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Naughty…<br />
BUT oh so nice<br />
It’s been a while since we got to ride KTM’s 890 Duke.<br />
We made a call, asked for a ride and kept the bike for a week…<br />
Ever since KTM built their parallel twin engine, they have been<br />
churning out some great models – and the 890 Duke is one of<br />
those.<br />
The 890 engine started as a 790. That was bored and stroked,<br />
bringing capacity from 799cc to 890cc and the compression ratio<br />
was also increased. Power went up from 105bhp to 119bhp.<br />
And to be quite frank – those changes made a huge difference – it’s<br />
like a new bike.<br />
The 890 engine is refined, punchy, full of personality and proof that you<br />
don’t need massive gobs of power to have great fun every time you ride.<br />
Thanks largely to that compact, feisty 890cc fuel injected parallel twin,<br />
the bike feels narrow when you climb on to the saddle. The wide, adjustable<br />
bars are positioned fairly aggressively, but it’s a lot less fatigue<br />
inducing than your average superbike. Sporty but not overly so.<br />
The rear sets are back a bit, giving this bike a sporty rider triangle. You<br />
can either sit bolt upright or throw your elbows out and get low.<br />
A great big TFT display tells you everything you need to know – and all<br />
of the electronic bits like shuffling between ride modes and all that are<br />
really simple to operate.
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