2015 KTM 1290 SuperDuke R: A SuperPower | 5BikeChallenge

It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it- Robert Louis Stephenson

I was instinctively prepared to meet the SuperDuke 1290R.

This would be three days of one-on-one contact, and I was already spooked. I had carefully read through all the reviews, blogs and forums (everything of except the owner’s manual…I know, RTFM). My fears about its obvious diabolical disposition were ever present in my thoughts and dreams, giving me a really bad feeling I might now survive the encounter.

The time had finally come: there was nothing left to do but get up on the bike and ride.

But what what happened next showed me that I couldn't have been more wrong about the SuperDuke. I think.

The "Beast" Duke of Austria

Since the introduction of the 1290 SuperDuke, I have held similar impressions about its personality to that of the famous Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este: an evil and dangerous predator that would surely be the death of me and others who might cross its path the wrong way. KTM happily reinforced its menacing image by nicknaming it “the Beast”.

The Archduke himself was described by German historian Michael Freund as “dark in appearance and emotion, who radiated an aura of strangeness and cast a shadow of violence and recklessness." Assassinated in 1914. it was his untimely death 101 years ago at the hands of a young Boznian Serb in Sarajevo that eventually started World War 1, a war which ended the lives of over 16 million soldiers and civilians.

So Much Power

At 1308cc and 180 HP, to say the SuperDuke is powerful is nothing more than a massive understatement. It is the largest displacement and most potent naked sport bike commercially available. This motorcycle has so much brute force muscle, in fact, that as a still relatively new rider I greatly feared the mere transient inkling, the very sliver of a twitch of a whim that I wanted the bike to move faster would instantly have me struggling in vain to rein down the front wheel.

The Royal Line of KTM Dukes

Royal families transfer power through their genes from generation to generation. As a result they are very discriminating about their mates and mindful of their progeny. Before there was the SuperDuke, there was (and still is) a Duke.

KTM began making street motorcycles in 1994, at the time introducing the Duke 620 as a single cylinder supermoto. By 1998 the Duke underwent a significant redesign and emerged as a streetfighter, though it retained some of its supermoto heritage. The first actual SuperDuke, the 990, was born in Europe in 2005 and then came over to the US in 2007. From day one the SuperDuke was proclaimed the ultimate hooligan bike. “A bike that wanted you to ride it like you stole it” commented Kev Raymond of Rider Power. “Surely nothing more frenetic on two wheels” said MCN.

How to Greet A Duke

A few years ago I was invited to a dinner in honour of Elizabeth II, Her Majesty the Queen of England. In the weeks leading up to the big event I received some very detailed information about royal protocol: how to address a queen, how to stand when doing so, when to speak (only when spoken to), and so on. I am not sure what would have happened had I somehow failed to observe these fine points of royal etiquette (off with his head?) but in the end the whole thing turned out to be quite a moot concern. As it turned out I was only one of over 200 other “special VIP guests" and in the end I came nowhere within cat swinging distance of Her Royal Highness (note: it is definitely considered poor etiquette to swing a cat at a sitting Queen).

I have to admit that as I contemplated picking up the SuperDuke for the first time, I wondered if it might be possible to surreptitiously slip it into the Rain setting for that first ride. This would decrease the effective horsepower to a mere 100 which is something on a more human scale. As the KTM technical manager kindly walked me through the features of the motorcycle at their mechanical facility that day, I just couldn’t bring myself to ask if he would preset the machine in dummy mode. So with all the eyes of the KTM royal entourage on me, I hopped on and rode it off in Street mode, though with much trepidation.

Rain, Street and Sport Modes

Unlike the actual Archduke, the SuperDuke can be adjusted to take on one of three distinct personas: Rain for poor conditions, Street for normal riding and Sport for…well, obviously for killing things. Increasingly, modern motorcycle technology is intermediating the experience and giving riders an ability to modulate and optimize throttle response, horsepower, torque, and ABS brake response based on specific road conditions and/or desired ride experience. Some even allow you to even create custom profiles to completely personalize the human / bike interface.

Extremely Smooth Throttle Response

The SuperDuke was not at all what I thought.

We humans love to assign character traits to cultural icons like celebrities, politicians and royals. People like simplicity, so we stereotype by zeroing in on quirks or specific behaviours that we can use to label and define who we think they are.

Riding off for the first time I was immediately surprised and impressed at the extremely smooth throttle response. It felt even more well behaved than my own F650GS which has been hailed by some as a “good beginner’s bike”.

That enormous two-cylinder power plant just kind of floated the motorbike into action and it purred along happily at low speed. In fact it almost made no difference if I started off from first or second (or even third) gear: the torque was perfectly adequate to effortlessly launch the bike without much clutch or throttle manipulation. Hit a nasty bump and mistakenly blip the throttle a little and…nothing bad happens!

