KRAMER GP2-890R
R I D E R E V I E W
P80
The HKR was/is still one of the most enjoyable
race bikes I've had the pleasure of thrashing, but
there was always one problem—power. Its single-
cylinder 690, taken from the KTM 690 Duke that's
no longer sold in the U.S., is incredibly good fun
and the lack of overall grunt encourages you to rail
corners like never before to keep up roll speed,
but at the end of the day, it's still a single.
Enter the Kramer GP2-890R. Two cylinders
equal twice the fun, right?
I could give you the ultra-short version of the story
by saying you double the power, double the speed,
and therefore double the fun, but that would be do-
ing the motorcycle and its creators a disservice.
Wrapped in a fiberglass fairing with carbon/
Kevlar reinforcement, the $32,450 Kramer GP2-
890R is powered by the latest KTM 890 Duke R
twin-cylinder powerplant, with Kramer Motorcycles
USA head honcho Joe Karvonen getting a stout 118
horsepower and 69 lb-ft of torque out of the little
motor on a Dynojet dyno.
The motor itself is basically stock. It's the same
cylinder head, internals and bottom end, mated to
the stock six-speed gearbox. The box is fitted with
an up-and-down quick shifter and auto-blipper,
which did prove one of the machine's few weak
points. More on that later.
The GP2 is an amalgamation of parts from selected
Tubular steel chassis is mated to the
reinforced plastic gas tank/subframe/
rider seat. Kramer has never broken
one of those seat units, despite
customers trying their best to.
