Black Hawk

Behold the Brabus 1300R, the first superbike from the famed German tuner

- By Duncan Quinn

They say it has the heart of a rebel, and the soul of a gentleman. “It” is the Brabus 1300R, the first collaboration in the motorcycle world for the famed German car tuner, based on the KTM 1300 Super Duke R Evo, already a 180 hp beast of a V-twin wheelie machine.

Brabus, of course, is most renowned on the high-end Mercedes scene, taking your G-Wagen, for example, and repackaging it with more oomph than Usain Bolt and extra-special sprinklings of The Dark Knight's design dust, in what they call their signature “Black and Bold” aesthetic. Having chased one of these super-G's along the Dalmatian coast in a Lamborghini Huracán indicating north of 170 mph on the speedo, I can confirm that they definitely know how to breathe on things to make them go faster and look meaner.