SHAUN ANDERSON: PROJECT LEADER

The main man behind the new RC is none other than TT racer and KTM chief engineer Shaun Anderson. We got his take on the new model’s evolution…

“Since the Gen1 came to life, quite a bit of time has passed and in that period our rivals have upped their game. It’s one of those things, but we wanted to go back to the drawing board and give the RC390 a worthy update to help it sit at the forefront of the sector. On top of that, we took on board the feedback from the customers, who made mention of issues such as the heat of the bike. Thermally, the bike was a bit of a handful, especially in urban riding environments. Also, we saw this as an opportunity to advance the bike technologically. KTM is a pioneering powerhouse, with a wealth of models and technology, so that meant we had chance to pick and choose a few upgrades that were already preexisting in the family.

“We knew from the beginning of the project that we wanted the new model to have a full electronics suite to give it real presence among its peers, to make sure people knew this wasn’t just a new set of fairings slapped on an old bike.

“We also wanted to make the bike more practical. Some people had criticised the old bike for its small tank size of just 9.5 litres, which meant you really had to think about your fuel stops. We’ve now equipped the bike with a 13.7-litre tank that offers about 180 miles of range and means you’re no longer the guy that causes your mates to pull up all the time because you need fuel.

“The other bonus to the new tank design is that it helped move weight forward for better rider feel and it also gave the bike a more mature look. The RC390 is now closer in line with the rest of KTM’s sportsbikes that are headed by the RC16 MotoGP machines.

“The whole look and feel of the 390 is bigger and more spacious, so you get more comfort, but also more street cred. That’s something we’re really quite happy with, but perhaps the area we’re most pleased with is the weight saving on the bike. In the A2 class we’re limited on horsepower because you’re governed by a power-to-weight ratio and we figured we wanted to be right on that limit.

“Like for like against the old RC, we are now 9.2kg lighter overall, and a huge amount of that saving has come from new wheels that are collectively 3.4kg lighter than the last model’s, and even the brake discs were slimmed down by another kilo.

“We had really long conversations with suppliers, discussing the best ways to strip even the minutest of weight savings, because all of those numbers added up and helped the big picture.

“Of course, the biggest advantages came from reducing the unsprung and rotational masses, but anywhere else where there was a bracket that could be removed or replaced by a lighter composite, we did it.

“The frame itself got a good going over and we managed to save 1.4kg from that and improve the characteristics of it at the same time.

“Overall, we are really pleased with the results and confident that no stones were left unturned. The RC390’s took a major leap forward.”