the sun fades over the horizon? In this test, that’s easy. Considering that as of this writing, we can’t figure out if EBR has already played its farewell tour or if it has another comeback up its sleeve, it has to go on stage first. In a perfect world, EBR would rebound once again with better resources and live to see another day where it could spend the kind of money its competitors do on electronics and development. What the company achieved in a very short time with an exceptionally small staff is pretty amazing. As of this writing, EBR was set to be auctioned with the hoped-for result being renewed production. As for the bike itself, it has great potential, but it clearly met its match in the form of the two ultra-refined Euros, especially considering that it is very close in price without offering as many features.

In the middle of the lineup is the BMW. Now, just like any big show, you might have purchased the ticket for the middle act in the first place. Get in, see them play, and hit the exit before the parking lot is jammed. The BMW proved to be incredibly enjoyable to ride in every situation we threw at it. It’s comfortable, electronically sophisticated, torquey, and handles extremely well. If flying under the radar is the perfect recipe to having fun without attracting unwanted attention, the R might just be your perfect match. If there is one thing lacking in the R’s set list, it’s that knockout hit.

For us, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R provides that track. It is amazingly versatile, with electronics that allow it to hum along like a good ballad when in Rain or Road mode, and then with the flick of a few buttons you are suddenly thrashing down the road with the front wheel in the air, the rear tire spinning and your heart racing as the bike unleashes its full potential. Combine the power-chord-chunk engine performance with a chassis that is as sharp and precise as ripping a good solo, and you have our winner. Encore, encore, encore! Well, until the cops come in and bust up the show…