Ktm Dukes It Out
KTM DUKES IT OUT
ROUNDUP
YOU KNOW KTM's DUKE. Even if all you saw was a photo, you'd remember. It's the dressed-up dirtbike that thinks it's sporty, a supermotard racer for the street. Having sold every Duke it could build to date, the Austrian KTM company is exploring its options. And as we reported in our Project Super Duke story (CW, September, 1996), those options include a likely broadening of the Duke line. The three bikes shown here, unveiled at last fall's Cologne Show, represent the Duke's future.
The first, called the Unit, takes the roadster concept a step farther. Gone is the stan dard Duke's bikini fairing and dirtbike-derived bodywork, replaced with twin stacked projector-beam headlamps and swoopy bodywork incorporat ing ram-air ducts. A down swept exhaust, rearset footpegs and delicate 12-spoke BBS wheels complete the package. Overall effect is striking, simple yet modern and purposeful, with few dirtbike styling cues remaining.
The second, called the City Crosser, takes the Duke concept back toward its dirtbike roots. Based on the LC4 dual-purpose model, this bike is as its name suggests-a sort of street-legal motocrosser. Spoked wheels are dirtbike-sized, suspension is long-travel and starting is kick-only, unlike the electric-start Duke e. It's even more raw than the original, kick-start-only Duke. Sadly, both of these new four-stroke models currently exist only in prototype form. But the good news is that they almost certainly will be built-perhaps as early as fall of this year-with quantities de pending on reactions from en thusiasts and dealers. Prices should be in line with existing Duke e and LC4 models. The third new Duke shown at Cologne is, how ever, already in production. The Sting 125 is also based on an exist ii model, in , this case Li the twostroke LC2. Al ready well equipped with an Ital ian-built Yamaha engine sporting electric start, vibration-reducing balance shaft, oil injection and six speed transmission, the LC2 platform was further outfitted for street use with a bikini fair ing, twin halogen headlamps, 17-inch wheels shod with street tires and a Brembo four-piston front brake caliper grasping a 320mm disc.
For all intents and purposes, the Sting is a downsized Duke, intended to appeal to youngsters in European countries with learners' laws. While emissions regulations mean that it will not be available in the U.S., the Sting sells for the equivalent of $6700 in Europe. Not exactly cheap, but then, neither is the Duke.
Brian Catterson
