Rennie Scaysbrook | July 10, 2024
The term “exclusive” gets thrown around way too much these days. It’s a catch-all phrase designed to excite your vanity and separate you from your hard-earned cash, but occasionally, very occasionally, it’s a term that has some meaning. This is one of those times when talking about a KTM RC8c.
Portimao and a KTM RC8c. It doesn’t get much better than this.
Photography by Sebas Romero
The RC8c is not a new motorcycle. It’s been around for three years and has served as KTM’s toe in the water as it returns to building full-on sportbikes for the first time in a decade, thanks to the incoming 2025 990 RCR supersport machine. But the RCR won’t be exclusive—not like an RC8c.
For those who’ve read these pages before, yes, the RC8c not only looks like the Krämer GP2 890RR I raced at the 2023 Barber Vintage Festival and covered extensively here at Cycle News, it is a Krämer GP2 890RR, complete with the same engine, tubular steel chassis, and running gear.
The only major difference between a 2024 Krämer GP2 890 RR and the 2024 KTM RC8c is the KTM’s white and orange paint job, downforce winglets on either side of the front number plate, a different rear shock linkage, a WP Apex Pro 7543 closed-cartridge fork and WP Apex Pro 7746 shock with stock settings compared to the Krämer’s custom-built suspension damping (using the same fork and shock setup), and the KTM runs a Bosch ECU rather than the Mectronik ECU that’s shared with the WorldSSP paddock that enables a deeper dive into the electronics and data logging.
But in a funny, roundabout way, the KTM RC8c is even more exclusive than the Krämer it effectively is. Limited to 100 units worldwide and costing a handsome $41,499, this is the last year an RC8c will be produced, so KTM sent a few lucky bums to test it out at the roller-coaster that is Portimao in Portugal.
Ultra similar to the Krämer GP2 890 RR but different enough to be its own thing. The RC8c will be an instant collector’s item.
The RCR will see to it that all KTM’s sportbike might is put into this new, mass-produced platform, and thus the RC8c will become an instant collector’s item. It is the sharpest sportbike ever to feature a KTM badge on the airbox cover available to the public because, as we all know, you can’t buy Brad Binder’s bike.
Although the Krämer genes are painfully obvious, they in no way detract from the awesomeness of a KTM RC8c. Purpose-built with no ties to pesky homologation rules, it is physically impossible to get off an RC8c at the end of a track session without having a gigantic, face-hurting smile.
With a claimed, ready-to-go weight of 313 pounds, everything on the KTM is designed to make you go as fast as possible around a racetrack. Pedro Acosta uses an RC8c as his practice bike; that alone should be all the convincing you need.
The rear-seat unit triples as the fuel cell, and the subframe is designed to flex in a crash.
Powering the RC8c is a heavily breathed-upon 899cc KTM parallel-twin motor, one that started its life as the heart of the 890 Duke. There’s not a lot left between the walls of the twin that’s stock KTM. Titanium conrods, titanium inlet and exhaust valves, higher lift and longer duration camshafts on the intake and exhaust side, CNC ported cylinder-head, higher compression forged Pankl pistons, and larger Dell’Orto 48mm throttle bodies compared to the 45mm units on the stock 890 help deliver a claimed 135 hp. Compression has been raised from 13.5:1 to 14.1:1. The crankshaft is the same as a base 890 Duke, and sadly, too, is the gearbox, which is not designed for racing and is the bike’s weak spot, just like on the sister Krämer.
You must be careful on the downshifts with the KTM to ensure you’ve selected the gear correctly before you go searching for the one underneath. Nova makes a racing gearbox for the 890 motor, one we’ve seen racing in the British Supersport Championship, and with the price and exclusivity of the RC8c, I’d have liked its inclusion on the RC8c. Anyway, moving on.
That Akrapovic exhaust produces one hell of a bark.
