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Video: Developing the KTM Super Duke 1290 R

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In order to develop the KTM Super Duke 1290 R, KTM employed ex-GP racer Jeremy McWilliams to put The Beast through its paces, and make it the asphalt terrorizing machine that it is.

Helping go over those developments with us, McWilliams is aided by Toby Moody (his voice may sound familiar to MotoGP fans of a Eurosport persuasion), as the duo speaks from what looks like Kiska’s design studio.

The six-minute video is a PR piece of course, but it is interesting to hear McWilliams’ thoughts on the machine.

He and Moody spend quite a bit of time going over the Super Duke 1290 R’s electronic systems, with the clear intention of addressing the concerns of motorcycling’s Luddite contingency — we think they succeeded in this regard. KTM, just stop teasing us and take our money already!

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Come Watch the KTM Super Duke 1290 R Do Its Thang

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Nine months ago, KTM unleashed “The Beast” on the unsuspecting roadways. Devouring turns, chewing tires, and lofting wheelies ever since, The Beast has become the new KTM Super Duke 1290 R — or at least that’s what the marketing folk in Austria would like to have us say for the bike’s genesis story.

At 177hp, 417 lbs dry, aggressively styled, and fitted with ABS and traction, the 2014 KTM Super Duke 1290 R is a potent street-hooning machine, and if the response to its debut earlier this week is any indication, you are going to enjoy the video we have after the jump. So what are you waiting for? Click through already!

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2014 KTM Super Duke 1290 R Finally Revealed

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The countdown clock is at zero, and that means the wait is over for the 2014 KTM Super Duke 1290 R. At EICMA last year, they called it “The Beast” and with 177hp (132 kW) coming from the 1,301cc v-twin engine, we are inclined to agree.

As svelte as it is powerful, the KTM Super Duke 1290 R tips the scales at 417 lbs dry, and comes with a ride-by-wire throttle control system, along with traction control and ABS that can be disengaged, as A&R also predicted.

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Say Hello to the 2014 KTM Super Duke 1290 R

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With four days still on the countdown clock, we didn’t expect to see the 2014 KTM Super Duke 1290 R until its October debut, but those crafty Frenchies at Moto-Station have gotten their hands on a couple photos of Austria’s new street hooligan machine.

Giving us a glimpse into “The Beast’s” final lines, we see that the new KTM Super Duke 1290 R retains the headlight shape from the prototype concept (better seen on the Patriot Edition concept), though sadly does not incorporate Kiska’s underslung GP-style system, opting instead for the standard single-can setup that was seen in the various spy photos that we have shown.

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KTM Super Duke 1290 R Debut Coming Very Soon

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In just eleven days, the KTM Super Duke 1290 R is going to make its official production debut. We have already seen the KTM 1290 Super Duke R prototype, which took the 2012 EICMA show by storm.

We have also already seen Jeremy McWilliams take the RC8-powered street-naked up “The World’s Most Famous Driveway” at the Goodwood Festival of speed, which of course only whet our appetite further for “The Beast” that KTM has created.

Just in case we forgot about all that though, KTM has created a teaser website for the Super Duke 1290 R, complete with countdown clock, along with another teaser video.

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KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype Rides at Goodwood — There’s a Reason Why They Call It ‘The Beast’

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Set to debut at the 2013 EICMA show, we best know the KTM 1290 Super Duke from the prototype concept that zie Austrians showed at the Milan trade show last year, though the bevy of spy photos that have cropped up on the internet also hels to form the bike in our minds. While much will be said about KTM’s RC8-powered streetfighter later this year, the buzz on the 1290cc v-twin machine is just how much of a beast it is in real life.

Taking to the world’s most famous driveway for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the “Beast” was put through its paces by none other than Jeremy McWilliams — and the former MotoGP racer certainly had his work cutout for him. Really more of an exhibition than a race, McWilliams still showed how fast the new Super Duke will be…in every direction.

