Come 2017, we will be seeing an all-new avatar of what could be very well called the bargain of the decade, the KTM Duke 390. The new bike has already been spotted in Spain, and without camouflage in a production ready guise in India, and now we have 3D renders.
If you try to rate the things in the world of automobiles on a madness scale (if there is such a thing), the top will be dominated by a bunch of daft orange animals endlessly grunting a hollow two-stoke like symphony. When the orange fever hit India, we had no vaccine, we had no cure, most of us fell prey to the brutes from Austria. The arrival of the Dukes was like an adrenaline shot to our two-wheeler industry. It showed the world that India is ready for a higher class of bikes, and thus, the flood gates opened.
Leading this march was the top dog in KTM’s Indian stable, the Duke 390. While many bikes have tried to establish themselves in the segment, the Duke has remained a force to be reckoned with. The motorcycle is powered by a 373cc engine which puts out 44 HP of power and 35 Nm of torque. Add to this the low kerb weight of 154 kgs, and the KTM Duke 390 has a power to weight ratio of 272 HP per tonne. That is Porsche 911 territory. So you can obviously understand that when an icon like this is scheduled for an update, the expectations and speculations are running wild.
An artist by the name of Valerio Polifroni has just released some renders based on the spy shots of the KTM Duke 390’s 2017 avatar. Since they are based on the non-camouflaged images that were seen earlier, what we see, might very well be what we get. At first glance, yes, it does look weird. But once you soak in the design, it does start to grow on you. But, does it tick all the check boxes for a KTM? Hell yeah it does! and then some. That is one shape that I wouldn’t want to see creeping up in my rearview mirror.
The second generation KTM Duke 390 will be powered by an updated 373cc engine, with an additional counter balancer shaft which will aid in eliminating the vibrations associated with a single-cylinder engine of this capacity. KTM has also ditched the underbelly exhaust for a more conventional unit. The tail section has been pulled up and made sleeker (our condolences for the pillion), and the headlight now gets a twin setup for better illumination. Its Indian launch might happen somewhere in mid-2017, and as for the pricing, it is expected to go upwards of Rs. 2.3 lakhs.
Second Generation KTM Duke 390
– A 3D render for the 2017 KTM Duke 390 has just surfaced
– The render takes its cues from the non-camouflaged unit that was spied last month
– The bike looks typically KTM; aggressive, mad and a complete brute
– The international launch is expected early next year
Renderings Source – Behance.net
