I got the chance to take a KTM 990 duke out for a spin this week, so here are my thoughts of it.
First thing I noticed was how small it felt, bars were quite close to me so the bike felt like a toy and when I put my feet up I missed the peg it's so narrow. The seat however was at a good height and quite comfortable. The controls were fairly conventional in lay out with most of the controls on the left side and only start stop on the right. I liked the cruise control, the activation switch was on top of the bar cluster but the up/down toggles were below operated by thumb and forefinger. It has a large 4 way selection pad on the left bar above the indicator switch which controls all the menu functions. The dash was the now familiar TFT but is very clear. A large rev counter which went up the left side and along the top with a fuel gauge following its line. Gear indicator in the top left and speed in the bottom right. Trips and fuel gauge and temp ran along the bottom, that's it. By scrolling through the menus of menus system the display can be changed to show things like lean angle and accelerometer values. The bike looked very well built, fit and finish were of a high quality.
Pulling out of the car park I noticed the weight of the bike, there is none, it's a very light bike. Gear change was good up to 4th but 5th and 6th took a good prod, the quick shifter was also not very smooth at normal speeds but I find that on just about every bike I try. A brake check proved they were good brakes but not fantastic. Out of town the light weight showed it's advantage by being very flick-able and although it handled very well and gave good feedback and confidence in the twisties, it didn't feel as planted or reassuring as a heavier bike would. It often felt a bit flighty, especially in sport mode, switching to road made it better but it was still a little flighty on our roads, and on a fixed throttle at 40-50 ish I found it hunted a bit so maintaining a constant speed was difficult. I think this would be fantastic on a track at full throttle all the time. Pulling up from speed was pretty good, as a lamb trying to race me down the road made me test then in anger. The exhaust has a nice bark to it and as it's a separate part can can be replace with something a little fruitier. The engine is a willing unit with a good spread of torque across the rev range pulling top from quite low revs.
So like other KTM's I've tried it is a bit of a marmite bike, if you want to thrash around at high speed there are not many bikes I can think of that would leave it behind on twisty a/b roads. But if you just want to ride abound at (mostly) legal speeds there are better options. On track this would embarrass many bigger sports bikes. Although the handling was good it always felt a bit edgy, it's very flick-able which did not make for a relaxed ride, it wants to be ridden hard all the time. Although it was fairly comfortable I had the feeling that I was just perched on top of the bike. For a sunny day Sunday thrash bike it would be brilliant, as an every day ride out bike It is a bit too focussed for me. KTM also have a Sneaky ploy (In my View) of setting their bikes up with all options enabled, this includes track mode with launch control, cruise control, quick shifter and active brake lights. Sounds great until they tell you they all switch off at 900 miles and cost £890 to re-activate. On the up side they are offering 24 months interest free credit.
No wonder they went broke.
Poor that they sell a new bike and then blackmail you or remove features.
What's next BYO tyres !!
Mate in our bmw club just got one. Yeah nah from me, I rode behind him on last Sunday's ride, sounds nice, but he was constantly readjusting his seating did not look comfortable at all. This was a 200km ride. Engines are great, as you say fantastic on a track, real world roads, maybe not.
I've always felt that KTM's in general are very much in the genre of sports bikes. Think back to RC8 pretty close to WSBK prepped street legal. As uncomfortable a ride as I've ever experienced but over Mt. Glorious was like riding on a rail even through the roughest sections I don't think I sat still for more than 2 minutes the whole time.
It's a pity about the CF MOTO engine debacle and that's one of the traps of outsourcing engine manufacturing.
I'm sure the new Indian owners will have some experience at resurrecting a brand. Think Royal Enfield and Triumph.
I need to pay more attention, didn't even know this model existed.
My shed's a completely KTM free zone for the first time in I don't know how long. After destroying my 701 rally/adv bike (aka KTM 690) a couple of months ago I decided my recovery time would be a good opportunity for a clean out, so sold a couple more. Now that it's done I've realised that KTM has some work to do in regaining my brand trust before I'll buy another one. Bit sad really.
I know a few folk with GSX1400's, Blackbirds, Bandits, Hayabusa's etc etc, and a lot of them either keep the bikes for long term ownership, or end up with another very similar.
Amongst the folk I meet or know, it's more common that the owners of KTM's, Aprilia's, MV's, and H2 SX's have one, then move on to a different brand or completely different model.
I do like KTM's, I looked seriously at a 1290 Superduke R a while back, an absolutely bonkers idea of a bike, but I just couldn't see myself living with one.
Went on a group ride and one of the guys had a KTM1290 Superduke. Yep bonkers fast, I kept my distance. I could see how ridden in excitement mode you could come unglued.
Quote from: Tony Nitrous on Saturday, 21 June 2025, 05:58 PMAmongst the folk I meet or know, it's more common that the owners of KTM's, Aprilia's, MV's, and H2 SX's have one, then move on to a different brand or completely different model.
Oh dear, perhaps there is a pattern here. There have been multiple bikes and models but this is in order of brand ownership for that list...
✅ Aprilia
✅ MV
✅ KTM
✅ White KTM (Husqvarna)
Never really have thought before, my brand line ,registered road bikes. Suzi, Suzi, Norton,Suzi, Kawa, Yamaha,Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Suzi, Suzi, Ducati, Suzi.Many others but just shed bikes.
Quote from: Kiwifruit on Friday, 20 June 2025, 07:22 PMPoor that they sell a new bike and then blackmail you or remove features.
Yep., pricks!