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When we didn’t hear anything from KTM during the typical new model year blitz at the end of the last year, we worried that the Austrian brand had decided to pack it in, after the tumultuous ride of 2020.

Don’t worry though, KTM hasn’t forgotten about its 2021 obligations, and zie Austrians have more than a few plucky machines to debut for the current model year.

Two of the biggies are a new KTM 1290 Super Duke GT and an updated KTM 1290 Super Adventure lineup, as both bikes are being teased on its social media channels right now with a January 26th release date.

Now the fourth motorcycle manufacturer (1, 2, & 3) to issue a recall because of issues with its fitted Brembo brake master cylinder, KTM has the dubious task of informing 2,361 KTM 1290 Super Duke R (2015-2018) and KTM 1290 Super Duke GT (2016-2018) owners.

Like the other recalls before it, this one stems from certain 15mm and 16mm radial-pump brake master cylinders that have been fitted as an OEM part to a slew of high-performance motorcycles.

Because of a manufacturing defect, the plastic piston on these master cylinders – made from a polyphenylene sulphide polymer – may crack and brake under heavy load, severe ABS engagement, and/or during a tip-over.

The KTM 1290 Super Duke GT was the big unveil at EICMA, for the Austrian company. The model builds off the well-recieved KTM 1290 Super Duke R streetfighter, and adds some more fairing, a windshield, as well as a set of panniers.

Despite its beastly title and aggressive looks, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R is a surprisingly comfortable motorcycle to ride, thanks mostly to an upright riding triangle. The Super Duke R also has a large 4.7 gallon tank, which gives good range, but KTM boosted the Super Duke GT’s fuel tank to 6 gallons regardless of that fact.

If experience tell us anything, this should make for nice long excursions on the “Grand Tourer” model, which thankful doesn’t get a neutering to its 170hp 75° v-twin engine, which is the true highlight of the model.

The Super Duke R can get some vibrations from that beast of a motor though, so it will be interesting to see how the GT model handles that, otherwise we consider the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT to be a very sporty sport-tourer – one we’re eager to ride.

As of right now, it doesn’t look like the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT will come to the USA for 2016 though, which is a shame. Hopefully KTM North America can figure that nonsense out tout suite. In the meantime, we have 50+ high-resolution photos of “The Touring Beast” for your viewing pleasure.

I recently was pleased to get the chance to ride the KTM 1290 Super Duke R – machine that truly lives up to the name “The Beast”, yet shows enough comfort to be a potent touring machine, if you could mount bags and a windscreen to it.

That thought is exactly what drove KTM with its latest model, the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, which takes the 173hp streetfighter, and gives its bags, more fairing, and a windshield — all for 502 lbs, ready to ride.

Unless the Austrian massively botched this relatively easy task, this could mean that the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT is the best sport-tourer on the market.

We have been seeing for some time now evidence that KTM was set to bring a more touring-focused variant of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R to market, and now today we have confirmation of that fact.

Releasing photos of the still camouflaged 2016 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, KTM is leaving a little something to the imagination and EICMA, but the company is also confirming that another touring model will enter its lineup.