KTM 790 Duke spotted in India - official bookings likely to open on September 5

Aditya Jadhav Updated: December 31, 2019, 12:18 PM IST

KTM 790 Duke has been spotted in India which happens to be a display motorcycle for a dealership in Banglore. And if rumours are to be believed, the company plans to commence the official bookings on September 5. What gives away that the spotted unit is the India spec motorcycle is the saree guard that the display motorcycle is equipped with.

Similar display motorcycles have been dispatched to other metropolitan cities such as Mumbai, Banglore, Hyderabad and Delhi.

KTM already has 150 units of the 790 Duke that comply with the on-going BSIV norms and plans to clear their stock before the stringent BSVI norms kick in by April 2020. However, if received with a warm welcome, the BSVI compliant 790 Duke could be launched by end 2020.

The motorcycle has been brought to India via CKD (completely knocked down) route and is being assembled on Kawasaki's assembly line in Bajaj's Akurdi plant. The price is expected to be between Rs 8-9 lakh ex-showroom India that could translate to a price of Rs 10 lakh (approx) on-road price.

Powering the middleweight 790 Duke is the newly developed 799cc LC8 liquid-cooled parallel-twin engine 106PS and 87Nm of torque. The engine will come mated to a six-speed gearbox with a two-way quick shifter. Along with a two-way quick shifter, the motorcycle gets four riding modes - Sport, street, rain and track.

The ABS (antilock braking system) also gets a supermoto mode that switches off sensors on the rear wheel.

The chassis uses the engine as a stressed member and the bike gets 43mm WP upside-down fork in the front and a WP mono-shock absorber at the rear. The bike gets twin disc setup in the front with 300mm disc with radially mounted four-piston callipers. For the rear wheel, the bike gets a 240mm disc with a single-piston floating calliper.