VOL. 50 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 5, 2013
er the reason, it works.
Since I got lost earlier in the
morning, I had to make an extra
trip back to the photo shoot area.
And in doing so I found even
more challenging roads with all
sorts of obstacles. On the tight
narrow mountain roads you can
get into trouble real fast. And several times I thought I was going
to lose it, but the combination
of the ABS and precise suspension tuning saved the day. Bump
compliance is so critical to motorcycle control and the 1290 R
just eats them up – deflecting off
the bumps with both wheels returning to the desired position no
matter how bad the situation.
KTM has likened the 1290
Super Duke to a "Beast" as explained earlier, but there is a very
well sorted and practical touring
side designed into the new 1290
R as well. After riding all day over
all kinds of terrain I was equally
impressed with the comfort of the
new Super Duke R. Ergonomics
are always a very important factor
in multi-use bike design and the
P47
KTM technicians in Mattighofen
went to great lengths to provide
a cockpit that facilitates all types
of riding.
I am only around 5' 9" tall, but
I was able to move about the seat
area very well. Whether I wanted
to lay back and take in the sights
or climb up on it and really do the
business, the Super Duke was
accommodating. At the end of
the day I thought for sure I would
be sore as hell, but once again
I was proven wrong. And I was
happy about that since day two
would be spent at the racetrack.
On day two we were treated
to a fabulous mountain-pass ride
back to the Ascari racetrack for
another day of abusive riding
on the 1290 Duke. I was sold
in spades of how well the 1290
R performed on the street, but I
still questioned its track worthiness. KTM had four 1290 Super
Dukes prepped for the track for
us, complete with KTM PowerParts that are available directly
from KTM.
The Power-Parts include a
host of specialty items as well as
special tuning options to extend
engine performance even further. Of course, a Akrapovic exhaust was fitted but upon closer
inspection I also noticed special
race triple clamps, a Brembo
front brake master cylinder, wave
style front brake rotors, carbon
case guards, front brake lever
guard, fully adjustable rear-sets,
a steering damper, and even special KTM orange wheels.
The big Super Duke sounds
