VOL. 52 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 6, 2015 P71
Super Duke R just before it was
launched. These showed us the
versatility of the bike, because we
realized that besides making really
fast laps on the racetrack on it, you can
go riding with friends over a weekend,
or even, if you like, make a holiday trip
with it. So based on our experience
with the prototype Super Duke R the
idea was born of making a GT version
with a frame-mounted fairing, some
space for luggage, a bit more tank
capacity, and even a little more perfor-
mance as a more exclusive high-end
model. [KTM designer] Gerald Kiska
made a brilliant sketch for such a bike,
and I think when our board of manage-
ment saw the sketch, they decided
immediately to produce it. Then, later
on we saw our customers doing the
same with their 1290 Super Dukes,
which confirmed we were doing the
right thing."
So, Stefan Pierer's wish for a bike
that epitomizes touring the KTM way is
about to be satisfied.
To create the GT, Sekira's R&D team
started with the Super Duke R's tubular
steel trellis frame, and while retaining
the same geometry with a 24.9ยบ head
angle and 4.6 inches of trail matched to
a 58.3-inch wheelbase, have strength-
ened it to accommodate a frame-mount-
ed upper fairing which delivers greater
protection via an eight-position adjust-
able windscreen whose height can be
altered without tools over a 5.5-inch
The motor promises performance
over and above the 180 bhp/131.4
kW at 8,870 rpm delivered by the
1290 Super Duke R.
WHAT KTM HAS
DONE HERE IS TO
EXTRACT EXTRA
PERFORMANCE FROM
THE V-TWIN ENGINE
OVER AND ABOVE
THE SUPER DUKE R'S
ALREADY IMPRESSIVE
NUMBERS, WHILE
AT THE SAME TIME
MAKING THE BIKE
EASIER TO RIDE.
of Street Development who's ultimately
responsible for the constant flow of
ever more tasty street bikes from the
Mattighofen factory, explains: "We
started work on this bike in the sum-
mer of 2013, and it came about almost
accidentally when we were making
the last test rides with the normal 1290
