KTM Super Duke

[JohnEffinK]

Anyone have or have ridden a Super Duke?

Thoughts and impressions?

John

[salsashark]

Rode one last year at a KTM demo day. It was a good time. Would like to see what it can do in the canyons... you can't really kick one around riding through Inverness.

The one thing that bugged me was how high the seating position seemed. That may have been because I was on my ZX-14 at the time and I felt like I was going to go over the handle bars at any given time. Just a completely different posture. Probably would be a different experience now that I've been riding the speed triple for over a year now.

[Bueller]

Krod has one, he will sell it to you

[Wintermute]

I've got a Super Duke R, the more powerful track-oriented version. I won't list the differences unless you're looking at an R. (And if you can deal with the tiny hard seat of an R, the upgrades add up to way more than the price differential.)

Superduke.net. This site is fantastic, with SD partisans from all over the world swapping stories, tech advice, etc. Like many sites devoted to one bike(or car) the gripes and questions about this and that issue can give a negative impression overall, but for every one of those there's a thread like "My Super Duke is fooking brilliant!"


The Good

1. Handles like a big motard. Steep rake and wide bars make the bike very flickable. Drops into corners really quick. Lots of suspension travel make bumpy corners easy.
2. The engine. Low center of gravity dry sump(How many bikes come with that standard?) 999cc v-twin. 14k redline. Almost no flywheel, revs really fast.
3. The sound. A growl like nothing else(If I didn't worry about the neighbors lynching me, I would have went with those cans), once you get rid of the stock cat/muffler. Off-throttle backfires that scare old ladies and make babies cry. (They're actually part of the emissions system and harmless.)
4. The ergos. You won't need to do any "sport bike yoga"(waving legs around trying to stop a deep vein thrombosis) on a Super Duke. Nice, slightly-forward standard riding pose. Your ass is what restricts mileage on a SD. Anybody can do 100s of miles on a standard SD, better have a mountain biker's toughened ass to do the same on a SDR, although I'm usually having too much fun to notice.
5. KTM build quality. 2-finger stoppie radial-mount Brembo monoblocs. Marchesini wheels. Braided lines. Fully-adjustable WP suspension. Only production bike that comes stock with Akra headers and exhaust on the SDR. (They get their money on the inevitable cans.)
6. You won't see another one on the road every day. Or every week. Or every month. Or every year. Hell, I've never seen another Super Duke on the road.

The Bad

1. You got to get used to the height. Sometimes it feels like you're swooping around corners on a 6-ft step ladder. I'm used to it now, but it took a little while.
2. To take the bike from great to "fooking brilliant" you need to make some mods immediately. The bike comes from the factory with a high-cg 27 lb muffler/cat frying your ass from right under the seat. Replace it with an 11 lb set of Akras and lower the bike's dry weight into the 390s at the same time.
3. The Akras not only eliminate 11 lbs of dead weight, but with a downloaded map, they help eliminate a problem some fuel injected v-twins have: throttle snatchiness at low rpm.(Apparently, the new Duc Street Fighter has this too.) I also invested in a G2 throttle cam kit with the 300 cam for easier throttle control in the lower half.
4. They aren't importing them anymore, partly due to the global recession, partly because they didn't take off here like the rest of the world. The good news is that the rest of the world will make sure that parts and mods will always be available. It makes Super Duke Rs even more rare, since around 100 were imported last year only.

The Ugly

1. Not everybody likes the styling.
2. Got windblast? While you can blow people away in the corners, be ready to get pwned in long straights due to the aerodynamics of a 4x8 sheet of plywood.

All in all, I love my SDR and can't think of a bike I'd trade it for. Sure, I plan on adding a comfy touring bike to the stable some day, but I love riding in the mountains and there isn't a better "mountain bike" IMHO.

[willb003]

I must say wintermute, that bike is pretty cool looking

[JohnEffinK]

Wintermute,

Thanks - that is exactly what I was looking for.

I do have a very hardened mtn bikers ass - and given the choice, would definately like the R. Of course, as you mentioned, availability will be the limiting factor.


John

[RCStylin']

Kind of off topic, but I test rode the Super Duke 990 and the Duke 690 within a few minutes of each other last year. I ended up getting the 690...alot lighter and more flickable, and you can't use the top end of the Super Duke anyway because of the wind blast. Still happy with the purchase.

[Wintermute]

That's cool RC, love The Duke. It's a matter of taste, you want more "moto" and less "super". But no use for the power? The extra 65 hp comes in handy for passing, at only a 67 lb weight penalty (with Akras).