KTM 790 Duke

RIDE reader Ben Mckee bought an ex-demo 790 Duke in 2019. Will the new 890 Duke R tempt him to trade his in?

BEN MCKEE, 38

RIDE reader Ben has been riding since 2008. After starting on an ER-5 and covering 30,000 miles in three years, he has progressed through a variety of sportsbikes before settling on the 790 Duke. At the moment, Ben is working from home but he will use the bike for his 20-mile commute when he is back in the office.

KTM TENDS TO split opinions, with some riders drawn to the Austrian manufacturer’s brash attitude and others avoiding it due to concerns over reliability and a perceived lack of a dealer network — all factors Ben Mckee is more than aware of.

“Owning a KTM hasn’t been like owning a Japanese bike,” he acknowledges. “My 790 Duke has been a bit leaky with a coolant hose and a few gaskets on engine covers failing, which means I don’t quite have the same confidence in it as I did in my old 2004 Yamaha YZF-R1. I never had a single issue with the R1 but as the Duke is still covered by the manufacturer warranty all the faults have been quickly sorted by my local KTM dealer, Jim Aim Motorcycles. I view it in the same way owners view a

Ducati and you forgive a few issues here and there as it feels less mass-produced compared to a Japanese bike.” So how did he end up with a 790 Duke?

“I did have a 690 Duke,” Ben says,

“which I really enjoyed but it was a little underpowered. Before the Duke, I owned a series of sportsbikes and at that time I wasn’t ready to give up on powerful bikes. I actually took a 790 Duke out while my 690 was being serviced and loved it but I bought an R1 instead, which was fantastic but too uncomfortable and, after five months, I was ready to swap. I went to my local KTM dealer and was offered the ex-demo 790 Duke on a two-year PCP plan at £31 a month if I traded in the R1 as the deposit. That’s less than Sky TV costs and I didn’t hesitate; in fact I even came out with £200 in my pocket as they gave me £2700 for the R1.” This mega-deal highlights two factors about 790 Dukes – they are

‘Owning a

KTM isn’t like a Japanese bike’

CURRENT BIKE 2019 KTM 790 DUKE Bought as an ex-demo with 4500 miles on it, Ben paid £6400 for this standard 790 Duke ‘Scalpel’. Since buying it in November 2019 on a two-year PCP plan, he has covered a further 2000 miles of weekend and evening fun B-road blasts NEW BIKE 2020 KTM 890 DUKE R The 890 Duke R takes the 790 Duke’s base but adds more sporting potential through chassis geometry changes, a biggercapacity motor and upgraded brakes. KTM calls it a ‘no-holds-barred, super-hot performance variant of the 790 Duke’

KTM dubbed the 790 Duke ‘The Scalpel’ when it first came out. But is the new 890 sharper?

890 (right) has posh suspenders and more grunt