The guys from Nieuwsmotor.nl recently visited KTM’s headquarters in Mattighofen, Austria, where they met with Robert Prielinger, who heads R&D for KTM’s streetbikes. And it was, apparently, quite a useful meeting since Nieuwsmotor seem to have come away with a fair bit of information regarding KTM’s 2012 bikes.
According to Prielinger, KTM will launch all-new versions of the Super Duke and Adventure bikes in 2012, which will be fitted with brand-new twin-cylinder engines. The 2012/2013 KTM Super Duke is likely to be a very high-tech machine, with a 1200cc V-twin and advanced electronics, including sports-ABS, traction control and ride-by-wire technologies. The off-road-oriented 2012 Adventure would be available with at least two engine sizes – 1200cc/1000cc and 700cc/800cc.
Next year, the KTM Duke 690 may be replaced with the Duke 700, fitted with a revised single-cylinder engine and revamped styling. There might also be a more expensive ‘R’ version of the Duke 700, with higher-spec components.
KTM, more than a third of which is now owned by Indian motorcycle manufacturer, Bajaj, will also continue to develop smaller streetbikes – with 125cc, 200cc and 350cc engine capacities – for India and other Asian markets. Some of these bikes could also be launched in Europe in 2012.
With Bajaj gradually increasing its stake in KTM, the two companies have started working in close coordination in the area of technology development. In fact, the 2011 RC8R even uses dual spark plugs in each of its cylinder heads, which is a development of Bajaj’s ‘Digital Twin Spark Ignition’ (DTS-i) technology. The two companies will continue to develop small capacity single- and twin-cylinder motorcycle engines for Asian markets, while Bajaj is also expected to introduce the KTM brand in India, which is the world’s second largest motorcycle market.
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