We believe this KTM 1290 Super Duke R is the soon-to-be-announced 2023 model with an updated headlight cowl and styling. (Bernhard M. Höhne, BMH-Images/)
Spied during testing in Austria, this next-generation prototype KTM 1290 Super Duke R doesn’t appear to be a totally new machine, with the chassis, suspension, wheels, and even the tank and subframe being carried over from the existing design. But visually, the test mule seen here features a new headlight that takes an already unusual design—that’s currently KTM’s signature—and transforms it into something even more radical.
KTM’s current street models share variations of a headlight unlike anything else on the road, with a vertically split, stacked arrangement of lamps bracketed by boomerang-shaped LED strips. The newly spied prototype takes that latter element—the LED running lamps—and mutates them into completely separate parts that sprout from the sides of the headlight unit on winged-profiled struts. It’s like Darth Vader’s TIE fighter from Star Wars has been transplanted onto the nose of a motorcycle. The main headlamp has lost the vertical center slot of the current design, instead featuring a pair of smaller, centrally mounted lenses, vertically stacked with those struts radiating out from them.
The headlight seen here is clearly still in the prototype phase. It lacks the LEDs that will surely be fitted along the front edge of the “floating-wing” elements on the sides, while the main lenses look like off-the-shelf, aftermarket parts rather than the sort of styled units that we’d expect to see on a production-ready motorcycle. Regardless, the new appearance is obvious and potentially offers advantages over the existing setup.
By adopting smaller light units in the center and adding the gaps to the outer elements, KTM has reduced the visual heft of the design without losing the key elements that make it so immediately identifiable. Additionally, the new design will be better suited to the placement of components like radar sensors—technology that the company has already adopted. Forward radar is now standard on the current 1290 Super Adventure S, but it pokes out of a cavelike tunnel bored into the bike’s nose and doesn’t appear cleanly integrated. With this new design—presuming it’s adopted across KTM’s range—such a sensor (or others, like cameras, could also be adopted as part of future safety equipment) could be more easily hidden.
The reduced visual mass on the prototype’s headlight is emphasized further by new side panels extending from the fuel tank cover. The updated design makes the front edge of those panels run vertically parallel with the fork, and extend farther down than the current bikes do. Below, additional panels embossed with the KTM logo now flank the radiator, protruding forward on the sides and overlapping the front tire. It’s a visual trick that gives the bike a front-heavy, nose-down look. In conjunction with the existing stubby and tall tail unit—now with a less obtrusive license plate hanger—the effect makes the bike look aggressively hunched over the front wheel. Another more subtle styling tweak is a new panel covering the back of the instrument cluster, with the turn signals now sprouting from that unit rather than being attached to the sides of the headlight cowl. The wheels, Brembo brakes, and WP suspension all appear unchanged from the existing Super Duke R, while this version doesn’t appear to have the semi-active suspension of the new Super Duke R Evo.
This instrumented prototype not only has obvious styling changes, but also some more subtle alterations that lead us to believe it’s on its way as a 2023 model. (Bernhard M. Höhne, BMH-Images/)
Mechanically, it’s hard to be certain of any specific changes, but additional sensors attached to the exhaust headers, and wiring leading to a data-logging pack strapped to the tail, indicating that there are. They suggest that KTM has made alterations to the engine’s tune, at the very least, and is monitoring exhaust gases to verify the impact of those changes. The machined-aluminum parts on the right side of the engine cases, including the water pump housing, appear to be revised on this prototype—although the fact that the exhaust system, catalyst, and muffler are carryover components hints that mechanical updates will be mild.
Given the limited nature of the changes, chances are that this bike will be ready for production as a 2023 model, likely being officially unveiled toward the end of this year.
