AUTO WORLD BIKERS

KTM, the Austrian bike manufacturer best known for its fabulous off-road title winning machines, has sets its sights on becoming Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer. But, to do so it needs a comprehensive range of machines to compliment its excellent off-road competition machines.

Recent successes on the racetrack show that they now have the technology to move forward and diversify onto the tarmac. Obviously any advances in competition will reflect in its road-based models, meaning they will be—and if the Super Duke is anything to go by,they are—state-of-the-art and able to compete with other larger more established manufacturers.

The Super Duke arrives in Europe just a year after KTM launched its first twin-cylinder motorcycle in the shape of the 950 Adventure. But while based on it, the Super Duke itself is virtually all-new.

KTM has upped the capacity of the Adventure’s 942cc LC8 engine to form the heart of the 990 Super Duke. As you would expect, there is marked performance gain that comes from more than just an increase in cubic capacity to 999cc. New fuel injection and engine management systems are just part of it.

The narrow-angle V-Twin is one of the lightest and most compact twin-cylinder motors on the market, weighing in at 58kg (128 lbs), roughly one-third of the bike’s overall 179kg (395-lb) dry weight. KTM says a further 15kg (33 lbs) can be dropped by making use of the carbon fibre performance parts already on the parts shelves at the factory. Needless to say, these are not cheap!

The cylinders have been strengthened to deal with the larger bores, which have very light pistons running inside them to help reduce the oscillating mass. The head has been worked on to deal with the new 48mm injector bodies (the Adventure uses carbs), new camshafts and the thicker header pipe. At the bottom end, the crankshaft has been changed and a new six-speed transmission has been developed specifically for the street.

The Keihin electronic injection system was tailor-made especially for the Super Duke. There are two throttle valves per cylinder feeding the flow-maximized intake ports. These ensure the perfect mixture preparation and optimum torque progression in every riding situation. Lamba sensors, a catalytic converter and secondary air systems ensure that the bike meets all emissions standards across the world with ease. Claimed output is 120 horsepower at 9000 rpm with the maximum torque of 74 lb-ft coming at 7000 rpm.This Bike is all muscle and Grunt!