RideFast July 2020 2

Part of the success of
the Super Duke is down
to KTM building it as a
super naked, and not a
defrocked superbike dosed
with hormone blockers. The
horsepower maxes out at
180 – three more than the
previous model – while the
torque tops out at 140Nm
with more than 100Nm
available from as little as
3,500rpm.
The malicious new LED
headlights are set slightly apart
to make way for a new air
intake setup directly in the face
of the motorcycle where the
air is mostest. There’s a direct
path to the new larger airbox
and new vertical injectors
that combine to ensure that
as much air-fuel mature gets
shoved into this 1301cc V-twin
lungs as possible.
The chassis is completely
new, with the frame having
three times the torsional
rigidity of the previous model.
The wheels are lighter, the
WP suspension has far more
adjustment and the tailpiece’s
composite construction acts
as a reinforcing structure.
Sexy, hey?
The electronics are now
guided by a six-axis IMU, an
improvement on the previous
five-axis system, and are
controlled via new buttons
on the handlebars, toggling
options on the new TFT dash.
It’s an entirely new
motorcycle, but it doesn’t
appear to have lost any of its
malice. Its stance, while sitting
in the pitlane of an empty Red
Star Raceway, looks lower,
more forward leaning, like its
readying itself to pounce on
its unsuspecting prey – in this
case, me.
The dash looks simpler
than the previous model’s,
something the artsy type
might lament but it does
make it easier to read. Push
the starter and there’s a
different growl. The previous
models sounded like grizzly
bears; this growl is sharper,
edgier. Give the throttle a mild
tug and the motor lets out a
sharp, sonorous ring, stirring
the primordial ghosts within
your soul.
The bike appears big from
the sidelines, but as is the
way with clever ergonomics,
it feels tiny on-board. The
bars are close to the rider
who sits almost bolt upright
with baseball fields of room to
move around.
Stick the rider mode
into Track – where nearly
everything is turned off,
especially the wheelie control
– click first gear and see what
fate awaits.
As it turns out, lots of sky –
the front wheel’s attempt to
resist the onslaught of torque
turns feeble as it shoots
skywards. Three short-shifts
later, the acrophobic front
finally regains its grip on
Mother Earth and the bike
begins its journey forward.
The specs of the new Super
Duke are outwardly much the
same as the previous model’s,
but the devil is in the detail.
In this case, the details are
the little noughts and ones
that assemble to make up
the software megastructure
steering every component of
“As it turns out, lots of
sky – the front wheel’s
attempt to resist the
onslaught of torque
turns feeble as it
shoots skywards.”
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