48 amcn.com.au
burst of ear music. So I didn’t do
that much!
Not long after a hasty and look-
at-me take-off, you’re looking for
corners. The Duke/Super Duke
range, for all the animal engine
hardware, are actually softish,
compliant road-goers, and the
790 is also in this vein.
Dialling in the suspension
for more or less damping is
easy, because KTM has off-road
riding at its soul, and off road
riders want to fiddle with their
suspension a lot more than road
riders – they have to, as the
terrain changes and their weight
is determined by the size of the
Chicken Parma they ate in the
outback pub the night before.
The fork is divided into
compression or rebound
damping on each leg, though
KTM has done a brilliant
job with progression and
balance, so I wasn’t diving for
the screwdrivers too often.
I marginally backed off the
rebound and called it good for
the road.
The shock hasn’t always
been good on KTMs, simply
because they bolt the WP shock
directly to the long swingarm
(no linkage), but on this bikethe f latish mounted item does
a great job of keeping the bike
straight – the lack of wallow on
average roads is unusual for a
wide-’barred nakedbike – and
potholes I gritted my teeth for
simply f lowed by, without the
seat hitting me hard in the bum.
For the price of this bike,
$15,495 (plus on-road costs),
this suspension is amazing.
Well sorted, compliant, able to
deal with a range of conditions,
decent feedback – it’s quality. It
even lands half-decent jumps
quite well as it turns out.
The riding position is a winner.
The seat is wide and looks out
of place, especially from behind
because the bike is so small. But
it is well-shaped and doesn’t feel
like it’s out of place, w ith solid
comfort levels.
At 178cm, my feet are almost
f lat on the ground if I have both
out – which I rarely do – and the
’bars sit right where they feel
comfortable for me. Mid-sized
nakedbikes are about fun, but
they need to be practical as well,
and this bike is something you
can sit on all day. With a monster
smile on your face.
Then there’s its looks. To
my eye, the mostly black bikeMAKE IT SNORT
MUCH TO OUR mutual
benefit, manufacturers
have long delighted in
finding effective ways
to make the practical
engine layout of the box-
like parallel twin act like
something much more
exciting.
Remember Yamaha’s
TRX850? That thing could
have been blandsville,
but a 270-degree crank
handed it the ignition
sequence of a V-twin
and it was immediately
a better bike. Cheap to
build, easy to plumb for
cooling and exhaust,
great sounding, and
infinitely more exciting
than what a conventional
360-degree firing interval
offers. Instant classic.
The Yamaha MT-07
followed suit, and it has
even caught on over at
BMW, which threatens
to offer 270/450 phasing
for its next range of
dirt-seeking mid-sized
GS machinery, as has
Honda for its own off-road
adventure machine, the
Africa Twin.
KTM’s approach
is different again, of
course, with a mental
435-degree firing interval
and 75 offset crank-pins
arrangement to create a
vibey V-twin feel.
Not too vibey,
though, because it’s
also fitted with twin
counterbalancers – one at
the front and the other in
the cylinder head.
Importantly, the LC8c
engine is employed as a
stressed member.
The cams are chain
driven and offset to the
right of the cylinders,
and the engine weighs
just 50kg (minus throttle
bodies and oil), which is
only 9kg more than the
690 Duke’s single-cylinder
powerplant. That’s nuts,
in a good way.
This engine is very KTM
and translates to a quality
road engine that you are
likely to spend non-riding
time emulating with
brooom-brooom noises.
I did, anyway...KTM 790 DUKENot long after
a hasty and
look-at-me take-
off, you’re looking
for corners
→- Short riders can get a
20mm-lower seat and a
chassis kit that drops it by
another 25mm - Super Duke-style split
headlight is decked out with
LEDs, including daytime
running lights
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