There's a new color in town, as KTM finally brings its Super Duke to North America, with the promise of more street bikes to follow
For several years now, KTM has been teasing us with the Super Duke. It started way back in Y2K, when we first rode the Duke II, a spunky, single-cylinder motard bike that was crazy-fun. At that time, the Super Duke was more than a rumor; it was a promise: A similarly wild two-cylinder version was on the way. A couple of years went by before we even saw pictures, then Adventure and Supermoto versions sporting the LC8 V-twin mill were rolled out-but not the Super Duke. Most agonizingly, another couple of years later, the '05 Sir Duke was released-not for the U.S., though. This was worse than when we cornered the homecoming queen under the bleachers at the...uh, never mind.
Now, finally, the 990 Super Duke has arrived on this continent as an '07 model. KTM recently introduced the bike, along with its other new on-road models, at the Streets of Willow. Even though the bike has been in production for two years with few changes, it's still an innovative package with some interesting tidbits. The highlight is the LC8 engine, which sports a 75-degree angle between two cylinders that are just slightly more oversquare than the Ducati 999 and Honda RC51 jugs and displaces an actual 999.9cc. Nestled between the cylinders is a "multifunction shaft," which has two counterweights and drives the water pump and one of two oil pumps for the dry sump. Cam drive is by chain from this shaft up to another idler shaft in each cylinder head, with gears from there.