Tag

KTM RC390

Browsing

The KTM RC390 is set for a major overhaul for the 2022 model year, with the pint-sized platform getting a serious makeover   next year and a bevy of mechanical improvements as well.

While we expect the 2022 KTM RC390 to debut officially later this year, a blogger out of India has scored what looks to be official studio photos of the KTM RC390, KTM RC200, and KTM RC125 models.

The photos show the bikes’ massive overhaul visually – a look that we think will be more palatable to the two-wheeled masses than its predecessor.

While we expect to see the KTM 390 Duke to get a minor update for the 2017 model year, along with a refresh of its design and graphics, it seems its sport bike counterpart, the KMT RC390 will just be getting the “bold new graphics” treatment.

This makes some sense in a way, since the KTM RC390 and its kin came to market a year after the KTM 390 Duke debuted. This could mean then that a model refresh is due for the pint-sized racer for the 2018 model year.

These leaked photos apparently confirm that the KTM RC390, KTM RC200, and KTM RC125 will get only changes to their liveries for the 2017 model year.

The FIM and Dorna have agreed on a new entry class for the World Superbike championship. A Supersport 300 series has been created to house the burgeoning market of lightweight sports machines, such as the Yamaha YZF-R3 and the KTM RC390.

The concept for the class came about after consultation with manufacturers. Motorcycle manufacturers have seen sales of 600cc supersports bikes plummeting, while sales of lightweight machines have been booming.

More and more manufacturers have been entering the class, though each with slightly different machines and different engine capacities.

Now that KTM has decided to bring the RC390 to the US market, MotoAmerica has in-turn confirmed rumors that it will be partnering with KTM to bring a KTM RC390 cup series to the reborn American road racing championship.

The RC390 Cup Series will compete at select rounds of the 2015 MotoAmerica AMA/FIM American Motorcycle Road Racing Championship Series (say that three times fast), and as the name implies, will feature young racing talents on the RC390 racing platform.

Good news small-displacement sport bike fans, as KTM North America has finally confirmed the KTM RC390 for the American market. The 375cc four-stroke single-cylinder street bike is good for 44hp, and tips the scales at 325 lbs dry.

On the larger side, displacement-wise, compared to the Honda CBR300R, Kawasaki Ninja 300, and Yamaha YZF-R3, the KTM RC390 also packs a bit more on the price tag. Pricing will be $5,499 MSRP, in the United States.

Last week we reported that 2013 was BMW’s best sales year ever, and now here comes the Bavarian Motorrad division’s biggest rival, KTM, with a sales report that ups the ante by 8,644 bikes.

For 2013, KTM’s worldwide sales reached 123,859 bikes (BMW’s record was 115,215). This is a 15.6% increase over the previous year, with an expected 17.0% increase in revenue as well.

KTM USA is going to have a mutiny on its hands if it doesn’t bring at least the KTM RC390 street bike to American soil, and we won’t even mention the KTM RC125 & KTM RC200.

Not only have bikes like the Honda CBR250R and Kawasaki Ninja 300 shown a lucrative market for small-displacement machines in the United States, but AMA Pro Racing’s recent announcement that it is considering a national racing class for ~250cc bikes should sweeten the pot for the “Ready to Race” brand.

If it is connected by a series of tubes, we will find it; and thus here are photos of the still unreleased KTM RC125 & KTM RC200 street bikes — the kid-siblings to the recently leaked KTM RC390. Like the RC390, the RC125 & RC200 are visually similar, and share a common vein in their Made-in-India single-cylinder engines.

No word on specs, but we foresee the 125cc and 200cc iterations sharing similar technical listings as their Duke counterparts. We should know more at EICMA, where all three of these street bikes are expect to debut. More photos after the jump.

The 2014 KTM RC390 has been a long-time coming, as news of the bike has been in circulation since a leaked slide at the KTM North American dealer meeting hit the internet over two years ago. Built off of the KTM 390 Duke street bike, KTM said the RC390 would have “Moto3 inspired” bodywork when it debuted.

We got our first glimpse of the machine earlier this year, when KTM took the covers off the KTM RC390 race bike, a cup-series machine based off the still unreleased street machine. Well now the wait is over, as we have our first glimpse of the new KTM RC390, thanks to a leak on the KTM Canada website.