An all new naked street-fighter is set to join KTM’s immensely popular Duke line up. The 790 Duke was recently spied testing by Morebikes with production ready parts and bodywork. The motorcycle will sit above the 690 Duke, and will be the smallest bike from KTM to carry a parallel twin cylinder engine. The new Duke 790 will make its global debut at the 2017 EICMA Show. The images feature the new 2018 KTM 790 Duke undergoing final tests in Spain and provide a perspective on what the final product will look like when it is introduced later this year.
The 790 Duke will come with a new parallel-twin, which has been called LC8c (the lower case ‘c’ stands for compact). The engine uses a 270-degree crank and is controlled via a ride-by-wire set-up. Not many details have been revealed about power figures, however they maybe compared to those of the Triumph Street Triple S which makes 111.4 hp.
There will be two versions of the 790 Duke. First will be an A2 licence with basic specifications, and other will be the R version with higher specs and power, and would be comparable to the Street Triple 765 RS that develops 121 hp.
The new motorcycle gets a two-into-one exhaust that goes under the bike and around the swingarm, and exits under the pillion seat. The exhaust can appears to be very compact. Unlike smaller Dukes, the 790 Duke was seen with a taller wind deflector.
The motorcycle will compete against Triumph’s 765cc Street Triple set to launch next year. There is so far no confirmation on whether or not KTM will bring the 790 Duke to India as their flagship product. If it does make it to the Indian shore in 2018, expect a price tag in a range of Rs 6-8 lakh.