First ride on updated version of the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, KTM’s most expensive model launched at Intermot 2018 as update on strong-selling three-year-old version
Already Europe’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, KTM still continues to ramp up its sales numbers, with the 126,808 bikes it sold in the first half of this year representing a further 15% up on 2017, itself a record year. Perhaps surprisingly, one of its palpable hits helping drive that increase has been the most expensive model in its entire range, the 1290 Super Duke GT first launched three years ago as the Austrian company’s unique take on sports touring with a difference – i.e. with an accent on the ‘sport’! Those sales say this model has completely addressed KTM president Stefan Pierer’s concerns before it appeared. “I don’t think a sport tourer in the classic way matches 100% with KTM’s brand identity,” he told me in an interview. “Our customers expect something sporty made the KTM way, not like other manufacturers do it.” Well, that certainly describes the GT, which since its 2015 launch has provided its owners with the dazzling performance and benchmark handling of the no-prisoners Super Duke R streetfighter, aka The Beast, coupled with everyday practicality and user friendly convenience. It’s a successful marriage of opposites.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Bike SA.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2018 من Bike SA.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
A Ladies Perspective What a Surprise Kawasaki Ninja 1000SX
I’m sure as everyone knows by now there is little that compares to my BMW K1200S and out of the 13 different bikes I’ve been lucky enough to ride over the 18 months I’ve been riding, I finally came across one that I’m almost certain I’d swap my bike for…
Goodwood's 79th Members Meeting - Hunting, Shooting and - Racing
For that’s what marked the 79th Goodwood Members Meeting aka 79MM, held this year on April 9-10, which this time included two thrilling motorcycle races, each with a blanket finish which in Race 1 saw less than a second covering the first four bikes home.
MIDWEIGHT PUNCH - TRIUMPH TIGER SPORT 660
The Triumph brand seems to be going from strength to strength worldwide. New models are seeing the light of day in various sectors, and here in South Africa there is a carefully planned dealer expansion program in action.
Isle of Man TT-winning ABUS NORTON NRS588 GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Exclusive track test of the last British bike to win the Isle of Man Senior TT in 1992, after what's widely considered to be the most exciting race ever held in the Island
NORTON ROTARY RACERS HISTORY - Rotary Race Record
For eight successive seasons the world’s first - and so far only - Rotary-engined racebikes swept to serial success on British racetracks. Here’s a timeline on their ebb and flow.
MOTO MORINI'S Alberto Monni - INTERVIEW
Exclusive interview with Moto Morini's CEO Alberto Monni, responsible for directing its ride along the comeback trail since its 2018 takeover by Zhongneng Vehicle Group/ZVG
KAWASAKI NINJA 1000SX - Surprise Package
I’ve recently written in my Editor’s note bemoaning the lack of available Sports-Touring motorcycles nowadays.
DRYSDALE HISTORY PART 4/5: 25 YEARS ON FROM CREATION OF FIRST 750-V8
2002 1000-V8 Bruiser mega-Monster was a Naked roadster with added muscle - the answer to the question of how to out-max a Yamaha V-Max!
GODIER & GENOUD KAWASAKI 1000 - Enquring Excellence
Exclusive track test at France's Carole circuit of what's arguably the first motorcycle of the modern era - the title-winning Kawasaki Endurance racer built in 1975 by Frenchmen Georges Godier and Alain Genoud
Unnecessarily Fast, or Unnecessarily Dangerous?
“The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” This truism comes from boxing, but applies to all walks of life. Innovative MotoGP superstar Marc Marquez, however, adds a new twist.