2025 KTM 1390 Super Duke GT First Look

With 172 hp KTM’s existing 1290 Super Duke GT is already one of the most powerful sport-tourers on the market, but for 2025 the Austrian company has upped the game with the new 1390 Super Duke GT, packing very nearly 190 hp thanks to an engine straight from the 1390 Super Duke R.

The changes for 2025 go far beyond the engine though. The existing 1290 Super Duke GT is based on a previous generation of 1290 Super Duke R, including a frame that dates back a decade to the 2014–2019 version of the naked model. While the R was completely revamped in 2020 with a new chassis, ahead of its update to the 1390 engine in 2024, the GT has languished with the older, heavier, and less rigid design until now.

For the 2025 1390 Super Duke GT, KTM has followed the same formula it used to create the previous generation. In other words, it’s taken the essentials of the Super Duke R and added a more enveloping set of bodywork along with a more generous seat on a stronger subframe to turn it into a viable long-distance machine.

The “1390″ engine really displaces 1,350cc, just 49cc more than the 1,301cc version used in the previous “1290″ model. However, the addition of KTM’s first variable valve timing and lift system, which switches between two intake cam profiles depending on engine speed and throttle position, means the power increase is substantial. The old model wasn’t short of horses, but the 2025 version’s performance promises to be a league higher thanks to its claimed 188 hp peak, which arrives at 10,000 rpm. Maximum torque is 107 lb.-ft. and comes at 8,000 rpm.

That engine sits in the same chrome-molybdenum steel trellis frame that’s used on the current 1390 Super Duke R Evo, with three times more torsional rigidity than the previous design and a lower center of gravity, and like the Super Duke R Evo the Super Duke GT gets the latest, third-generation WP semi-active suspension, albeit with new settings to suit the GT’s long-distance ambitions. The idea is that the bike is a genuine all-rounder: It will be happy on the track but also comfortable crossing continents. The suspension monitors the bike’s movement via the on-board IMU as well as stroke sensors to measure wheel movement and adjusts damping on the move. The wheels are carried over from the previous model; KTM says the new dual-compound Michelin Power 6 tires save a total of 2.65 pounds compared to their predecessors.

The brakes are uprated, too, with Brembo Stylema Monoblock calipers on 320mm discs at the front and a two-pot Brembo at the rear, all aided by cornering ABS with multiple modes including a Supermoto ABS setting and new Supermoto+ and Sport ABS modes.

Like other 2025 KTMs, the Super Duke GT benefits from the company’s latest generation of instruments, in this case an 8.8-inch touchscreen in landscape orientation, with functions that include full map navigation. That display also shows the readouts from the new tire pressure monitoring system and gives access to riding modes that include three standard presets—Rain, Street, and Sport—as well as a customizable setting. Optionally you can expand that package to include two additional custom modes and a track mode. A front-facing radar is also a new addition for 2025, far better hidden than on earlier models, enabling adaptive cruise control, brake assist, distance assist, and the new group riding function. As on several other KTMs, optional electronics can be trialed for 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) in Demo mode before you decide whether to pay to unlock those features permanently. Not everyone loves the idea of having to pay to use tech that’s already built into the bike, but it allows those who won’t use it to save some money.

Visually, the GT gets its own take on the family “face” of the latest generation of KTMs, with those boomerang-shaped running lights framing the main lamp units, but above them sits an adjustable screen. Further back, the side panels are new, and the seat section is more heavily padded than that of the Super Duke R, with a chunkier subframe beneath it to give greater passenger and luggage carrying ability. The seat sits at a relatively low 32.8 inches, and the bars can be rotated to change the riding position.

Despite all the extra panels and equipment, the GT is only 29 pounds heavier than the Super Duke R, coming in at 470 pounds before fuel is added. It isn’t currently destined for the US market, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get it in years to come.