After unveiling the 2024 Duke 390 last week, KTM has taken the covers off its smaller street naked prodigies– Duke 125 and Duke 250. The new generation KTM Duke lineup goes on sale internationally from September 2023 onwards, however, the Austrian bikemaker hasn’t yet revealed exact details for their launch in India.
Like all other single-cylinder KTMs, the Duke trio– 390, 250 and 125 will also be manufactured at Bajaj’s facility in Chakan. Let us look at the new-gen Duke 125 and Duke 250 and the updates both bikes have received
2024 KTM Duke 125, Duke 250: Updated design
Unlike the recently unveiled 2024 KTM Duke 390, which gets a radical design upgrade,the new Duke 125 and Duke 250 get a more subtle and evolutionary design update over their respective outgoing iterations. Still there are considerable similarities in styling among the trio of models of the new-gen Duke lineup.
For starters, both naked street fighters get new split-type LED headlamps and the same alloy wheels as the new-gen Duke 390. The fuel tank is more muscular than ever accompanied by tank shrouds that gives the bike a beefy appearance, despite its compact proportions. The floating rear section doesn’t get any body panels with the rear subframe completely exposed.
Further, there are some new body graphics that lend both motorcycles sportier aesthetics including some new colour schemes like the Blue and Orange dual-tone shade in Duke 125, and the White and Orange livery for the quarter-litre Duke.
2024 KTM Duke 125, Duke 250: Hardware upgrades
More than visuals, it is underneath where KTM has incorporated the maximum upgrades. Both bikes are underpinned by an all-new steel trellis frame supported by a pressure die-cast aluminium sub-frame with an aluminium swingarm at the rear. The chassis sits on 43mm WP Apex front forks with rebound and compression adjustability and a new off-set, preload adjustable rear mono-shock, both offering 150mm wheel travel.
Anchorage is carried out by a new 320mm front disc and a 240mm rear disc, complemented by dual-channel ABS. The motorcycles roll on new lighter 17-inch alloy wheels shod with Michelin Road 5 tyres. Both bikes have a seat height of 800 mm, which can be raised to 820 mm with the KTM PowerParts set.
2024 KTM Duke 125, Duke 250: Features
In terms of features, the new Duke 125 and Duke 250 offer a new 5-inch TFT display, along with updated switchgear, smartphone connectivity, music control, incoming call alerts and turn-by-turn navigation. The 2024 Duke range gets SuperMoto ABS (switchable rear ABS) and cornering ABS as standard.
2024 KTM Duke 125, Duke 250: Powertrain specs
Coming to powertrain, the 2024 Duke 15 is powered by a 124.9cc, liquid-cooled engine that produces 14.7 bhp and 11.5 Nm of peak torque. On the other hand, powering the Duke 250 is a 249cc, liquid-cooled motor that pumps out 30bhp and 25 Nm of peak torque. Transmission duties on both duties are taken care of by a 6-speed gearbox.
