PROTOTYPE KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE GT
FIRST RIDE
P70
V-twin models built in its Mat-
tighofen factory in Austria.
In 2014, for the first time
in KTM's company history,
more than 100,000 motor-
cycles were produced at
Mattighofen in a single year.
This means that since 1999,
when production started in
this plant, more than 1.2 mil-
lion vehicles aimed at both
off-road and on-road markets
have been manufactured
there according to KTM's
"Ready to Race" philosophy.
They'll be joined in 2016 by
the first ever KTM V-twin
on-road model with touring
pretensions, in the form of
the new 1290 Super Duke
GT, which I was privileged to
be the first person outside
the company to test ride in
prototype form on a recent
visit to its Mattighofen HQ.
This will be launched at the
EICMA Milan Show midway
through November, but will
reach production only as a
late 2016 model with deliver-
ies beginning in April next
year.
In developing this new
range-topping product that's
closely based on its no-
prisoners 1290 Super Duke
R with which the company
rightly claims to have rede-
fined the term Streetfighter,
KTM paid close attention to
feedback from its test riders
and customers, as Sebastian
Sekira, the Austrian compa-
ny's youthful Vice President
KTM feels
big-mileage
riding can
still be
sporty—very
sporty.
