It is the end of the week, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the weekend than to ogle some ultra high-resolution photos of the KTM RC 8C.
Zie Austrians uploaded these to their media site well after the fanfare of the track-only bike had settled, so I don’t think they have really been seen until now – the fact it sold out in less than 5 minutes probably didn’t help that fact either.
Have we just seen the unveiling of the ultimate track bike? The KTM RC 8C certainly fits the part on paper with its 128hp on tap, 140 kg dry weight (308 lbs), and high-spec components.
Though the exterior is all-new, we have seen much of the KTM RC 8C before, as the bike is really just a rebadge and massaged Kramer GP2 890R track bike, though the Ready to Race folks make no mention of the involvement of their German counterparts.
On the KTM social media channels today, the Austrian brand has let slip that it plans on making a limited edition run of “Moto2” track bikes, for a select number of riders worldwide.
As such, Only 100 units will be made worldwide, according to the video, which is certainly an exclusive number.
There is something brewing between KTM and Kramer Motorcycles, and the internet seems to be in agreement with that notion.
The smoke to this fire comes from a story first published on German-language Speedweek, where it was reported that KTM was working on a smaller-displacement track bike, after scrapping its RC16 customer program.
The Speedweek story showed an alleged spy photo (shown below) of the bike that KTM was working on for this project, though the site failed to recognize the motorcycle in question as being a Kramer 890 GP2.
Another juicy news item that comes to us straight from the Brap Talk motorcycle podcast, we get word that Kramer Motorcycles is working on a cheaper version of the Kramer HKR Evo2 race bike.
Based around the 690cc single-cylinder engine from KTM, the Kramer HKR Evo2 R is current available for a gasp-worthy amount of $22,500, which is obviously a lot of coin for a lightweight-class race bike.
Hoping to make that entry into the brand a little easier, and to provide racers with a platform that they can develop and customize themselves, we get word that Kramer is looking at a cheaper version of the Evo2, which will cost south of the $15,000 price point in the USA.
Continuing our live chat video series on YouTube with members of the motorcycle industry, on Monday, June 15th at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT, Asphalt & Rubber will be sitting down with Joe Karvonen, of Kramer Motorcycles USA
As usual for our live chats, I will of course have some questions of my own for Joe, but we want to make the show interactive, so we will be taking questions from the audience as well.
For those that haven’t been keeping track on Asphalt & Rubber, the Brap Talk podcast, and on social media, we are spending more than a little bit of time at the track this year, racing with the Oregon Motorcycle Road Racing Association (OMRRA) to chronicle what it means to become an amateur racer.
I have already outlined my reasons for wanting to go racing, but I wanted to spend the next two article mentioning what I am racing with, both in terms of machinery and gear. First up is an introduction to our racing platform, which for this season is a Kramer HRK Evo2 S.
We have already talked about Kramer’s ready-to-race single-cylinder motorcycles, and in fact our race bike for this series is the same bike featured in that article’s story.
Previously a demo bike for Kramer in the Pacific Northwest, this “S” model machine found its home in my garage, and as you can see from the photo above, it has been on quite the journey since.
KTM’s 790 platform is a marvelous thing. It brought us the potent KTM 790 Duke sport bike, and this year sees the arrival of the hotly anticipated KTM 790 Adventure R dual-sport.
Compact, powerful, and affordable – those are the three words that best describe what the Austrian motorcycle house has created, and we knew from the get-go that the 790 platform was destined to bring us several motorcycle models.
Now, the time has come to ask where is our KTM RC790?
Kramer Motorcycles is ready to make its sequel to the potent single-cylinder Kramer HKR EVO2 track bike, and again the German manufacturer has tapped a unique KTM engine to power this next edition race-focused motorcycle.
Debuting today at the Barber Vintage Festival, the Kramer GP2 prototype has broken cover, and it features the 790cc parallel-twin engine from the KTM 790 Duke. The Germans plan to develop the bike over the next 12 months, with an eye on providing a potent twin for those who are racing inclined.
Episode 81 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is out, and it is a marathon show – right at 2.5 hours in length. Because of that duration, we cover a huge range of topics, the first of which is a little news about Harley-Davidson, and the growing American trade war.
From there, we move to Jensen’s recent trip to Italy, where he rode the new MV Agusta Turismo Veloce 800 Lusso SCS, which features a new auto-clutch for sport bikes, made in partnership with Rekluse.
Jensen’s travels then took him to Milan, where he visited Pirelli’s world headquarters and testing facility, which was a unique experience in seeing how tires are evaluated and produced.
Lastly came a trip south to Sicily, to visit the Metzeler/Pirelli R&D testing facility, where Jensen rode the entire Metzeler tire range up a volcano…no seriously.
Back home in the USA, Quentin was doing a bit of racing, as he lined up on the grid in OMRAA’s 250 Ninja Cup. He then played on the other side of the wrench in his travels to Pikes Peak, spinning wrenches for Michael Woolaway, who raced a custom Ducati Hypermotard up the Colorado mountain.
At the same time, Jensen was in Laguna Seca for the World Superbike weekend, and the following Pirelli track day. There, Jensen got to ride two very unique motorcycles: the Kramer HKR EVO2 and the BMW HP4 Race. A short review: they did not suck.
Since Quentin recently also got a chance to ride the Kramer, the two trade notes on the show about this interesting single-cylinder motorcycle, and how much fun it is to ride smaller-displacement motorcycles on the track.
Like we said, it’s a marathon show, but we think you will find all the topics not only interesting, but the stories entertaining.
You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well.
We hope you will join the conversation, and leave us some audio comments at our new email address: twoenthusiasts@gmail.com.