Light, Flickable and Ready to Tour

If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed I was sitting on powerful, well engineered, yet light and flickable middleweight standard bike like an 800, one that you could throw almost anything at. Not only was it easy to handle, it was also really damned comfortable even on the choppiest city streets. Yes, this apparently maniacal overpowered death machine felt more like a refined 7 series Bimmer the way it so efficiently smoothed the ride.

The stock seat was well padded, the suspension very well sprung, the peg placement just low enough and the seating position just upright enough to fit my 6’4” 200 lb. frame better than pretty much any other bike I have ridden. Damn, I thought, with some panniers or a luggage rack, you could actually tour with this thing. This fact pleased me immensely since I was scheduled to go on a two-day tour to southeastern Quebec the next day.

It should be noted that KTM does actually offer an optional touring package that includes side luggage, a windscreen, upgraded seat and heated grips.

The Super Duke On Back Roads

On the road we went, from Montreal to a small town just south of Quebec City on the first day. Since the bike I was riding wasn’t set up for bags, I just bungee-cabled a backpack to the pillion seat, attached a Ram mount and my iPhone in its waterproof Hitcase, and we took to the highway south of the city for a 3 hour ride to our overnight destination at a hotel spa called La Cache à Maxime in Scott, Quebec.

The first half of the trip was straight highway, and keeping up with the flow of traffic was easy. What was in fact difficult was resisting the temptation to twist a little harder and just leave the flow of traffic far behind. It required some real discipline. For the second half of the trip we traveled some slightly more scenic interior roads, but I was sure glad the seat was comfortable.

For day two we set out on a 140 mile curated motorcycle route suggested by the tourist board of the region of Chaudière-Appalaches called The Route of the Two Valleys. I made one slight modification to the recommended course so that we could visit the Canada / US border where it crosses the tiny St. John River which separates Quebec and Maine for many miles in this region.

What I didn’t realize was that these roads, though they look somewhat significant on a Google map, turn into slightly muddy gravel logging roads as you head back north from the tiny border crossing. I hadn’t intended to off-road the SuperDuke, but sometimes you just play the cards you are dealt and you learn something new from serendipity. What I learned is that this KTM really does come from a hardcore motocross family, and it handled the many miles of puddle-covered dirt road with vigour.

The SuperDuke 1290R: Jekyll and Hyde

Robert Louis Stephenson wrote The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886 when the Archduke was still a young man of 23. Dr. Jekyll was so good-natured and civilized, while Mr. Hyde was nothing more than an untamed beast.

I went to Montreal with a very distinct image of the SuperDuke. I had for years firmly believed that this bike was a single-minded tool, one that would terrorize and thrill me at first, then just kill me for sport in the end. The bike I discovered seemed completely different.

But on the highway back from my trip to southeastern Quebec I found myself becoming more and more exasperated by the endless straight roads. For sport I began to taunt the SuperDuke, giving it tiny pokes and prods to the throttle. With each squeeze the bike would respond with a little growl and it would dart ahead. Finally though, I gave it a proper twist and in an instant I realized that I may have been totally naïve. I thought I had mastered the bike, that it’s well mannered civility was its dominant persona, that the beast inside was there to do my bidding.

But then it dawned on me that it may well be the opposite. Maybe the beast had conquered me: maybe it had lured me willingly to its lair, and was now simply waiting for the right time to pounce.

Contender for Best All-Rounder

The 2015 1290 SuperDuke R may take on the appearance of the dangerous and demonic Mr. Hyde, but in day to day life it is really the very genteel Dr. Jekyll. The SuperDuke can absolutely metamorphize into the Incredible Hulk (albeit with orange skin), but most of the time it will be the mild-mannered Bruce Banner. More aptly perhaps, when provoked it will easily transform into the aggressive and ferocious street-fighter Daredevil, but on a dime it can turn back into the charming and intellectual Matt Murdoch.

And it's ability to manage both personalties simultaneously is what really makes the SuperDuke a truly amazing bike.

I fully expected the 1290 SD to be top-of-list as a testosterone-charged hooligan bike. I didn’t expect at all that the SuperDuke would also be a leading contender for best all-rounder, but it most certainly is. This is a bike I could very comfortably ride around town all day but in a wink transfigure into a sinewy predator that streaks through the dead of night looking to pick a fight.

All of this comes at a price of course: the SuperDuke is pretty much the most expensive ride in its class. But what’s a few grand more if you didn’t have to buy five bikes after all!

The 2015 KTM 1290R is listed at $16,999 USD ($18,999 CAN), Fuel capacity is 4.75 gal. (18 l), Engine is a 6-speed, 75º V-Twin, 1301 cc; and Seat Height is 32.3 inches.

About the #5BikeChallenge

There is no one perfect bike. In order to serve every possible need and desire, I believe you need about five. So in a quest to discover my five perfect bikes, I am on a quest to gain the kind of knowledge and experience you can only get by putting yourself out there and riding. I know, tough job 😉 Through both short demo rides and longer term flings, I will diarize my journey and maybe help you make up your own list. Comments and suggestions are always most welcome!