KTM Super Duke
 

OK for anyone asking themselves "is it worth the trouble to go up to Laconia. The test ride on the KTM 990 Super Duke made every second of the trip up and back worth it. This thing is hot. While none of us got to wring it out on the highway we did get to tear up some side roads around the area. One of the first things that has to be acknowledged is that I am not as good as the bike is. That said the perfect combination of drive train chassis and brakes let me do things with a bike that I haven't done on anything bigger than a 125 and that was in the dirt. In one instance through a missed signal during a driving rain, I found myself over braking the rear wheel and just rolling the throttle on to "power slide" it back into position. This is not the fastest twin I have ridden but it is god awful quick, The chassis is great, it handled every surface extremely well and the riding position seems slightly higher than the Monster. Brakes are great with out over complication and the set is actually quite comfortable (hey anyone at Ducati listening?) The only downside is NO wind deflection. (I know it is a Naked after all) Oh and the price $14500 which puts it right in there with the S4RS (that is also the only real comparison point in performance as well) and it would be a tough call for me if I were ready to drop that kind of change. But make no mistake this KTM is clearly near the top of the heap with the Nakeds and with out that pricey vavl adjustment that some of its Italian competitors have.

Awesome... and only about $10,000 out of my price range...

I demoed one last year. It was a fun ride but it revs out way too quickly. I hit the rev limiter several time in a 10 minute ride. Also the seating is very high, almost dirt bike style. If I was going to spend $15K on a bike it sure wouldn't be that one.

The price tag is high but then look at all the components: Brembo radial calipers and master cylinder, Brembo radial master clutch cylinder, Brembo wheels, WP twin-speed suspensions, Renthal bars, etc. Nothing is cheap on that bike. The engine doesn't give out the highest outputs among the liter twins but the power curve is superbly tailored to the bike. It's not about sheer power, but it's about useable power. Performance Bike did a shootout between the liter naked at the Nurburing last year and the only naked bike that outran the Super Duke was the Aprilia Tuono Factory.

I haven't got any real saddle time on the Tuono (Oh and would I like to!) and as much as I love my friends S4RS I have to say the KTM felt far more planted It had the power where it was usable not in some stratospheric boil, and was amazingly well suited for the kinds of twisted multi surface environment (everything from glass smooth to gaping pot holes) we find here. It was almost as forgiving as my old V-Strom 1000 with far more performance.

Fun bike... for sure. A very good friend of mine has one, and I just refer to it as *angry*. It's my favorite ugly bike... because ugly it is...

KTM prides itself on the angular, industrial look. Can't mistaken it for anything else.

cept maybe some oragami. or a geomotry book.

I haven't ridden the SuperDuke yet, but my buddy Mattias who is the Ops Manager for Fastrack Riders out here loves it! Of course, he's Austrian too so his impartiality is officially in question.

I did demo a Hypermotard S yesterday...:rockwoot:

They are not ugly....they are beautiful....but I'm a bit biased.

http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d.../SuperDuke.jpg

Sick fuckin rig.

ride it, I would.

Absolutely. I want one.

or 2.

We got to test ride several KTM's in Suches in October.

The SuperDuke is a fantastic handling bike. It feels very similar to an XBSTT in its seating position and responsiveness. The brakes are great.

The only complaint besides the price tag was the FI. It was very on off snatchy. It was difficult to keep it "at speed" and it surged badly. The 990A I rode did the same thing.

Strangely, the best fueled bike was the 950 Super Enduro that was carburated.

And yet the mags complained about none of that in tests... but ripped the 1125 pre-production model apart for it. :no:

I remember reading shit about poor fueling... However, it wasn't until like a year after the bike had been out...

Same here. I never heard about that until it had been out for a while and most of the comments about the issues being fixed talk about the 1125cr.

It really depends on your perspective. I believe that much of the issues were Buell's fault. There WERE fueling issues.

The FZ1 had HORRIBLE fueling issues.


The issue isn't whether one company has issues or not. It's whether they deal quickly and effectively with those issues. Buell has. I believe KTM is working on it.

They hadn't gotten it sorted out by last October for the 2009 models.


It is a bit of a double standard. The most recent review of the 1125CR claimed it was "cramped". WTF? Did they have Andre the Giant testing?

The 1125 platform is one of the roomiest of sportbike models out right now.


It's just magazines. The writers carry their own biases onto the pages.

Right.
Buell is definatly working on the probs.
My gripe is the mags. If it's a buell, they rip it apart. If it's any European or Jap bike, then they are just minor probs, but nothing major. :panic:

Yeah, but Buell doesn't do anything to help decrease the problems either.

Why the HELL they keep putting those shitty stock pads on bikes is beyond me. Put on Lyndalls from the factory and be done with it. The stock pads are horrible for feel. I think much of the bitching about the ZTL system is the pads used.

Why doesn't Buell set up the bikes per the rider. Instead they allow these monkeys to do the usual set up that they do for every other bike and wonder why the bike feels "sluggish" or "twitchy". Read a manual once in a while folks.

You only get one time to set a first impression. Buell seems to revel in blowing that opportunity EVERY TIME! :panic:

I don't think the pads are THAT bad... my experiences are limited however, newer R1's being the only repliracer bikes that I've been able to ride aggressively.
Though I will be getting something different when these wear out. Maybe then I will realize the diff.
As for the set up. Yes, the mags should do it. I know they do it on the Ducs and jap bikes. :idk:

The problem is that because the other makes all have fairly similar geometry and suspensions, the settings are similar from bike to bike. The Buell geometry requires model specific settings. Rarely do the magazine people take the time to actually read the manual and set the suspension per the manual.

Their attitude is that "I know how to set up a bike. I don't need some book to tell me how."

Yep, never understood why either. You think they would get behind an American who puts so much into his bikes and has so much passion for what he does.


Fuckers. Such shit.

Gotcha, I get what you are saying now.

It's a naked superhawk with higher end braking and suspension components. The one I rode was dodgy at lower RPM even with the updated flash. The local dealer here was blowing them out for 9k. IMO, it's a good bike for 9K. 12k, no.