CHRIS FILLMORE'S PIKES PEAK KTM 790 DUKE
P104
Feature
"Since I secured the overall record, there
was not a lot of reason to go back and try
to do it again and re-break it," Fillmore said.
"I knew the brand new 790 Duke was to be
released this year, so I brought the idea of rac-
ing it up the mountain to the bosses and they
were into it. KTM is a company that believes
in proving their products through racing, so it
was an easy pitch!"
The 790 Duke has not yet been released to
the American market, although it is available
pretty much everywhere else. It's not just a
landmark model due to being the first middle-
weight Duke, it represents the first attempt at
a parallel-twin motor from a company tradition-
ally known for singles and V-twins.
"I think a lot of people probably would have
expected us to build a V-twin, but when KTM
went to the drawing board their goal was to
make something that was light and compact,"
says Fillmore. "A parallel-twin was the best
way to do that. With the firing order that they
chose, they wanted to replicate the power and
get it as close to a V-twin as possible. That's
why the thing still barks like a V-twin."
Fillmore's race-bike motor is a standard
production 790 Duke. The team hasn't gone
for any cylinder head work or intake modifica-
tions, preferring instead to run the standard
airbox. There's a Power Commander V to
clean up the fueling, a KTM race air filter, the
Akrapovic titanium full race exhaust system is a
one-off, and they have upped the spring rates
front and rear.
"There's not a lot you need to do (to make
the production bike into a racer)," says Fill-
more. "Obviously, in racing we're always look-
ing for more, so you can develop it an endless
amount if you really wanted to. But we're just
doing it to try to showcase the bike in its pro-
duction form.
"It's all KTM PowerParts. Aside from the
Akrapovic exhaust, we have rearsets, a head-
light removal kit, and we removed the rear seat
Akrapovic
made a (so far)
one-off titanium
exhaust and
carbon fiber
muffler for
Fillmore's racer.
This is not part
of the KTM
PowerParts
range.
(Left) The
headlight is
replaced with
a mask from
the Power-
Parts range.
(Below) Troy
Lee Designs
put a few
touches on
the paint.
