Duke Power

Nothing succeeds like success. In the first six months since its launch in Europe, the new KTM 125 Duke four-stroke single-cylinder entry-level hotrod has sold no less than 9,370 examples. The 125 Duke is manufactured in India by KTM’s partner (and 39.30 per cent shareholder) Bajaj Auto. It has proved that the shrewd gamble made by KTM president Stefan Pierer and his colleague Rajiv Bajaj in developing such a bike is paying off. Big time.

For the duo’s dare in producing a range of cool, affordable, entry-level bikes which, in showcasing the youthful KTM brand image, will help attract the next generation of European riders to choose motorcycling over other forms of leisure pursuit, has so far proved a smart move. KTM and Bajaj intend to hook youngsters to motorcycles and one can only do that by getting them on the bikes to begin with. And then, keeping them riding, preferably with KTM, as they progress through life and up the capacity scale.

Creating the 125 Duke has successfully addressed that objective in terms of KTM’s most youthful entry-level target group, which has developed as a result of the new EU regulations which allow 16-year-olds to ride 125 cc bikes with a maximum horsepower of 15 bhp. But it is interesting that KTM dealer statistics abroad show an even 50/50 split in 125 Duke buyers between 16-18 year-old customers and those over 18. This shows the concept works for older riders, too — perhaps including returnees to two wheels, or car drivers who want something cooler and more fun than a scooter to convert to. In any case, the new, downsized Duke has been the first fruit, in terms of hard product, of the link between the second-largest motorcycle manufacturers in both India and Europe, which has been progressively strengthened since November 2007 when Bajaj Auto took an initial 14.5 per cent stake in KTM.

But now the time has come to introduce the next model in KTM’s growing family of made-in-India street singles. The 200 Duke, which made its debut at the EICMA Show in Milan in November, has been developed in parallel with the 125 version. “From the beginning it was clear that the 200 Duke would be made for the Indian and other developing markets, where the 125 is not so interesting, because there isn’t the low-power legislation that we have in Europe,” says Andreas Wimmer, KTM’s project leader for all street singles. “So we developed both models in tandem, using a common platform, so that the chassis and almost all the running gear are shared by both bikes, and the engine is essentially the same, with a few tweaks.”

Could be — but there’s only one way to find out, and that is to take the keys of one of the pre-production prototypes and head off on an exclusive 100 km first ride on KTM’s muscled-up mini-mono through the hills and valleys surrounding its Mattighofen factory. Like the 125, this bigger-engine variant was primarily developed in India on the basis of an Austrian design, with input from KTM engineers in Mattighofen. This took place in Bajaj Auto’s own magnificent, standalone, 165-acre Akurdi R&D setup 20 km north of its Pune HQ — a facility fully on par in terms of size, facilities and technology with, for example, Harley-Davidson’s Capitol Drive Product Development Centre in Milwaukee.

To produce the 200 Duke’s liquid-cooled twin overhead cam four-valve single-cylinder motor, robustly engineered for durability as well as performance, the Bajaj-KTM R&D team bored and stroked the 125 cc for a capacity of 199.5 cc. The resulting step up in output from the 125’s Euro-strangled 15 bhp peak output at 9,500 rpm to the new 200 Duke’s 26 bhp, delivered at higher peak revs of 10,000 rpm, already produces a significant increase in power that transforms the KTM junior hotrod into a serious piece of riding kit. However, it’s not that a 73 per cent hike in horsepower alone makes the 200 motor so much more fun. It’s the commensurate 68 per cent lift in torque from the 125’s slightly weedy 1.2 kgm at 8,000 rpm, to the 200’s considerably more muscular 2 kgm at the same revs.

Indian motorcyclists will be happy with KTM’s provisional fuel consumption figures for the two bikes, claimed to be an already frugal 34.5 kmpl for the 125, and 30 kmpl for the 200 in spite of the larger 38 mm Dell’Orto throttle body, compared to the 125’s 33 mm unit. So, 12 per cent more fuel consumption for around 70 per cent more power and torque, and the bikes weigh the same. Sounds like a good tradeoff to me.

But this liquid-cooled KTM four-stroke single motor is built in Pune, not Mattighofen. The Bosch ECU is well mapped, also made in India by a subsidiary of the German firm, and no longer limits top speed to 100 kmph, as on the 125. That motor is installed once again as a semi-stressed component in an identical trademark trellis frame to the 125, still with relatively conservative steering geometry.

The 43 mm upside-down forks were developed by WP in Austria, but are made in India by their suspension partners Endurance. There’s a 150 mm cushion of wheel travel at both ends, to cope with rough road conditions in key target markets, and even though non-adjustable, the full-size front suspension gives added visual substance to the entry-level package. However, the rear direct-action shock that’s the product of the same partnership is adjustable for spring preload, to allow for a passenger or luggage. The good-looking black-painted, Chinese-made Jingfi wheels carry a single 300 mm ByBre steel disc up front gripped by a radially mounted four-piston calliper, with a single-piston rear gripping the 230 mm rear brake. In case you wondered — yes, ByBre is the Indian division of a certain Italian brake manufacturer, as in By Brembo!

The 200 Duke’s potential customers in India, Brazil, and South-east Asia who will be receiving deliveries first, and for whom street cred will be vital, can rest assured that the KTM will very definitely be the local mass-market king of the road. But when customers in developed markets — first Europe, then elsewhere — get hold of the bike, they will find that beneath the iconic Kiska Design styling it is a full-size motorcycle (the 1,350 mm wheelbase is proof of this), with the substantial 810 mm high seat, incorporating space for a passenger, delivering a pretty natural-seeming riding stance that’s comfortable even for a 6 ft-tall rider. Another Indian connection is the 17-inch tyres, 110/70R17 front and 150/60R17 rear radials fitted as standard, specially developed for the Dukes by MRF.

Oh, and the distinctive, sonorous, great-sounding exhaust note that you hear when you thumb the electric-start button to bring the Duke’s twincam engine to life is just icing on the cake. Definitely deeper than the 125’s, it makes the cubed-up 200 Duke sound potent and rorty. As it is.

Production of the 200 Duke will commence early in January at Bajaj Auto’s Chakan factory, with deliveries to Indian customers beginning toward the end of that same month. European models (minus any sari-guard, front numberplate, or other Asian-market idiosyncrasies) will be available with dealers from April onward. And with KTM and Bajaj already hard at work on the 350 Duke, due to be launched a year from now and to enter production early in 2013, the steps up the staircase to single-cylinder streetbike sales supremacy are continuously being carved. And once again, the Austro-Indian partners have created the kind of bike that nobody else can offer right now — complete with chameleon cool, but now with added zest.