2019 K TM 790 DUKE
FIRST TEST
P68
wide open from 3000 rpm upwards,
with a crisp throttle response in both
Street and Sport—I ended up using
Sport all day even in traffic and tight,
twisting mountain roads. It pays to
surf that flat torque curve, so short-
shifting wide-open at 7000 rpm rather
than the 9500 rpm redline gives you
plenty of acceleration en route to
100 mph on the TFT dash, with the
prominently marked gear selected
reading always readily viewable at a
quick glance. Vibration was never
an issue at any revs en route to a top
speed of about 140 mph, though Tor-
sten Gaul admits his team deliberately
left in just enough to give the engine
some character—which it has aplenty.
The two-way powershifter is superb,
delivering light, positive wide-open
gearshifts under acceleration, and
equally positive downward clutchless
shifts accompanied by a great-sound-
ing autoblipper. I didn't miss a single
gear in a 140-mile day of riding.
The 790 Duke's steering geometry
is pretty steep, with 24° of rake and
3.9 inches of trail, delivering a 58-
inch wheelbase and that's probably
the reason for KTM to fit a non-ad-
justable WP steering damper behind
the lower triple clamp. But the Duke's
agile, super-responsive handling is
the payoff for that, coupled with total
stability on fast third or fourth-gear
turns—it feels planted to the tarmac,
yet the great leverage from the wide,
taper-section 30-inch aluminum
handlebar lets you carve corners
and especially switch direction in
fast chicanes like the one at Mas-
palomas really easily. Like I said,
it's intuitive. That handlebar can be
adjusted almost infinitely in search
of your preferred riding position—in
addition to four different clamping
positions offered by the upper triple
clamp's design, you can also rotate
the 'bar through three different an-
gles to get comfortable with it. Then
as well as the stock 32.5-inch seat
height, there's also a lower 31.7-
inch seat option available for the
extensive KTM aftermarket catalog,
Curvy back
roads is
home is for
the 790 Duke.
