06 May 2022

Well-dressed Duke

Poring over KTM’s latest offerings, Paul Browne was right royally pleased to come across a Duke that’s dressed to impress. He tugs a forelock to the 790 Duke….

For this year KTM have treated us to a new 790 Duke.

It adds a dollop of that KTM Ready To Race character to the new bike.

The Austrians have held the power back in Europe where it’s ‘only’ producing 95 bhp from the latest incarnation of the LC8 parallel twin.

This allows the bike to meet the requirements of the A2 licence holder and thereby fills the gap between the company’s 390 machine and the 890.

Highly tuned

They have tuned the new block for torque, which, at 87 Nm is going to make short work of any country road or technical race track.

Because of its excellent ECU and lean state of tune it manages to burn as little as 4.4 litres of juice every 100 kilometres.

Once again, it does this while still being a whole barrel of KTM type fun to ride.

The geometry, meanwhile, is developed for the road. The WP suspension on both ends is tuned for real streets.

The electronics reflect this with some proven technology that we have come to associate with much more expensive bikes.

This includes that incompetence-forgiving cornering traction control as well as cornering ABS.

In colour

There are now the standard three riding modes which control all of the riding characteristics and are settable via the bike’s full colour 10 cm TFT display. These are Sport, Road and Rain.

Speaking of electrics, all of the lighting is LED, even the indicators.

A suite of extras are available, including a fourth track mode on the ride selection menu, as well as a quick shifter.

There’s also motor slip regulation which makes for a more positive ride.

In addition, the bike’s street credentials can be enhanced with extras such as a tyre pressure monitoring system, cruise control and even hands free phone and music connection.

The new 790 Duke is available in the traditional KTM orange as well as a new grey and black colour scheme.

There are, of course, a whole host of aftermarket parts such as panniers, as well as a full range of clothing available.

You can express your interest by calling M50 Honda on 0 1438 1999.

Best KTM motorbike insurance quote? Call our specialist two-wheel team on 0818 945 950.