KTM unveils the 890 Duke

KTM has unveiled the 890 Duke, the successor to the 790 Duke. The bike is the latest middleweight offering from the Austrian manufacturer and sits right below the more powerful and focused 890 Duke R. The KTM 790 Duke met its end when it wasn’t updated to meet Euro 5 compliance standards and KTM has rectified that with the new 890 Duke.

In terms of design the 890 Duke doesn’t look very different from the 790 Duke apart from cosmetic changes like the new paint and sticker job. The 890 Duke is powered by a bigger 899cc Euro5 compliant parallel-twin. The bump in displacement has translated to 114bhp of power at 9000rpm and 92Nm of torque at 8000rpm, which is 11bhp and 6Nm more than the 790 Duke. The engine continues to be mated to a six-speed gearbox with a PASC slipper clutch.

The 890 Duke retains the same frame and the dimensions are also almost identical to the 790 Duke. The seat height at 820mm, however is lower than the 790’s by 5mm. The bike gets an updated WP Apex suspension setup, though the front forks are not adjustable while being preload adjustable at the rear. Suspension travel remains the same. The brakes have also been updated and KTM claims that the braking on the 890 Duke has improved over the previous bike. Whether or not the bike is still using calipers provided by J Juan, remains to be seen. The bike also gets new rubber in form of the Continental ContiRoad tyres, ditching the 790’s Maxxis Supermax ST tyres. Fuel capacity remains identical at 14 litres and the icing on the cake for the 890 Duke is the whole package despite the bigger engine and more power continues to weigh the same at 169kg dry.

In terms of electronics, the entire Bosch EMS unit has been updated and also gets a 6D lean angle sensor. The 890 Duke gets three riding modes with an optional track mode, cornering and Supermoto ABS, cornering traction control and a whole bunch of other electronic goodies. The bike also gets a quickshifter as an optional extra. All of the electronics can be controlled by a 4.3-inch TFT instrument cluster.

The 890 Duke will be available in international markets from next month and will go up against other naked middleweights like the Kawasaki Z900 and the Triumph Street Triple R. There is a good chance that the 890 Duke will make its way to Indian shores and fill the KTM shaped void in our middleweight naked market.