A first ride review on KTM's more refined, 2017 1290 Super Duke R. Menu. ten best motorcycles non Super Duke R-friendly speed limits. Truth is though, the Duke is plenty okay with cruising
While the lineage began with the supermoto-style, single-cylinder 620 Duke in 1995, the first V-twin Super Duke 990 appeared in 2005, before the original 'Beast', as KTM christened it – the 1290 Super Duke R – was unleashed in 2013. An update followed in 2017, leading KTM to denote this 2020 KTM 1290 Super Duke R as 'the Beast 3.0'.
Yes, a 1290 Super Duke R can eat the 790 for lunch, but its engine is so powerful that you really can’t pull its tail for anything more than a few seconds on the street. With the 790, you can enjoy more extended runs into the top of the power band, snicking your way through the gears.
The potent new liquid-cooled, 75-degree V-twin is the largest fitted to a road-going KTM to date. The engine also features shift-cam technology, better known to the world as Variable Valve Timing
The 2023 KTM 1290 Super Duke RR is limited to just 500 units. Click here to read more about KTM’s most mental road-going machine. Triumph Speed 400 vs KTM 390 Duke comparison video.
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