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MotoFire was at this year’s EICMA and the new KTM 790 Duke Prototype caught the attention of their photographers who managed to get up close and personal with it.
Sitting between the KTM 690 Duke and KTM 1290 Super Duke R, the KTM 790 Duke will be powered by an all-new 800cc parallel-twin engine called the LC8c (c for compact). What’s more, the 790 Duke prototype is equipped with a quickshifter and features custom ride modes along with a multi-level traction control.
As expected of a prototype from KTM and their design house Kiska, the engine is nestled inside a body consisting of a steel trellis frame, hand-welded pipes and a machined aluminum subframe and tail cowl. Forged carbon may have been used for some the of the fairings, a likely guess as the material is expected to appear more and more in the two-wheeled industry.
What’s aesthetically new to the KTM brand is the LED headlight design and that orange triangle gap under the seat. We probably won’t see those two features on the production model, maybe not even the WP suspension components and it’s unlikely that the underseat exhaust will make it onto the finalized design either. The 1290 Super Duke prototype had twin underseat pipes, but that fell through and the same could happen with the KTM 790 Duke.
We can’t wait to see the production design whenever KTM decides to finally debut the new 790 Duke.