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KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

By Jensen Beeler 05/06/2013 11 Comments

KTM is shaping up to be the brand of 2013. Surpassing BMW Motorrad in outright unit sales, and becoming the largest motorcycle brand in Europe, zie Austrians have been on a tear with their small-displacement machine strategy. Most of that move has been buoyed by KTM’s partnership with Bajaj, which in-turn owns a very sizable minority stake in the Austrian company, but KTM also has been making other moves as well, like the acquisition of Husqvarna by CEO Stefan Pierer and his company Pierer Industrie AG.

Surprisingly, what has been occurring in KTM’s boardroom is almost overshadowing what is occurring in the company’s model line-up, with the KTM 1190 Adventure set to finally come to the USA later this year, almost a year after its European debut, as well the upcoming release of the KTM 390 Duke and its sport bike and adventure variants. Perhaps lost in the wash is the 2013 KTM 690 Duke, which is a new machine for the US market this year.

A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4.

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News

Trouble Broods for Husqvarna as Austrians Come to Varese

By Michael Uhlarik 04/29/2013 8 Comments

Only a couple of months after Husqvarna?s sale by BMW to Austria?s Pierer Industries, the storied motocross brand is once again making headlines, unfortunately of the wrong sort.

Reports from the La Provincia di Varese website, Varese News, as well as motorcycling’s GPOne are saying that the acquisition of Husqvarna has revealed significant problems with massive unsold inventory, labor, and the existing business plan.

As of Monday the 22nd of April, Pierer Industries announced that the factory will be closed until further notice, and let go all of the 211 factory workers employed by Husqvarna. The only staff remaining are in the sales and marketing departments, about 30 people.

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KTM E-Speed Available in 2015 – KTM Freeride E in 2014

By Jensen Beeler 04/23/2013 3 Comments

Debuting the KTM E-Speed at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Austrian company seemed to find a renewed interest in electric two-wheelers, which was interesting development since recently KTM CEO Stefan Pierer had dismissed the viability of electric motorcycles, and told Italian journalists that the KTM was scrapping its plans to build an electric dirt bike, the KTM Freeride E.

Taking an about-face from that statement, zie Austrians have green-lit the electric scooter for production, and say that both the KTM E-Speed and KTM Freeride E will be available in European KTM dealerships within the next two years: the Freeride E by 2014 and the E-Speed by 2015.

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Bikes

The KTM 1290 Super Duke Caught in the Wild

By Jensen Beeler 04/20/2013 17 Comments

Spy photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke are nothing new, and the Austrian company has even gone as far as to tease us with a heavily massaged KTM 1290 Super Duke R prototype at the 2012 EICMA show. With the final version of the superbike-powered streetfighter expected to be decidedly less edgy, the photo brought to us today (one can only guess when it was taken), if anything else, is a reminder to be reluctant our expectations.

The ever elusive “spy” photo, what we have here looks to be a near production prototype of the KTM 1290 Super Duke that has been caught in the wild. Easily the clearest photo we have seen of the road-going bike, it clearly holds KTM’s LC8 motor as well as the same trellis frame found on the “beast” prototype.

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Racing

Following Fillmore – Episode 4: Coffee & Café Racers

By Jensen Beeler 04/19/2013 No Comments

Another installment in the life of AMA Pro Superbike’s Chris Fillmore, and we see the KTM rider head down to Deus Ex Machina for some “coffee and café racers” as he calls it in this episode of Following Fillmore. Checking out the work of Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, Chris sheds some insight into his failed career in retails sales, as well as the early period of his motorcycle racing career.

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KTM RC390 Confirmed for 2013 EICMA Debut

By Jensen Beeler 04/19/2013 5 Comments

News that KTM would be making a full-fairing version of its small-discplacement single-cylinder KTM 390 Duke street-naked is nothing new, and is something that we have reported ad nauseum. News that Stefan Pierer has confirmed that bike’s release isn’t new either, but for the first time the Austrian CEO has given us a concrete date on when we will see the now-called KTM RC390 in the flesh, and that date is the 2013 EICMA show in Milan, Italy.

