KTM’s latest learner and A2 headbangers are released for the yoofs!
Are back, refined in their respective segments Two of the coolest bikes the stale learner are they enough to energise and better than ever. But and old alike? market and to excite young
From a sheer looks point of view, it’s easy to see why the 125 and 390 Duke are KTM’s bestsellers – and they’ve just got even better. Derived from the monstrous 1290 Super Duke, both have more presence than their tiny cc suggests – with the 390 being made even meatier with a two litre larger fuel tank and a slightly sportier seating position.
The cockpit on both the 125 and 390 have been bolstered with a snazzy TFT display, the first in its class to come with an incredibly effective and easy electronic dash, which even allows you to hook up with your phone via Bluetooth for phone calls and change songs when listening to music. But the best part? A changeable ABS function where you can have ‘road’, which is on front and rear, ‘Supermoto’ where the back is disabled, or ‘off’ altogether... now I’m excited.
And the goodies don’t stop there, with the 390 gaining a new mechanical slipper clutch for harder riding, and a posh electronic ride-by-wire throttle system. With these in mind, it’s easy to grasp the extent KTM’s gone to in order to make this bike the top of its class. Even the power’s been boosted, thanks to some clever tweaking with a new exhaust system. And to maximise all that new-found power, KTM’s gone all out in equipping the 390 with some top quality WP suspension and Brembo derived brakes, both front and back, which were both a bit of an Achilles heel in the old 390 when pushing really hard. And for those of you out there who love a crash, the other good news is the bike now comes with a bolt-on subframe that not only adds practicality, but looks a hell of a lot of edgier. Not a bad package, as far as updates go.
Wetting the appetite
In typical 2017 launch fashion it absolutely pissed it down as we jumped aboard the 125 Dukes that were being launched in tandem with their bigger bro 390s, taking immediately to the manic streets of Turin.
Even with full-on Italian carnage from the moment we set off, the smallest Duke felt the perfect tool for negotiating the chaos, proving impeccably smooth and nimble; the suspension is plush and supportive yet not rock hard, which makes filtering and fast city riding an absolute doddle and massive fun. It really did feel like it had guts. Well, all the guts that 14bhp can muster.
But power aside, the little KTM impressed me with its playful nature. I might have hit a few jumps on the Duke, and I never meant to disengage the ABS and spend way too much time pulling addictively good fun skids – honest! After a few more sneaky antics and half-hearted wheelies, we carved back through the town and into the old Fiat factory (as seen in The Italian Job), where the little 125 felt completely at home climbing the tight spiralled car park route Supermoto style in second gear, before giving the suspension some punishment on the 100-year-old cobbled banking and even that held up well! Okay, when you get some open road it does get slightly swallowed with the lack of power, but that’s to be expected. In all, I reckoned the bambino Katoom to be a fun, relatively fast 125 that was just at home attacking the city as it was at being a right giggle to ride. Congrats KTM.
Main course
Just firing the 390 into life highlighted its stark difference to the little 125, with the ride-by-wire throttle feeling instantly virtuous. The old 390 did tend to be a little snatchy at low revs, but the electronic system makes a huge difference, whether gassing hard out of corners or literally just from a standstill. The 390 shares the same suspension setup as the 125, which worked wonders in the city, yet as soon we got onto some twisty, winding roads it proved just as at home and awesome on the never-ending bends of some mountain pass we were
hitting. Result! The WP-derived suspension offered a huge amount of feeling and made the bike so easy to chuck about, regardless of speed. One small criticism was the harsh juddering experience when heavy downshifting, despite a decent slipper clutch being present.
One improvement that really made my day was the Brembo-imitative brakes, adjoined with a chunky 320mm front disc and a four-pot piston calliper (yep, you heard that right). They gave bucket-loads of performance and loads of feel. Another positive is that the Bosch ABS system proved not to be massively intrusive, unless you really go crazy with the brake lever. As already mentioned, the ABS is easily disabled through a few buttons on the menu, so don’t let that worry your pretty little head. As it was wet when we were riding I opted for Supermoto mode, which just disabled the rear ABS. Warning – doing this will turn you into a hooligan, though, and as the pace started to get a bit heated, my inner child nearly got me into problems a few times over as the rear end tried to overtake my handlebars. But that’s all part of the fun, isn’t it?
Dessert
In all honesty, I’ve wanted one of these bikes since I first passed my test and now I really want one. The new generations of both models are that much more refined, fancier and bloody good fun.
The 390 may seem like a fair crunch at £4,599, but it feels luxury for its class. The real icing on the cake with these bikes is the extras and the finish. The 125 is a bargain buy, too. Especially with all its trick bits. I fell in love with the TFT dash on the Dukes, and another huge selling point for me is the ability to bin off the ABS, so you can ride like a goon. Lovely stuff!
To round up, the most impressive qualities of both bikes are that KTM’s managed to retain all the fun and excitement, despite their undertaking of Euro4 standards. That’s something a lot of bikes are failing to do, so fair play to the boys and girls who’ve made this happen.