One fine September evening, a nice man from KTM dropped a present off at my door.
It was the kind of present I’d like to receive more often, a shiny new sport-tourer – the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, to be precise.
Built around the hot-rod LC8 engine, this machine combines modern electronic rider aids (leaning ABS, traction control, etc.) with naked bike handling and ergos, and with touring features like heated grips, adjustable windshield, and hard bags thrown in. Nice!
What made the Super Duke GT even better was the fact I’d spent my summer slumming it on my old Suzuki DR350. Vintage bikes are fun, but kickstarting a cranky 26-year-old thumper had left me feeling cold about the idea of touring, especially when the temperature dropped …
I couldn’t control myself. Within a couple of days, I had the bike on the open road, touring Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore, to see how well it worked for the Canadian rider. We’ll have the review coming next week, and the story of that tour will be coming soon too. Don’t miss it!
When I traded my beloved 749S for the GT, I thought I’d miss the Duc more. The GT is such a hoot to ride that it doesn’t seem to matter any more. The GT is certainly quicker steering. I also thought that the Ducati had more than enough power, but now that I’ve got about sixty more horsepower, it’s surprising how quickly you get to like that, too. Did a short tour around the Olympic Peninsula with my wife and it fits the bill brilliantly (though I do wonder about a top box as well). Looking forward to your take, Zac.
Now this is what I call sport-touring! That said, why do these things remind my of spy vs. spy? Just hideous. And isn’t giving Zac a 180hp bike kinda like giving a toddler a BB gun??
So far, so good …
I had the chance to try recently it and had a blast. It’s a comfortable sport bike, the engine is fabulous, looks good in the flesh too. Ergos are closer to naked than to adventure which is nice (I hate those wide adventure bars), the seat is firm, which I liked but not everyone will. The only thing missing is a centerstand. The best bike I tried this year and I have tried a bunch.
A centrestand is a fairly important item on a bike intended for touring that also has a chain!
Zac, I’m also curious if KTM has an accessory top box option for this, and what the load rating is.