Not to be outdone by Ducati’s upcoming Streetfighter V4, the folks in Austria are gearing up to revise their highly acclaimed KTM 1290 Super Duke R.
As before, “Beast 2.0” gets teased to us with a variety of quick-cuts in a video, though each of them gives us a glimpse of what is to come from Mattighofen.
What we don’t see though is the spec-sheet, and that is where the new battle in the streetfighter segment is going to be waged.
We know that Ducati is debuting a 200hp+ machine that should be very lightweight, but KTM has some upgrades coming to the Super Duke R as well.
Austria’s focus for the Super Duke R seems to be mostly refinement, with KTM bringing features and upgrades to the 1290 platform, like new switches and a large TFT dash, along with better brakes and suspension.
The new chassis on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R should be a big upgrade as well, as it borrows its design from the RC8 superbike, and thus it should give the orange bike better feel and stability than before.
Like the Ducati too, it looks like KTM has added winglets to the design of the Super Duke R. In several of the quick-cuts in the video above, we can see horizontal veins on the bodywork (see below).
With the 2020 KTM 1290 Super Duke R getting much larger radiator shrouds/fairings, we wonder if the engineers at the factory have done that to hide some aerodynamic aids. If so, that would be very interesting detail just now to discover.
Between the Ducati and the KTM, we will be curious to see how the two motorcycles compare when they are on the road, as often the spec sheets betray the real-world characteristics.
Will the high-horsepower Ducati be the weapon of choice for street shennagins? Or, will the refinements on the KTM 1290 Super Duke R bring some more manners to The Beast? Only time will tell, but we are certainly eager to try them and find out!
Source: KTM
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