KTM’s Full-faired Scalpel Is Being Readied

“If your Superbike is reaching 200 horsepower or more, it’s impossible to argue that it belongs on the street. It really doesn’t, anymore,” said KTM’s top boss Stefan Pierer in 2015. While we interpreted it to be the end of the line for large-capacity sport bikes from KTM, it seems the Austrian two-wheeler manufacturer wants to provide us with something a bit more accessible and, more importantly, manageable for the streets.

And voila! A new RC motorcycle based on the 890 Duke has been spotted.

It is too early to speculate on the bike’s name. Will it be the RC 8c, the RC 890, or something else? What we do know is that the man riding the test mule is none other than former MotoGP rider and current KTM chief test rider Jeremy McWilliams, who has been instrumental in testing many of the modern KTMs.

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• KTM’s Upcoming 890cc Bike Spotted Testing
• The Super Duke Goes Super Crazy!

Like we mentioned earlier, the new RC will use the 890 Duke as its reference. The spy shots reveal the bike is using the same tubular steel backbone frame and cast aluminium swingarm as the Duke. The large RC is likely to use an uprated version of the WP suspension from the 890 Duke, with Brembo calipers likely to be standard fitment. Interestingly, there seems to be a small duct channeling air to cool the calipers, similar to what you find on MotoGP machines.

The 889cc LC8c parallel-twin motor will likely get a distinct tune here. For reference, on the RC 8C track-only bike, the motor dishes out 129PS, whereas on the 890 Duke and 890 Duke R, it makes 115PS/92Nm and 121PS/99Nm, respectively. Expect KTM to find a middle ground of sorts for the faired bike.

Given that the new World Supersport engine regulations would allow bikes like the Ducati Panigale V2, MV Agusta F3 800, and Triumph Street Triple 765 RS to be part of the championship, the new KTM sportbike would be perfect for the Austrian marque to showcase its MotoGP learnings.

Source: Motorrad