You read it first on MotorBeam. At today’s launch of the Duke 390, KTM said it would launch the 1290 SuperDuke in India in limited numbers. The Austrian company will initially bring the KTM 1290 SuperDuke via the CBU route by the end of this year. However KTM has plans to completely manufacture the SuperDuke 1290 in India by 2015. This news about locally manufacturing the SuperDuke in India was shared by Mr. Amit Nandi (Head of KTM India) with us, post the launch of the 390 Duke.
Local production of the KTM SuperDuke 1290 will result in a very aggressive price and this move by KTM is an excellent one considering CBU duties have been hiked recently. The local production of the SuperDuke will also give premium motorcycle companies like Harley-Davidson, Hyosung, Kawasaki, Ducati and Triumph some sleepless nights, as they won’t be able to compete with KTM on pricing. Japanese companies like Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki also sell premium bikes, all brought in via the CBU route.
While the production version of the KTM 1290 SuperDuke is yet to be unveiled, the prototype shows what a mean machine it is. Powering this hyper naked motorcycle is a 1195cc, V-twin engine which is expected to belt out around 180 BHP of power. This is the same engine which does duty on the RC8R, which is being showcased at KTM showrooms across the country. However KTM has no plans to launch or manufacture the RC8R in India, as the demand for streetfighter motorcycles is higher. Expect the SuperDuke to be priced around the Rs. 10 lakh mark. Meanwhile check out the awesome KTM RC8R HERE.
