VOL. 54 ISSUE 46 NOVEMBER 21, 2017 P73
not necessarily, so that's about
to change with this bike you're
riding, which we think is the an-
swer to that hole in our range."
The 790 features a compact,
lightweight, liquid-cooled DOHC
eight-valve engine with a 270º
crank to deliver good traction,
fitted with twin counter-balancers
to eliminate vibration—one in the
cylinder head, the other driven
off the crankshaft. The chain
drive to the camshafts is offset
to the right of the cylinders,
while the six-speed gearbox
allows clutchless quickshifting
both up and down the ratios,
and is matched to a PAS (Power
Assisted Slipper) oil-bath clutch
which is cable-operated for ease
of maintenance, and to save
weight.
"All components on the bike
have been reduced to the es-
sentials according to KTM's
purity brand values," says
Simke. "But customers should
rest assured that this bike will be
amongst the best-equipped in
the middleweight segment. We
call it 'The Scalpel'—a precise,
lightweight, focused bike with
one task in mind—slicing through
the street, and leaving others
behind. It will be the sharpest
street weapon in our range—and
we hope in the entire sector, as
well."
KTM's new parallel-twin
engine is installed as a fully
load-bearing component in a
tubular steel trellis frame, whose
stiffness has been tuned to
deliver sharp, precise handling
with a sporty feel, says Hager.
"We have aimed to produce a
good balance between agility
and stability in turns, as well as
good straight line stability," he
says. There's a cast aluminum
subframe which incorporates air
intakes running beneath the seat
to the airbox, and Simke says
KTM has aimed to target the
lower-capacity on-road sectors
with our smaller singles made in
India by our Bajaj partners," says
Kiska. "We get our customers
started on riding bikes with the
125 and 200 Dukes, then we
take them to the next stage with
the 390 or 690 singles—but af-
ter that we lose them to another
manufacturer, because we don't
have a middleweight model to
offer them. Okay, maybe we get
them back again later on—but
(Left) Here it is, in
all of its production
glory. The 790
fills a huge gap in
KTM's Duke range.
(Right) Cathcart
gets all the details
from Adriaan Sinke,
who play a big rule
in designing the
new 790.
