Rumors

Investor Documents Reveal Details on the KTM 490 Lineup & More

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There is a treasure trove of information coming out of the Pierer Mobility group today, as the Austrian conglomerate has posted an investor presentation to its website, which tips more than a few upcoming models and ideas.

As such, we will be diving through all the information that has become available, and first up is the product road map for the KTM motorcycle lineup, which confirms the rumors we have been hearing about a 490 platform.

Clarity on the new 490

The twin-cylinder 490 engine isn’t a new piece of information, if you have been following KTM news closely, but there has been some debate on where the new motorcycle design would fit into KTM’s lineup.

Thankfully, these investor presentation makes it quite clear, with the 490 platform sitting above the 125/200/390 platform in the lineup, rather than replacing as had been reported by some outlets.

A twin instead of a single, we can see that KTM plans on using the 490 motor in several machines, including an RC490 application, which could be interesting for sport bike fans.

KTM also has the sub-500cc twin-cylinder in adventure bike, naked bike, and supermoto/dual-sport platforms, which makes for a very robust range to use the engine.

The 390 Continues

The addition of the 490 platform sees the surprise continuation of the 390 platform (and its ilk, in the 125cc and 200cc spaces), and this lineup is set to grow further.

The investor presentation shows the recently debuted KTM 390 Adventure model, but it also teases two more long-travel suspension bikes, which are called out as SMC and SMT model for the 390 platform.

Those bikes seem like easy and obvious choices, now that the Adventure model is finally out in the open, but it is interesting to see KTM investing so much in its small-displacement category.

These bikes are surely designed with the Asian markets in mind (especially with the 125cc and 200cc displacements), though it wouldn’t surprise us to see the 390 models coming to the USA and Europe.

More 790/890 Goodness

The last piece of information to glean from KTM is the expansion of the 790/890 lineup, which shows two new models being teased in the supermoto / dual-sport category.

Looking at the gaps, we can expect these bikes to be based off the KTM 790 Duke or KTM 890 Duke R motorcycles, but with longer suspension and more upright sitting positions.

It is not clear which of KTM’s middleweight engines will do the work here, but we would expect to see the Euro5-ready 890 motor debuting from now on, rather than the 790 engine.

As such, we can expect the KTM 890 SMC and KTM 890 SMT to be upcoming arrivals from Austria, perhaps as early as the 2020 trade show season.

Source: Pierer Mobility

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