Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left and below) Something new: The stacked ellipsoidal headlight unit is actually a Gerald Kiske original design for the KTM Unit concept bike; the same styling found its way onto the Tamburinistyled MV Agusta.And something borrowed: T~e new twin exhaust unit tucks up under the seat on the Duke II, a la Ducati 916. (Above) The electric-start, SOHC 640series engine displaces 624cc and is largely unchanged from the firstgeneration Duke, save for an' improved dual exhaust system. dess" will be built this year year alongside WOO versions of the more sober titanium-silver color scl1eme. (Only the silver version is slated to be sold in the United States.) The price is the same either way, though: a pretty steep $7898. Hey, if you can sell everyone you make just by opening an order book, it makes sense to price the product profitably. To restyle his Duke 1 concept by working on the basis of his Unit project bike displayed at the 1996 Cologne Show, designer Gerald Kiske has retained the innovative double-stack ellipsoidal headlight introduced on the The Duke D nas he Duke debuted in April 1994, a product of a year of intensive development by a company that had gone bust when KTM filed for bankruptcy in December 1991. But a rescue plan mounted by Swiss venture capitalists Exantra, together with a group of the fum's leading importers, saw the company soon back on its feet again. Since then it has rapidly grown to its present position as the world's leading off-road manufacturer, capable of defeating its Japanese and European rivals in motocross, enduro and desert-rally competition, and producing over 26,000 powered two-wheelers in 1998. KTM's commercial revival on the back of its sporting succe s is ensured, allowing the Austrian company to take over Sweden's Husaberg four-stroke off-road motorcycle works and Holland's WP suspension supplier, and to work on expanding its range by. developing its own 800cc 75-degree V-twin engine, which is scheduled to make its debut in the 2001 Dakar Rally and to reach production the following model year. The Duke's development therefore parallels KTM's revival, and the fact that a company previously known exclusively for its off-road expertise should produce such a single-minded street rod that sells out each season is a reflection of its growing self-confidence. In fact, the bike is the prodUct of the enthusiasm of two men, both 3O-something specialists in their respective fields, who dreamed up the Duke back in 1993 and sold the idea to KTM's dynamic new owners: Wolfgang Felber, now chief engineer and boss of the company's R&D, and Gerald Kiske, boss of KTM design and an Austrian version of Massimo Tamburini, who focus on off-road design creativity. Felber, a former 2S0cc GP road racer and two-time German Supermono champion on his self-built KTM Single Racer, saw a means of combining his day job of producing off-road excellence with his love of light, nimble street singles, while Kiske relished an opportunity to deliver some original thought to the world of Supermotard design. For that's what the Duke was T • ~ CD " ,- CD c: .., ~ 18 intended to be: a series-production version of the French MXderived hooligan-bike street rods - but by an established manufacturer - delivering fun, fun, fun from I

• Cover