KTM RC25 - A KTM 250cc Sport Bike Coming from India?

Rumors of a 250cc KTM sport bike have been around ever since the Austrian brand’s product road map for the American market leaked to the internet.

Expected to draw inspiration from the company’s successful Moto3 race bike, the KTM 250cc street bike is now coming to the forefront of rumors again, as news from India reconfirms its production for 2014.

However, the new rumors from India suggest that the dubbed “KTM RC25” will take after the KTM 1190 RC8 R, rather than the company’s Moto3 machine.

Ignoring the break in the naming scheme that KTM uses for the 1190 RC8 R (we would expect the bike to be called something like the RC250), the suggestion here that KTM would make a 250cc bike to compete against the Honda CBR250R, Kawasaki Ninja 250R/300, and the upcoming Yamaha 250cc sport bike makes a bit of sense.

Expected to be a world model, we don’t know yet if KTM will make multiple variations of the machine, like it did with its KTM 125 Duke, KTM 200 Duke, and KTM 390 Duke trio of naked bikes.

However, we do know that the KTM RC25 will be made in Bajaj’s Chakan facility near Pune, India, which should help keep its cost down for mass consumption in markets like Europe and North America.

Rumored to have a parallel-twin motor and make 30hp, the KTM RC25 would be a class-leader in the 250cc segment if it lives up to the hype. But as always, time will tell.