KTM's Made the Beast Even More Aggressive, but Despite the Pound's Struggle, the Price Is Unchanged... Is This the Ultimate Naked?
KTM’s decision to hold the launch of its revamped Super Duke R at Losail was revealing. The Qatari circuit hosts MotoGP and World Superbikes, and is a popular launch venue for sports bikes. But the fast, featureless desert racetrack is not somewhere you’d expect to see a gang of naked roadsters glinting in the pit lane sunshine, their fat tyres sticky to the sidewalls.
Then again, this latest version of the 1290 Super Duke R is not your typical naked roadster. And by launching it with the emphasis on the racetrack (plus a relatively short street ride the previous day), KTM was emphasising that with this update it’s going sportier and more aggressive; sharpening the teeth of the bike it’s calling Beast 2.0. That thinking is easy to understand.
Following last year’s introduction of the closely-related and more versatile 1290 Super Duke GT, the Austrians reckoned they had the sensible side of super-naked performance sewn up. So why not sharpen the R-model’s styling still further, add some power, and tweak the riding position and chassis to create an even more serious unfaired hooligan machine?
This story is from the March 2017 edition of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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This story is from the March 2017 edition of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure.
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