KTM has announced Europe prices of the all-new KTM 790 Duke, the bike that was just unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan earlier this month. The 790 Duke has been priced at GBP 8,499 (around Rs. 7.37 lakh) in Europe, and comes with performance and specs which will certainly make it one of the widely proclaimed middleweight performance nakeds available right now. Called "The Scalpel" by KTM, the 790 Duke has sharp bodywork with a split headlight with LED DRLs along with a TFT-LCD dashboard.
(KTM 790 Duke)The all-new 799 cc parallel-twin engine, called the LC8, is claimed to make around 105 bhp and 86 Nm of peak torque, and has two balancer shafts, EFI and a six-speed transmission. Other standard equipment include an inertial measurement unit (IMU) paired to the traction control, cornering ABS, launch control, and bi-directional quick shifter. Suspension on the 790 Duke is handled by a 43 mm upside down fork, and a monoshock rear. And all that with a dry weight of just 169 kg, so expect blistering performance from this KTM.
So far, there's no word on if at all the bike will be launched in India. Considering India's Bajaj Auto owns around 48 per cent in Austrian firm KTM, and several lower capacity KTM Dukes are manufactured in India, at the Chakan plant, including the KTM 125 Duke, 200 Duke and 390 Duke, we certainly hope that the new 790 Duke will also make its way to India soon. So far, KTM has not offered any higher capacity bikes in the Indian market, but if the 790 Duke does make its way to India, if not as a full India-built bike, maybe just as a CBU, it's bound to be a hot seller for Bajaj and KTM and will certainly re-define the performance naked market in India. The KTM 790 Duke will compete against the likes of the Triumph Street Triple RS and the Kawasaki Z900.
