VOLUME 57 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 19, 2020 P81
Two colors, same
flavor. The Super
Duke has matured in
2020, but it's still an
animal at heart.
development terms, but not so much anymore.
In 2017, we got a revised Super Duke, but it was
essentially just electronics and styling updates
(you can read that review here). It still had the
same chassis (which was modeled on KTM's
1190 Adventure machines), same motor, but the
bike looked like it went to the gym and shed a
few pounds, a shape that kept it in good stead
for the next three years.
Fast forward to 2020, and what was old is
very, very new again. The Super Duke gets a
full, ground-up redesign—a new motor, chassis,
electronics, bodywork, hell, even new super
sexy star wheels. It's as new as the original 1290
was back in 2014.
I
'll never forget the feeling I had when I first
rode a 1290 Super Duke R. I hated the old 990
and thought there was no way what everyone
was saying about the new 1290 was true.
It's nice to be wrong from time to time.
The first 1290 left such an impression on me,
I bought it, which is really saying something as
not buying bikes is one of great perks of this job.
That thing was an absolute animal. Such torque,
such comfort, such bad-as-heck presence. I was
head over heels in love. Still am, even though I
made the difficult decision to sell my orange love
last year.
But that was then, and six years is a long time
in anyone's language. It used to be so in bike
DROPPED, WITH KTM UNVEILING
TOE-TO-TOE WITH AN OLD FOE.
