Duke? More Like The King Of A2

Two of the coolest bikes in their respective segments are back, refined and better than ever. But are they enough to energise the stale learner market and to excite young and old alike?

- 'Pretty Boy' Stevens

From a sheer looks point of view,it’s easy to see why the 125 and 390 Duke are KTM’s bestsellers – and they’ve just got even better. Derived from the monstrous 1290 Super Duke, both have more presence than their tiny cc suggests – with the 390 being made even meatier with a two litre larger fuel tank and a slightly sportier seating position.

The cockpit on both the 125 and 390 have been bolstered with a snazzy TFT display, the first in its class to come with an incredibly effective and easy electronic dash, which even allows you to hook up with your phone via Bluetooth for phone calls and change songs when listening to music. But the best part? A changeable ABS function where you can have ‘road’, which is on front and rear, ‘Supermoto’ where the back is disabled, or ‘off’ altogether... now I’m excited.

And the goodies don’t stop there, with the 390 gaining a new mechanical slipper clutch for harder riding, and a posh electronic ride-by-wire throttle system. With these in mind, it’s easy to grasp the extent KTM’s gone to in order to make this bike the top of its class. Even the power’s been boosted, thanks to some clever tweaking with a new exhaust system. And to maximise all that new-found power, KTM’s gone all out in equipping the 390 with some top quality WP suspension and Brembo derived brakes, both front and back, which were both a bit of an Achilles heel in the old 390 when pushing really hard. And for those of you out there who love a crash, the other good news is the bike now comes with a bolt-on subframe that not only adds practicality, but looks a hell of a lot of edgier. Not a bad package, as far as updates go.

Wetting the appetite