No pipe dream

It’s radical, it’s ambitious, and KTM’S new 790 Duke is definitely on the cards for 2018

LOOK AT THAT completely fabulous exhaust, the bare essentials chassis and its oh-so-steep head angle. This is the new stop-and-stare 790 Duke by KTM, and while it was shown at the EICMA show as a prototype, make no mistake – this blunt, edgy device will be on sale soon. It’s a new 800cc parallel twin. They call it LC8C – the ‘LC8’ is their tag for eight-valve twins, ‘c’ means compact. And being trim is important given the brief. ‘The hunt for unparalleled poise,’ they say. ‘Telepathic levels of feedback,’ and ‘Lightness off the scale.’ The snug steel tube frame is welded by hand and that sweet subframe is machined from aluminium. 3D printing is used for the exhaust and yokes, with WP suspension from their prototype boys. Ride-by-wire means ‘next generation’ electronics and ‘tomorrow’s sensors’, with custom riding modes, quickshifter and personalised traction control. There’s something called ‘integrated connectivity’ too. Probably something to do with your smartphone. Modern rider aids seem to go against the ‘rider’s bike’ angle that KTM used to push. While the 790 is high-tech, it also suggests a return to hard, edgy, compromise-free Austrian bikes. We’ve seen development mules being tested and now the prototype has been shown. Next step, the showroom.

Pie-crust lower seat ange, hole in the side so you can see straight through exhaust, what more could anyone want?

When KTM first got serious about road bikes I was taken by their sharp, abrupt, fun, compromise-free feel. Their current bikes hint at it still, but for me only the 690 Duke is a ‘true’ KTM. The 790 will change that.