Rennie Scaysbrook | November 23, 2021
The KTM 1290 Super Duke GT has been a bike that has flown somewhat under the radar in recent times, despite being one of the very best in the 1000cc + sports touring market.
Based heavily on the Super Duke 1290 R, the GT has usually followed its sibling’s changes a year or so later and thus we should be surprised to see the GT gets updated after the Super Duke got the reworking wand last year.
Starting with the motor, this has remained untouched in the 1301 cc L-twin that pumps out a claimed 175 hp and 103 ft-lb of torque, however, attention has been paid more to its touring capabilities than its horsepower numbers.
The wheels come off the Super Duke and are 2.2 lb lighter for reduced unsprung weight, aiding turning, braking, and acceleration performance, and the gas tank is a whopping six gallons, so there’ll be lots of miles between stops.
New is the WP APEX semi-active suspension from the Super Duke EVO that comes with reworked settings where the rider can choose from Rider/Rider and Pillion/ Rider and Luggage or Rider, Pillion and Luggage.
Everything is accessed via the new seven-inch TFT ash, making it one of the largest of any production bike on the market today (for the record, BMW holds number one with their 10.25 inch TFT on the R18).
Six gallons of goodness means big miles for you and the GT.
KTM will use the GT to debut their new navigation system called Turn-by-turn PLUS via the KTM Connect app, powered by Sygic. This allows navigation instructions to be projected directly onto the TFT display from your phone, with roll-outs to other models coming in the future.
No word yet on if the 2022 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT will be coming next year, but given the fact the Super Adventure is only just arriving in dealerships, it wouldn’t surprise us if the GT was delayed by one year. Bummer.
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