Cycle News

VOL. 50 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 5, 2013 torque and horsepower and gain some extra fuel economy. For starters they increased the displacement of the current 1190 RC8 R motor from 1195cc to 1301cc for the new 1290 Super Duke R. But it's not just an overbore that brought on the extra cc; instead it's a combination of increasing the bore from 105.0 to 108.0 and giving it a longer stroke (up from 69.0mm on the RC8 R to 71.0mm on the 1290 Super Duke) that has produced the added capacity of the new engine. And not only is it bigger, but it is one of the lightest and thinnest V-twin motors on the market. There's also a new cylinder head design that features improved porting and a revised combustion chamber design; and lighter camshafts, which still retain the RC8 R's valve-timing specs, drive new nitrified exhaust valves that are actuated by new single piece DLC-coated finger followers. It all equals more weight loss. The big news of the new cylinder head design is the introduction of KTM's Dual Ignition System. Having two independently mapped spark plugs per cylinder has greatly increased combustion efficiency and produces a smoother combustion cycle, KTM says. This plays a major role in the resulting increase in power and a corresponding increase in fuel economy. There is also a significant decrease in exhaust emissions. The added stroke required KTM designers to build a new crankshaft that has a very low flywheel mass. The crankshaft features a flow-optimized crankweb shape that supports the enhanced low-loss operation of the crank gear sustained by a third oil pump for evacuation of the crankcase. New shorter connecting rods are fitted as well as 3mm larger pistons. The real cool thing is the new piston de- " So why not take advantage of the now wellestablished use of electronic aids and controls to tame the new beast? " sign shaves 47 grams off each piston over the RC8 R's pistons and the skirts receive a hard-anodized coating for better friction loss and durability. So you have a bigger motor with less weight. All very cool, but that's not all there is to the new Super Duke. Right from the very first time I got on the new KTM, I was on the gas hard. We left the hotel in the morning and headed directly onto the motorway. There are no merge lanes in Spain so you just get on it and deal. Luckily for me there was instant power that propelled me right into the flow of traffic with ease. Not bad, but P45 how was it at cruising speed? At 5000-6000 rpm the Super Duke purred right along. Modulating the throttle on and off to maintain a proper speed and distance between cars can be a bit of a challenge on such a powerful bike, but the Super Duke R was effortless when performing this sort of task. There's no lurching or hesitation about the throttle - just a nice smooth controllable throttle response. When you need to make a pass – again, no problem. Instant power at the touch and once again the throttle response was quite responsive without any hesitation. Unfortunately for us we were well behind when we left and we eventually lost the group. John Hinz, from KTM USA, and I continued on, hoping for some sign of the lead group. But after several kilometers on the motorway, we gave up. Thanks to the use of Hinz's GPS we were able to map out a route to get us to the assigned meeting place. In the end it was perhaps a better solution: With no specific route to follow, we were able to enjoy an objective introduction to the new 1290 Super Duke R and we ended up covering all the basics. Along the way we encountered a multitude of riding conditions from motorway, to fast sweeping and curvy roads, and plenty of less-desirable bumps. And we were well pleased with the performance of the new Duke as it handled all situations with ease. Never did I feel that the chassis

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