Want an orange, angular, angry-looking naked bike? These latest photos of the KTM SuperDuke 1290R (first published by French mag Moto-Station) seem to indicate Team Orange is about to grant your wish.
You may remember the new SuperDuke was only a concept bike when photos of it first surfaced around EICMA last year. The allegedly production-ready bike in these photos retains a lot of that hard-edged muscle, although the V-twin motor (pulled from the RC8 superbike) has likely been retuned for street power.
That distinctive headlight is still there, and the single-sided swingarm and USD forks (likely highly adjustable WP units). However, the undertail exhaust has been replaced with a more conservative side-mounted unit.
One of the most interesting questions is whether or not KTM will include the Bosch Motorcycle Stability Control system (MSC), as found on their new 1190 Adventure R (also built around a retuned RC8 motor). On one hand, since electronics are considered as essential as horsepower and handling on new motorcycles, it might make sense to include the package.
On the other hand, the MSC system is designed to stop wheelies, stoppies, and just about any other hooligan action you can think of pulling on a naked bike – it may really be wasted on this machine, as we’re guessing most customers would just turn it off anyway. Just like they’ll probably pull off that licence plate holder, shortly after buying the bike …
I actually lke the angular look but….the combo of orange white black is just hideous. wtf. I could see black and white, or black and orange, but….all 3 at the same time? Fail.
I love the way my KTM works but I think it’s time to drop the pointy/angular look. The new 1190 Adventure is pretty good looking so they could have rounded some of the edges on this one you would think.
At least they put the exhaust pipe in the right place.