According to the MCN test of a pre-production model he underlines how refined the bike feels riding around town and is "stunned by how refined the engine is". Also, "Immediately I'm pleased to discover the hateful throttle response so common on older KTM's is gone". Of course when he gets out of town and opens it up a bit he's somewhat blown away as it turns into "The Beast". - Well what's to expect with 180 horses, 104 torques and 201 kilos fully fueled in a naked? Proper production model test in two weeks time.
Trouble with pre production models is that they aren't necessarily what you and i can buy. Be interesting to read what the production bikes are like.
The bike is £14k but realistically there will be some tweaks like exhaust and other bits. I'm going to trade my 749 and SF
Fuck me - what a champ - its nice but its not 14k nice - id rather have the sf and another bike - r1 or something like that...
To be fair its more adventurous and exciting than some of Ducati's latest offerings. However 14k does seem a tad much. Mind you 144Nm or torque is bloody tempting. I love torque.
So do u mean its 14k with the extras you have ordered so bikes is maybe closer to 12 on its own or is it 14k for just the bike?
They don't know the exact price but figure £14k. I think I'll push over that with an exhaust change if needed.
Not going to wait for the RR? Think I'll check out the new Monster first - WDW just wont be the same on a KTM :tongue:
to be honest for 14k id be expecting nothing less than that orange one with the akrapovic and a duracell torch taped to the number board for a headlight, complete with a new set of tyres - those slicks look like they'd had a hard time...
Titanium or gold - hey, your avatar is now quite fitting youre looking at me saying "fuck me - did i just hand over 2 perfectly good bikes with no idea how much the new cash cow is"!
Im holding out the last bit of hope that the new Monster 1198 can compete but otherwise my SF1098 and CBF1000 will be going the same way. Did you get any ETA from your KTM dealer?
The bike will be with me in the new year, no exact date but I suspect February and I'll probably hang on to the new reg date just for resale down the line.
having experienced a few KTMs in the past I cant really see them including an Akra with the bike as standard, the only bike they did that with was the Akrapovic RC8R official rep which had the paint scheme to boot, possibly also the RC8R Track I think came with an Akra + Club race kit. Knowing them and Akrapovic the exhaust will be circa £1000+ with very little room for the dealer as its not classed as 'normal' powerparts product, as such the dealers dont get anywhere near the same discount, for the RC8 a new one sets you back £2000+ as they sneakily list the headers and can separately so initially it looks likes its about a grand...... buts thats each element I wouldnt worry about that, somebody else will manufacture one for half the price soon enough, probably Wings, SC project, Leo Vince etc The thing Im most confused about is the upcoming 'Touring version' thats been mentioned. Now other than strapping a couple of soft panniers to the sides I fail to see what makes it remotely a touring bike. Still, it'll be fun getting there i guess
I can't make my mind up about this bike. I think I like it, and I bet it's a hoot. It looks very tall though.
1290 Super Duke R Features and Benefits - YouTube Just right for 'going to the shops' as the man said & no higher than a SF,,,