However, that 135 horsepower motor is one of life’s great pleasures. Some will say you’ve got to have 200 horsepower to have fun on a track, and they are absolutely wrong. The KTM motor pulls cleanly from sub-3000 rpm hairpins and roars through the rev range, performance hardly dropping until you ride into the 12,000-rpm rev-limiter, itself 1500 rpm up on the base 890 with the motor producing way more mid-range and top-end to boot.
The engine is no doubt a star, but it plays second fiddle to the chassis. Krämer’s tubular steel chassis, crafted in the same style and materials as so many KTM’s before it, combines with the WP suspension and forged aluminum Dymag wheels to produce a riding experience normally only in the domain of GP riders.
Nimble and agile are terms that simply don’t do the chassis justice. The RC8c slices through corners with such ease and precision, you need to be a pro-level rider to even get close to the limit.
Brake as late as you dare, wait, wait, wait… then turn. Bummer, you probably turned too early. The steering on the RC8c really is that quick.
Relatively tiny 280mm front brake discs help reduce unsprung mass, and when combined with the wheels, the KTM turns too quick and with such little input, it consistently surprises. However, like a good race bike, it works better the faster you ride it. It’s stiff—stiff like a real race bike—and the more you push it, the better it responds. Dilly-dallying around a track on a RC8c is not a pleasant experience. Your teeth rattle out, and a 990 Duke suddenly becomes a much more appealing prospect. Ride the RC8c like it’s supposed to be ridden, and you’ll be rewarded.
Should you find the need, the KTM RC8c is infinitely adjustable to your riding needs and style. A quick look at the cockpit shows that the handlebars, steering offset, and fork position are all adjustable, as is stuff like swingarm pivot position and, of course, suspension in every possible way.
Front-end geometry is infinitely adjustable, just like a proper racebike.
The electronics contain all the usual traction, wheelie, and engine map controls, so dialing in the perfect setup should be easy enough. You don’t have quite the adjustability of the Mectronik ECU, which has been developed alongside the best in WorldSSP and all the metrics they need to play with, but regular track riders will likely be fully satisfied with what’s on offer.
Winglets give the RC8c a bit of MotoGP cool. Whether they are of any benefit to the end user is up for debate.
And well, they should. At $41,499 MSRP, this is by far the most exclusive production KTM money can buy. I suspect most won’t even see the light of track time, cotton-wrapped as “investment” pieces, hidden away and never ridden. And for those who do so, you’re missing out on one of the finest track-focused motorcycles ever created. But hey, you do you.
For those who buy and ride their RC8c as nature intended, congratulations. You’ve made the right choice. But I suspect you already knew that. CN
VIDEO | 2024 KTM RC8c First Ride
2024 KTM RC8c Specifications
MSRP |
$41,499 |
Engine |
Inline two-cylinder, four-stroke |
Valvetrain |
DOHC, 8-valve |
Cooling System |
Liquid |
Displacement |
899cc |
Bore x stroke |
90.7 x 68.8mm |
Fuel injection |
Electronic fuel-injection system, 48mm elliptical throttle bodies, Ride-by-Wire throttle |
Compression ratio |
14.1:1 |
Exhaust |
2-2-1 |
Transmission |
6-speed |
Clutch |
ASC slipper clutch, hydraulically actuated |
Electronics |
Adjustable Traction Control (9 Levels + Off), Adjustable Wheelie Control (5 Levels + Off), Pitlane Speed Limiter, five-inch AIM MXS1.3 dash |
Chassis |
Tubular steel trellis |
Front suspension |
WP Apex Pro 7543, closed-cartridge, fully adjustable, split function damping |
Rear suspension |
WP Apex Pro 7746, fully adjustable, high- and low-speed compression, remote preload, ride-height adjustable with progressive linkage |
Front brake |
Dual 290mm full-floating discs, radially mounted Brembo Stylema monobloc four-piston calipers |
Rear brake |
230mm disc, Brembo twin-piston P2 caliper |
Front tire |
120/70-ZR 17 in. |
Rear tire |
180/60-17 in. |
Seat height |
NA/adjustable |
Fuel capacity |
4.2 gal. |
Weight (curb, claimed) |
313 lbs. |