KTM1290 Super Duke R
I’m sat looking at the new Super Duke in a layby. It’s the first time I’ve seen the new bike in the flesh and it kinda looks the same as before, but not the same as before. It’s a touch more svelte, I think at least, as there seems to be more spaces in and around the side panels and from an on-board view, it feels a tad skinnier, too.
Perhaps it’s that headlight though, possibly the coolest looking part on the bike and a fashion I imagine may well get taken up by other naked bikes in future, because it looks stunning.
I hop aboard, and it’s still a high bike compared to the others, more a super supermoto than ever before. It’s not a naked bike in the same sense as the others, it stands apart, but that’s no bad thing I’d venture.
Many of the buttons on the switchgear look similar, bar the odd extra knob for cruise control, or similar. But the flash new dash reveals many things, and I’m a bit lost at first. When you’ve only one bike and one set of electronics to twiddle, it’s easy. When part of the job is trying them all, remembering just how to turn this off, or switch this to that can get one in somewhat of a kerfuffle. But soon enough I’ve switched off the anti-wheelie, and in one single stroke of my thumb, banished one of the most infuriating traits of the previous ’Duke. Now we can have traction-control but no anti-wheelie – pinch me!
To be honest, the rest of the bike could be pretty much the same and I’d still be happy. A few more prods and the TC has been reduced to level two (of nine), then I go balls-deep and stick the throttle-response setting straight into ballsy ‘Track’ mode. Right, we’re ready to rock!
My word, it is so vastly different from the other three being so tall, with you perched both on and in it at the same time. As you pull away, and like all ’Dukes before it, you wonder just how this is going to get anywhere near the handling of the others, let alone maybe being better. More speed solves this quite easily. Trundling around it’s lithe, responsive and gives me the impression of being the mountain goat of the naked class. The suspension still has more travel, as you’d expect, but it’s immediately clear it offers more support. Add speed and load, and suddenly the tall, gangly Austrian starts making complete sense. A little while after that, you’re attacking corners as hard as you would on any sports naked, often harder, in actual fact. The WP units do exude a class all of their own, easily the equal of anything else here, and compliment the rest of the chassis. And that extra travel means that bumps and road imperfections are soaked up with relative ease, but with barely any adverse effect on its sports credentials. Add in the monster brakes, which may at first be too strong for some, and you’ve one brilliant package alright.
If the chassis feels out of place here, that thumping V-twin motor may as well be from another planet. And it’s so angry low-down, with a proper cricket bat swung by Hulk Hogan kick up the jacksie when you nail it. Like everything here it’ll wheelie freely in the first three gears, but in ‘Track’ mode there’s an addictive brutality to it where (for the first time) you truly feel as though you’re trying to tame
the beast. Better yet, where the previous machine would get a bit breathless above fourth gear, now it pulls that bit harder, ticking another ‘would be nice’ box, er, nicely. And if you’re pootling, it’s as though butter wouldn’t melt and, just like before, almost a superbike scooter type affair. The up and downshift blipper works near-seamlessly too and I can’t believe I’m about to type this – the gearbox via the shifter system feels slicker than the Yamaha’s own box. That’s like, wow, seriously!
And this, even though the KTM remains the ‘agricultural’ option here. It’s raw, obnoxious, tempestuous, not clunky per se but chunky, rather. It’s an awesome road tool alright, and things were looking good for some laps around Cadwell.
Honestly, despite the height and long suspension travel, I had a terrific time on the KTM. You soon twig that it can fly, and it was an immense giggle-fest, especially over the mountain.
The TC was very effective at the lowest setting too, and with that thumpy motor you could use a gear higher than anything else without losing drive. Sure, the Aprilia smoked it, but its performance here just cemented the fact that overall KTM has brought the bike on leaps and bounds. But what about a new superbike, KTM? No? Boo!