Talking Sir Alan Cathcart with Cycle News, Pierer explains that three flavors of the full-fairing machine will come from Mattighofen, in the 125cc, 200cc, and 390cc varieties. As reported earlier, the new RC bikes will feature styling very similar to KTM’s Moto3 race bike, the KTM RC250GP, and will be manufactured in Bajaj’s Chakan factory in India.

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Bikes

KTM Super Duke 1290R Concept by Mirco Sapio

By Jensen Beeler 04/10/2013 12 Comments

One of the most eye-catching machines at the 2012 EICMA show in Milan, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R shows the Austrian brand’s return to making beastly asphalt-churning street-nakeds. Edgy in design, and featuring a bored-out version of the KTM 1190 RC8 R’s v-twin engine at its core, we are counting down the days until the Maestros at Mattighofen release the new Super Duke upon us.

Helping tide us over until that day is this very interesting re-imagining, Micro Sapio’s KTM Super Duke 1290R concept. We have featured Sapio’s work here on A&R before, though we have to say we are more smitten with his more recent take on the Super Duke than his last.

Taking some cues from KTM’s concept design, the highlights of Sapio’s concept are its gorgeous tail section and exhaust, as well as the unique front-end fork and air-intake design. We wouldn’t mind seeing some of these ideas incorporated into KTM’s final work, though we think the LED headlight and some other details are going to put off some enthusiasts. More photos after the jump.

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Banter

Ronnie Renner Rides the KTM Freeride E Electric Dirt Bike

By Jensen Beeler 04/04/2013 4 Comments

KTM continues to be a puzzlement with its electric motorcycle endeavors. On the one hand, we have CEO Stefan Pierer saying that electrics are too early in their development to be viable machines for consumers; but on the other hand, KTM continues to promote the KTM Freeride E electric dirt bike and even recently debuted the KTM E-Speed electric scooter (no, that wasn’t an April Fools story).

Today we have something from that latter camp of confusion, as KTM rider Ronnie Renner has had a chance to swing a leg over the KTM Freeride E, and the freestyle rider seemed more than pleased with what zie Austrians had created.

Watching the video, it seems a shame to think that KTM could be giving up on this project. Hopefully, it is just a ruse, and the Ready to Race brand is already hard at work on its next electric two-wheeler. In other news, can we get Robbie some street-riding gear? ATGATT up buddy!

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Bikes

KTM E-Speed – An Electric Scooter from Austria

By Jensen Beeler 03/31/2013 3 Comments

Not soon after KTM CEO Stefan Pierer dismissed the viability of electric motorcycles, and told Italian journalists that the Austrian company was scrapping its plans to build an electric dirt bike, the KTM Freeride E, KTM has announced the KTM E-Speed electric scooter study, with Pierer even making the bold statement that “we at KTM are completely convinced of electric mobility as a perfect complement to conventional powertrains.”

Debuting the machine at the Tokyo Motor Show, KTM has appropriately recycled the same battery and motor technologies from the Freeride E concept, and put them in the unimaginatively named E-Speed scooter. Using a liquid cooled 14.75 hp / 26.5 lbs•ft motor, KTM has opted for a larger 4.36 kWh battery pack for its metro-targeting scoot.

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Racing

Following Fillmore – Episode 2: Hometown Boys Do Good

By Jensen Beeler 03/22/2013 No Comments

The second installment to the AMA’s favorite web series, this time on Following Fillmore Chris sits down with his new KTM/HMC Racing teammate Taylor Knapp.

The two AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike riders talk what it’s like to come from racing families, growing up in Michigan, and finding a solid teammate in the paddock.

It’s pretty clear from their interactions on the camera that Chris and Taylor get on well together, and it’s interesting to see how the pair’s fathers played a role in shaping the riders they are today.

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Birth of a Motorcycle – Behind the Scenes at KTM

By Jensen Beeler 03/18/2013 2 Comments

If you needed some bike-build porn for your Monday, then you have come to the right place. Taking a look behind the scenes of KTM’s factory in Mattighofen, Austria, Red Bull has put together a quick video on what goes into building the motorcycles that so often bear the energy drink company’s logos.

There may not be a lot of new insights given by the words of KTM Product Manager Joachim Sauer and KTM PR Manager Thomas Kuttruf, though there is some good two-wheeled romanticism going on here, but if you wanted a glimpse into KTM’s factory, with some well-done photography, here is your chance.

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