KTM 1290 Superduke - Review
Posted: 21 Apr 2018, 18:33
So I picked my bike up this morning from the dealers and thought, hell, I've just spent a bucket load of cash with them I might as well ask if I can borrow the 1290 SD demo bike for an hour. There where no hesitations, the bike was rolled out, fired up, and the key shoved in a pocket. I'm still not 100% sure on keyless...
The dealer gave the bike a quick look, fiddled with the dash and the only thing he said to me is... Your in sport mode, so it's full fat nothing held back. Have fun and see you in a bit... I expected at least a warning to two about the bike, but hey.... Bye
I headed off to one of my favourite roads in the area, the A338 from Wantage, it's a smooth, quiet, and fast road. Perfect. The only challange was getting there. Now a little about the 1290, it has the KTM bloodline crossed with the genetics of a fire breathing monster. I've been riding liter bikes for about a decade now, but I've never met anything with the midrange of this thing. There was no QS/ blipper on the bike, but that didn't matter as the gear shift was positive and easy to hook up.
The bumpy road from the dealer was quite a challange as every bump engaged the throttle, and that made the ride quite jerky, however once up on the dual carriage way the ride settled and I was also very surprised at the lack of wind blast. You feel like you are riding on the front wheel and there is nothing in front of you., so you expect to be blasted of the back of the bike. The other thing was overtaking is terrifyingly easy.
After a little town work, and testing out Street mode, it became very apparent that this is not the bike if you want to commute or potter round town. Trying to keep to 30mph is virtually impossible. Finally the road went uphill and the 338 beconed.. This is where the bike came to life properly.
It's perfectly stable in the bends and with the wide bars turns quickly and confidently, and it's quick. Being shod with M7RR's the feedback was what I was used to so I felt confident chucking it into bend after bend, and hell how it punched out of the bends, it's quick. The raspy bark you get from the exhaust as you blip the throttle for a down shift has you grinning like a kid before you open it again for the next bit, and feck me it's quick..
In case you hadn't gathered, its quick... Too quick IMO.. If you only road places like the mountain section of the IOM TT course, then this is a great bike. But for UK roads you will spend every second of the ride grinning like a dick and watching the speedo.
The dealer gave the bike a quick look, fiddled with the dash and the only thing he said to me is... Your in sport mode, so it's full fat nothing held back. Have fun and see you in a bit... I expected at least a warning to two about the bike, but hey.... Bye
I headed off to one of my favourite roads in the area, the A338 from Wantage, it's a smooth, quiet, and fast road. Perfect. The only challange was getting there. Now a little about the 1290, it has the KTM bloodline crossed with the genetics of a fire breathing monster. I've been riding liter bikes for about a decade now, but I've never met anything with the midrange of this thing. There was no QS/ blipper on the bike, but that didn't matter as the gear shift was positive and easy to hook up.
The bumpy road from the dealer was quite a challange as every bump engaged the throttle, and that made the ride quite jerky, however once up on the dual carriage way the ride settled and I was also very surprised at the lack of wind blast. You feel like you are riding on the front wheel and there is nothing in front of you., so you expect to be blasted of the back of the bike. The other thing was overtaking is terrifyingly easy.
After a little town work, and testing out Street mode, it became very apparent that this is not the bike if you want to commute or potter round town. Trying to keep to 30mph is virtually impossible. Finally the road went uphill and the 338 beconed.. This is where the bike came to life properly.
It's perfectly stable in the bends and with the wide bars turns quickly and confidently, and it's quick. Being shod with M7RR's the feedback was what I was used to so I felt confident chucking it into bend after bend, and hell how it punched out of the bends, it's quick. The raspy bark you get from the exhaust as you blip the throttle for a down shift has you grinning like a kid before you open it again for the next bit, and feck me it's quick..
In case you hadn't gathered, its quick... Too quick IMO.. If you only road places like the mountain section of the IOM TT course, then this is a great bike. But for UK roads you will spend every second of the ride grinning like a dick and watching the speedo.
