A Love Letter To My KTM 1290 Super Duke R - "The Beast"

Dear Beast,
I love you dearly. Please don't kill me ;)

In my 35 years of riding motorcycles, I've owned more than 20 bikes, and ridden countless more. I've had dual sport bikes, standards, supersports, motards and superbikes, but none have impressed and frightened me a bit, like this one.

If you're not familiar with the KTM 1290 SDR, it's basically a gigantic 1301cc Austrian made, v-twin motor with only the best and necessary components bolted onto it. Weighing in at 470lbs with a full tank of fuel, the "Beast" has 177 horsepower and almost 100 ft lbs of torque. It has a ludicrous power to weight ratio of only 2.4lbs per HP. With traction control off, it will easily lift the front wheel to the sky in 3rd gear. If you have the skill, and the balls, 100+ mph wheelies are cake on this thing. It will reach 125 MPH in just over 7 seconds Hopefully you still have skin on your face after doing this.

Now, you may think that a bike like this probably doesn't handle very well, but it actually does. With excellent suspension, balance, bar and seating position, it can be piloted aggressively in relative comfort. Cruise all day, fly through the twisties, or even rip it at a trackday. The SDR is perfectly happy to oblige any and all demands you may have.

Although it was completely unnecessary, I have modified the Beast to increase the horsepower and torque, as well as reduce the weight substantially. Why? Because there's no such thing as too much power. Well, I really did it to smooth out the throttle response, but I won't complain about the extra 15HP, 10lbs of torque and 30lbs of lost weight. gulp

Honestly, I really haven't been scared of a bike since I was 14, and I borrowed a friend's XL600, which was way too tall for me. I must have looked like a kid riding his dad's bicycle on that thing. I remember hopping on, twisting the throttle, and taking off in a blur. I felt like my feet were flailing behind me as the front wheel lofted in the air and I shot down the street. It was like wrangling a wild horse. But, as I rode it, and as I have ridden every bike, I learn its quirks and tendencies, and adjust to it until I'm comfortable going fast on it.

The learning curve on the Beast has been a bit steeper and intimidating due to it's fire breathing nature. Although I have ridden many large displacement motorcycles with different engine configurations, the only liter bikes I have personally owned have been inline fours with smooth power that builds pretty predictably, and comes on hard in the upper revs. Not the Beast. This thing produces more than 2/3 of its torque at 2,500 RPM, and it doesn't quit until the rev limiter tells it to. KTM has done something that few other manufacturers have achieved. They have worked their magic and produced a bike that has buckets of horsepower as well as torque. Their head honcho rode the prototype and said, "This thing is NUTS! We HAVE to build it." I love him.

I've now had the Beast for more than two years. I ride it almost daily so I have become very used to the power delivery, the handling, and the process of swapping new rear tires, which it has an immense appetite for. Many bikes have come and gone through my garage, but this one is a keeper. I'm almost 48 now, so I may not buy another land bullet, but I feel like I have one that can stand the test of time. If you have a chance, I highly recommend riding one. Beware though, you may just have to buy one if you do. BRAAAAAP!!!!!!!