KTM 790 Duke
As Colin Chapman once said: ‘simplify, then add lightness’. Quite…
AS WE KNOW KTM’S 790 Duke took top honours in Bike’s 2018 Bike of the Year showdown (Bike, October) and quite reasonably the Austrian contingent considered this challenge a done-deal. Well you would when you’ve already beaten Ducati’s blindingly fast, tech-heavy Panigale V4 – it seems 101.5bhp and 185kg is more fun than 214bhp on British roads. But that was without reckoning on Yamaha’s golden-forked MT-09 SP, Triumph’s fast and focused Street Triple RS and MV Agusta’s raucous Brutale 800… Let’s be clear from the outset, this test isn’t about fuel capacity, long-distance comfort or wet weather protection. Which is good, because the naked KTM only has a 14-litre tank. Instead it’s about which of these bikes makes you feel fantastic skimming along British B-roads on a bright and sunny day. The Duke is the shouty Dom Joly with mobile phone character of this crowd. It’s loud, bassy and the engine’s metal skin is so thin you can hear the internals clackerting around. And it’s as fast and angry as the pointy orange tank cowling suggests. Moreover its fuelling is on-off furious, generating 101.5bhp and 62.7 lb.ft peaks, which feel much stronger than they sound. In all senses, it’s a loud bike: ‘Hello, yeah I’m in the countryside. And yes it’s lovely.’ So a big noise and small power it is then. In fact, that peak power number is the smallest here. The Brutale and Yamaha are 7 and 11bhp ahead respectively, while the track-focused RS has an extra 20bhp. Yet, on the road the KTM feels faster than the Triumph and livelier than the Brutale. Impressive. You can chalk this down to a mix of fiery fuelling, and light 185kg wet weight. It weighs and looks the lightest bike of the lot. And less weight means more fun. This ‘less is more’ approach extends beyond the performance stats, the KTM’S WP stanchions being the only ones here not to offer full adjustment. In fact, there’s no adjustment at all. But everyone who rides the Duke can’t fault their action or damping. ‘Way better than the gold things on the Yamaha,’ opines Bike’s art man Paul Lang whose commute involves 50-miles of testing B-roads. Perhaps a lack of adjustment (and gold anodising) freed up budget for well-damped internals. They feel absolutely great. Which is even more surprising when you compare the prices because the Duke is £1000s cheaper than MV’S Brutale, £1700 cheaper than the Triumph and £800 less than the MT-09 SP. Editor Hugo Wilson, who loves this class of bikes, thinks it’s good value. ‘If someone asked which they should buy out of these four bikes, I’d have to say the KTM. It’s not just the cheapest it’s the best value. There’s no way I’d buy the MV over this.’ The KTM also gains points for its tech. There’s an inertial measurement unit (ex-1290 Super Duke R) which gifts the 790 cornering ABS and traction control. ‘Slip’ (KTM’S TC) has an insane nine stages, which is one more than the Brutale 800. But unlike the Brutale changing settings is easy. Just tap up or down on the left switchgear’s four-way thumb pad. Weirdly, ‘Slip’ setting nine is the highest TC intervention (least rear wheel slip). So more ‘Slip’ means less slip. Tap ‘right’ into the menu system for switchable anti-wheelie with impressively soft action, and a launch control mode (cover the rear brake if you’re launching with anti-wheelie switched off). Some of these options feel more electronic willy waving than life-changing must-haves, but they add to the huge fun factor. And most impressively for a £8500 motorbike, they actually work. So the KTM has the liveliest engine, the cheapest price and the most intelligent and easy-to-use technology. But Paul thinks these qualities are let down by the bike’s looks. ‘Compared with the Yamaha’s smart blue highlights, or the Street’s voluptuously bulging cowling, this thing looks cheap. Look at the way the downpipes are rusting, or the way the silencer looks unfinished. And if you don’t keep buffing the orange flanks it immediately starts to look shabby. Plus those wing mirrors are awful: tacky plastic with a bloated rubber sleeve covering simple metal stalks.’ Regardless Bike’s Bike of the Year is an utterly compelling ride. This KTM wills you to spank it hard, for prolonged periods of time. Riding British back roads is an escapist activity for time-poor opportunists. Only have an hour to spare? The quick-fire KTM will make you feel exhilarated, godlike and just a little scared. Not a bad Curriculum Vitae.
‘The KTM will make you feel godlike and just a little scared’