KTM 125 Duke India-Bound

In a surprising turn of events, KTM dealers have confirmed that the 125 Duke is India-bound. Yes, you read that right. KTM India is set to introduce the youngest sibling in the Duke family in a couple of months. The bike is currently sold primarily in European markets and caters to beginners who are just getting on motorcycles under the A1 license scheme. That said, its Indian debut raises more questions than answers.

For starters, will KTM bring the 125 Duke in its international avatar, with LED headlamps, full-colour TFT instrument cluster and other goodies; or will it come in its last-gen avatar, like the 200 Duke? If KTM does decide to take the former approach it would mean a price tag that would easily be equivalent to the current 200 Duke (Rs 1.51 lakh ex-showroom Delhi).

Even if KTM does take the latter route and fits the 125cc motor into a Duke 200 body, while shedding some features, we’re still possibly looking at an ex-showroom price of Rs 1.25 lakh. Though the 125 Duke is already being manufactured in India for export to Europe, the fact that it shares pretty much every component with its larger siblings means it’s going to be an expensive motorcycle. Still, this approach would make just a little more sense in terms of product placement and pricing.

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Coming back to the bike, at least in Europe, it sports a design similar to the 2017 390 Duke, with its inverted pitchfork LED headlamps, sharp and angular lines combined with racy graphics and aggressive overall design. It packs a 124.7cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled mill which churns out 15PS of power and 12Nm of torque, paired to a 6-speed gearbox.

Once launched, this would make it the most powerful 125cc motorcycle in the market, with no real competition in sight. That said, we’re still a bit unsure about just where KTM India would position this baby Duke, and whether Indian buyers would be willing to pay top dollar for such a small-capacity motorcycle.