My newest addition: KTM Superduke

Decided I wanted a "weekend" bike. My requirements were simple, and in this order:

1) A fantastic engine.
2) A fantastic stock suspension, fully adjustable front and rear.
3) A rigid chassis

The rest was open. I didn't care about reliability, maintenance, overall power, fuel economy, comfort or even looks.

There were a few bikes in the running, but in the end the KTM SuperDuke is what I went with. This thing is amazing. It's the polar opposite of the NC, of course, and I love the NC still; But this thing is just an absolute blast to ride. The LC8 motor is reliable, I get about 30MPG out of it (not bad for how it's ridden), and the thing is comfortable to boot!

If good looks could kill, we would not look at KTM's. I think it is the best looking, "let's get down to business" bike out there!
Congrats on your new bike!

itlives said:

If good looks could kill, we would not look at KTM's. I think it is the best looking, "let's get down to business" bike out there!
Congrats on your new bike!

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Thanks!

I picked it up about a month ago to be honest. I just spent the last month going through it to make sure it's mechanically sound before I really start clicking off the miles on it.

Nice bikes KTM's. I only recently parted with a 950SM that I had new from 2006. It was probably the most fun I ever had on a motorcycle. It is impossible to go for a gentle spin on one of these motorcycles. The motor demands to be revved and the more you do so the more the lovely sound eggs you on. I am sure you will have lots of fun on it. It needs a little more tlc than Honda's do though.

Congrats on the purchase. I dream of the day I can have more than one bike in the garage. Have fun and be safe.

I've never seen a black one before, it has totally changed my impression of them!

I'm just not into pumpkin orange that is the KTM trademark, I'm afraid. But this, whoah. That's bad *** looking!

Congrats, man. Have juuuust enough fun that you don't lose your licence, lol

Griff said:

Nice bikes KTM's. I only recently parted with a 950SM that I had new from 2006. It was probably the most fun I ever had on a motorcycle. It is impossible to go for a gentle spin on one of these motorcycles. The motor demands to be revved and the more you do so the more the lovely sound eggs you on. I am sure you will have lots of fun on it. It needs a little more tlc than Honda's do though.

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My buddy has a 990SMR.... amazing bike.

The TLC thing doesn't bother me as I won't be putting much mileage on this bike; and frankly, I don't mind the TLC on "exotic" type motorcycles because each time you take it out you know it's perfectly dialed in. I've already done a lot to this to affirm its reliability, and I still have a few other things to do within the next 2500 miles. (Water pump, air filter change, fuel filter change, oil pressure sensor and valve adjustment).

L.B.S. said:

I've never seen a black one before, it has totally changed my impression of them!

I'm just not into pumpkin orange that is the KTM trademark, I'm afraid. But this, whoah. That's bad *** looking!

Congrats, man. Have juuuust enough fun that you don't lose your licence, lol

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Thanks! I like the orange, but not the Orange / Black Superduke... to me it looks too pumpkin. The bright orange that some KTM parts come with look good, but this bike will remain mostly black or black and white. I may powder coat the subframe orange, with an orange shock spring, but that's about it.

I sold my SD a couple of months ago. I bought it new in 2008 and it was probably the most fun I've had on a bike!
Only used it on sunny Sunday's but I do miss it.

Antarius said:

View attachment 25826

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looks like black hornet to me, stingy...
prepare your checkbook for tickets

Hahaha yeah it's definitely fast.

Just a quick update:

The bike has been "down" for a few weeks while I did some work and had some work done.

Specifically brand new suspension, front and rear. Resurfaced the rotors, rebuilt the calipers, new pads, all new bearings in the swingarm and front wheel, powdercoated the front wheel KTM orange, the subframe KTM orange, and the swingarm black, did a bunch of little maintenance and cleaned it up real well.

Very, very happy with it.

Here's a better picture of the bike as it now sits. Subtle changes to the look, huge changes to performance and reliability.

Also finished up the water pump and valve adjustment.

If you like working on bikes the LC8 is the bike you want.

Cigar Mike said:

If you like working on bikes the LC8 is the bike you want.

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The LC8 is a solid motor! Just has a couple few kinks that you gotta work out to make sure don't become a problem.