Australian Motorcycle News — January 03, 2018

8 amcn.com.au

STRAIGHT UP! ALIEN TECH

The sci-fi flick District 9 inspired this

build based on a Honda CB250N

Riding 1862km in a straight line might sound simple,

but John Bylund did it where there are no roads^28

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE CUSTOM COOL

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18

the know

IT HAPPENED SINCE LAST ISSUE

WHETHER YOU LOVEor hate

those distinctive vertically split

headlights, KTM is committed

to spreading them across its

entire range and the next bike

to get the family look is the 1290

Super Duke GT.

The split headlamps

with built-in LED daytime

running lights certainly set

the KTM’s products apart.

Aggressive, angular and

instantly recognisable, they

work wonders for marque

recognition, but not many

people would describe them

as attractive.

These new spy shots show

how the 1290 Super Duke GT

will adopt the new look. It’s very

much a facelift rather than a

significant update – headlights

apart, much of the bike looks

similar to the existing GT.

Starting at the front, the lights

are obviously new. There’s also

a reshaped screen; taller and

wider than before, it should do

a better job of keeping the wind

blast away. Behind the screen

lie new clocks, almost certainly

a flat-panel TFT colour display.

It would be easy to write the

side panels off as unchanged,

but in fact they’re new. While

the built-in cornering lights are

carried over, largely defining

the shape of the bodywork,

the plastic they’re mounted in

is reshaped. The side panels

also blend into the fuel tank

differently, suggesting that the

tank itself could be new.

There’s some bodywork

missing at the lower front,

as we’d expect to see at least

a vestigial belly pan on the

finished bike.

Technical changes aren’t

much in evidence. The WP

semi-active suspension appears

identical, although that doesn’t

preclude internal or software

alterations. The same applies to

the Brembo brakes, and the fact

that the existing bike’s exhaust

system is carried over suggests

there won’t be notable changes

to the engine either. Although

with 127kW on tap already,

we’re not clamouring for more

power from the 1301cc twin.

The shots here suggest that

the Super Duke GT is just a

few decals away from being

showroom ready. Will KTM

make us wait until the 2019

model year? It looks like the

revamped Super Duke GT’s

launch could be a lot sooner

than that.

BEN PURVIS

Some obvious cosmetic

changes, but expect a few

more upgrades to the

GT as well

Incoming: updated GT

KTM 1290 Super Duke GT facelift spied