KTM 1290 – KTM debuts in MotoGP with Mika Kallio at Valencia, last race of the 2016 season. Not a happy debut in the race, but good during the qualifying. I think that the motorcycle is good, born well and with a fastest rider than Kallio, it can hope to fight for the top 10 places next year.
The choice of Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith as pilots is perhaps incomplete. KTM doesn’t have someone who has experience of factory bikes and development. However, they are a good couple, fast, cheap, without any pressure. KTM knows how to win. It has already won in Enduro, rally, cross and speed. Sooner or later they will be competitive even in MotoGP.
New KTM 1290 Super Duke R: more powerful engine and new look
Now, the Austrian brand can enjoy its big 2017 new bike. The new KTM 1290 Super Duke R. The “beast” from Mattighofen has a more powerful engine, which earns more 4 horsepower, reaching up to 177 HP. Also, it has a new look, more aggressive, characterized by the split LED headlight and tail “space frame”.
Two Colors
The new KTM 1290 Super Duke R will come in two colors. Black with white chassis and wheels, or white, with the orange-white chassis and orange wheels. We can buy it since February 2017. The back becomes even more aggressive and it loses side fairings and now we see clearly the saddle frame, made of tubular steel chrome-molibden. At the front we find the “cheeks” more pointed and long. They “embrace” the fork, new spoilers on the tank and new air intakes.
The most important aesthetic innovations concerns the front, where the new double headlight (like that seen at Intermot on 1290 Super Adventure family), supported by an aluminium frame, with full LED lights and surrounded by daytime running lights (LED). Like all new KTM in recent years, even the design of the new Super Duke is signed by Kiska.
It has the new LC8-V2 engine
The new KTM 1290 Super Duke R has the LC8-V2 engine, with 1,301 cc. You can see it also in the current model. But the 2017 version is much improved and consumes less. The power goes up from 173 to 177 HP at 9,750 RPM and set slightly instead the couple, from 144 to 141 NM at 7,000 RPM.
As regards the electronic, it has the ride by wire accelerator, traction control (MTC) sensitive to the lean angle and adjustable on 3 levels (or switchable), 9.1 MB dual-channel Bosch ABS with cornering function, and on this new version it has also the cruise control, activated from 60 up to 200 km/h. New Instrumentation includes a TFT color screen and backlit buttons on the handlebar useful to navigate the various menus.
