KTM 1290 Super Duke R - Sensation Overload

When I sat down to write this review of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R, I found myself unconsciously hunching forward over the keyboard to stop the literary front end come up! It has that effect on you, even a couple of weeks after riding it. I am still asking myself if what I just experienced was real or was it just a bizarre dream? Did I fall into some strange other dimension for a few hours? Certainly I achieved warp speed…

- Harry Fisher

If you thought the original Super Duke was bonkers, well, rest assured that they haven’t dialled any of that out with this one. But this one also has a new sheen of, I don’t want to say responsibility, but maybe civility is the right word. Don’t get me wrong, it still wants to kick your head in but now it has put a sheepskin cover over its boots to soften the blow.

KTM are calling this The Beast 3.0. It’s been on a diet and gained some muscle. 90% of the bike has been altered, improved, lightened or just had further injections of wheelie juice. Lots of bits in the engine have had a good talking to and now they all work together harmoniously to produce 180bhp and 140Nm of torque which push along the 198kgs at a fair old lick, I can tell you.

Where the original Beast was raw and angry, the Beast 3.0 has had some of the rough edges taken off. It is still insane and the electronics have been improved to try and rein some of it in but, rest assured, it is still the epitome of madness on two wheels.

If I wear my sensible hat, this bike is too fast for mere mortals. But I very rarely wear my sensible hat and so I love this bike more than is healthy. Everything about it is so extreme and it is completely addictive; that old joke about letting your kids get into motorcycling and they won’t have money for drugs is appropriate; put one of these in your garage and you won’t need drugs because after riding it, even for an hour, you are on a high for days. Don’t ride it for a few days and you’ll be suffering from withdrawal symptoms.