We have been really looking forward to riding the KTM 1290 Super Duke R when it comes out, but after watching this video…well…we’ll takeout a bit more life insurance, that’s for sure. Watch the bucking, sliding, dragging, wheelieing machine at Goodwood after the jump.

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Moar Photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Patriot Edition

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Greeting American KTM dealers this past week, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Patriot Edition is a Stars & Stripes hat-tip to the soon-to-be-released KTM 1290 Super Duke R. Expected to be in dealerships by December of this year, “The Beast” will make its official public debut at the 2013 EICMA show.

However, we might get a glimpse of the bike before then, as KTM will be hosting moto-journalists this autumn for a road and track test, but until then, these are the best photos of the machine to-date.

Looking past the paint, which is a bit too ‘merican for our eyes, the lines to the new Super Duke R seem to be taking shape, as the exhaust here matches what we have seen in spy photos. What is most interesting is the headlight, which you will either love or hate, but we hope it’ll make it to final production (the one on the test mule is so ‘meh’).

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KTM 1290 Super Duke R Patriot Edition – Meanwhile, Super Duke R Confirmed for December Arrival

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American KTM dealers are in Austria this week visiting the mothership in Mattighofen, and to help greet them is the KTM 1290 Super Duke R prototype. Dressed for the occasion though, KTM is calling this one-off Stars & Stripes adorned hooligan machine the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Patriot Edition — ’cause you know, ‘merica!

The name might be a little over the top, but the bike is the visual centerpiece to some good news on the Super Duke front. Debuting a prototype of “The Beast” at last year’s EICMA show, KTM will unveil the final production model at the 2013 EICMA show in Milan, and says that the bike will be on dealer showroom floors in December.

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The KTM 1290 Super Duke Caught in the Wild

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Spy photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke are nothing new, and the Austrian company has even gone as far as to tease us with a heavily massaged KTM 1290 Super Duke R prototype at the 2012 EICMA show. With the final version of the superbike-powered streetfighter expected to be decidedly less edgy, the photo brought to us today (one can only guess when it was taken), if anything else, is a reminder to be reluctant our expectations.

The ever elusive “spy” photo, what we have here looks to be a near production prototype of the KTM 1290 Super Duke that has been caught in the wild. Easily the clearest photo we have seen of the road-going bike, it clearly holds KTM’s LC8 motor as well as the same trellis frame found on the “beast” prototype.

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KTM Super Duke 1290R Concept by Mirco Sapio

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One of the most eye-catching machines at the 2012 EICMA show in Milan, the KTM 1290 Super Duke R shows the Austrian brand’s return to making beastly asphalt-churning street-nakeds. Edgy in design, and featuring a bored-out version of the KTM 1190 RC8 R’s v-twin engine at its core, we are counting down the days until the Maestros at Mattighofen release the new Super Duke upon us.

Helping tide us over until that day is this very interesting re-imagining, Micro Sapio’s KTM Super Duke 1290R concept. We have featured Sapio’s work here on A&R before, though we have to say we are more smitten with his more recent take on the Super Duke than his last.

Taking some cues from KTM’s concept design, the highlights of Sapio’s concept are its gorgeous tail section and exhaust, as well as the unique front-end fork and air-intake design. We wouldn’t mind seeing some of these ideas incorporated into KTM’s final work, though we think the LED headlight and some other details are going to put off some enthusiasts. More photos after the jump.

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Answering the Question: “Does the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype Wheelie?”

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SPOILER ALERT: Yes it does. Remember that audio clip we posted last week of a then unknown KTM revving its motor in what sounded like a tunnel or warehouse? Well now we have the video to that special moment, and naturally of course “The Beast” was in a bunker, probably in Austria, and the part of some larger government experiment to make super-humans…or something like that.

A mixture of dubstep, octane, and honest hooliganism, the clip has a little bit of something for everyone. Watch the video after the jump, checkout the photos of the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype, read the rest our damn-fine coverage of the 2012 EICMA motorcycle show, and grab a beverage of your choice. It is a Wednesday after all, and that’s the only reason you need to motocelebrate.

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