Ktm Takes On the World
KTM TAKES ON THE WORLD
ROUNDUP
THESE ARE GOOD TIMES TO be a “tiny” motorcycle-maker from Mattighofen, Austria. Last year, KTM moved almost 62,000 bikes worldwide, a whopping 36 percent growth in sales. The company’s race teams nabbed a World Enduro crown, the new Supermoto World Championship, the World Rally title, not to mention running away with the first 11 places (!) in the Paris-Dakar Rally, only the world’s most prestigious off-road event. KTM’s biggest trophy, though, may be a life-size Jeremy McGrath, the world’s best known Supercrosser, who traded-in his blue Yamaha for an orange 250 SX that he’ll campaign in 2003. Off-road all but locked up, now KTM is setting sights on the streebike market. Instrument of the assault will be the 942cc dohc LC8 V-Twin, a short-stroke powerhouse that breaks ground the ’03-model 950 dual-purpose bike, patterned after the Dakar-winning rally racers. KTM claims a mildly tuned 98 horsepower at 8000 rpm.
Installed in the upcoming 950 Duke roadster for 2004, the LC8’s output will jump to 115 bhp, making it a formidable contender in the Naked Hooligan (now there’s an image...) class. And nothing official, mind you, but in private, over shots of schnapps, KTM’s young, enthusiastic (and entirely too good-looking) management team let it be known that a serious road-going sportbike is also in the works.
There’s more. KTM’s announcement of a Red Bull-sponsored I25cc Grand Prix roadrace team for the ’03 season, with 2000 125cc World Champion Roberto Locatelli and '02 125 champ Arnaud Vincent as riders, has deeper ramifications than just the simple fielding of a singlecylinder tiddler. In reality, the team is an Expeditionary Force sent out to learn the ropes, a precursor to greater things. You should not be surprised if the GP 125 is followed by an LC8 World Superbike, and soon after by a MotoGP machine (the LC16?) shoved forward by a KTM-built V-Four!
Talk about a blueprint for world domination... -David Edwards
