2020 KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE R DUKING IT OUT
Naked bikes are taking over the world, aren’t they? There are more options than you can shake a stick at, and they seem to be selling like the proverbial hotcakes – and for good reason; they’re a right laugh to ride. Last year we took eight of the best on one of our biggest road tests ever, and it was probably one of the best, most wheelie-filled weeks of my life. Sure, most of these ‘super nakeds’ are in fact just stripped-down versions of their manufacturer’s flagship litre sportsbikes – from the R1 we are blessed with the MT-10; from the RSV4, graced with the Tuono; and so on and so forth. But not the KTM 1290 Super Duke R. The Super Duke R isn’t just a superbike with its bodywork ripped off and a slightly dullified engine, it’s a purpose-built ‘super naked’. No compromise. KTM are telling us that this makes the new 2020 model ‘The Ultimate Naked’ and they invited us out to the international Press launch at Portimão to show us exactly why that’s the case.
The bike that KTM are calling ‘The Beast’ has had some big changes in the chassis department for 2020. In fact, it’s had a complete overhaul. An all-new frame is 2kg lighter and has three times the torsional rigidity of the previous version, thanks to the engine now acting
