Tuesday 11th June 2013

KTM 690 Duke R: Review

PH2 dodges the puddles on KTM's single cylinder mini-race rep

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Last year I got the chance to ride KTM’s European Junior Cup 690 Duke, a bike that left me grinning from ear to ear. Light and agile, the EJC bike was hysterical to throw about on track. Armed with some super sticky tyres and pointed at a twisty circuit it was a serious track weapon – especially when given to a bunch of aspiring young racers who were all trying to catch the eye of a WSB team rather than a fat git like myself. Having ran all year, the EJC and KTM parted company at the end of 2012 as Honda wanted to promote its CB500 range and this seemed a good platform to display the sporting prowess of the CBR500R. But all was not lost on KTM’s side as for 2013 it took the parts that made the EJC bike such a hoot and created the 690 Duke R, basically a hotted-up 690 Duke.

EJC racer whetted Jon's appetite for the Duke

Open wide and say R
The Duke R comes with the traditional KTM orange frame but in addition the 690 gets anodized orange yokes, fully adjustable WP suspension, an Akrapovic exhaust, single seat cover, crash bars, altered airbox and upgraded brakes. Alongside the Ducati Panigale, the 690 Duke R is the only bike to use Brembo’s monobloc M50 caliper while the master cylinder is also higher specification than the stock 690 Duke’s item. Somewhat disappointingly the R doesn’t get the EJC bike’s altered profile cam and therefore power is only up 2hp on the stocker at 70hp while torque remains the same 52lb ft. The true EJC bike made nearer 79hp, although it had a race exhaust as well. The cost of these modifications? £8,795 which is a boost of £2,000 on the £6,795 stocker. Is it worth the cash?

Damn you rain!
The stock 690 Duke is a cracking little bike for blatting around on and its single cylinder engine is remarkably peppy. The most powerful single cylinder on the market, KTM’s use of ride by wire technology and an extremely refined fuel injection system mean that the usual roughness you get with a big single is missing while the thumping character remains. It’s a charming engine that with 70hp isn’t exactly lacking power as long as the road conditions suit it. Hit the motorway and it can all get a little dull as there is minimal wind protection and the riding position is upright and exposed, however attack some back roads and the Duke makes sense.

Hearty thumper and crash bars both welcome!

Keep the throttle open, hurl it around and the KTM just keeps on getting better. It’s a brilliant back road blaster and with such a low weight (claimed 149.5kg dry) is remarkably nimble. What does the R add to this party? Basically a bit more refinement.

The upgraded suspension delivers a slightly plusher ride while the brakes are also stronger. As the road was damp I didn’t get the chance to really hammer the single caliper, however the ABS seems responsive and I didn’t fall off so I’m guessing it worked well enough. Is it that much of a difference? Unless you rode them back to back I reckon you would be hard pushed to split them on the road, however if you are planning a few trackdays the R would certainly shine.  Styling-wise I have to say I’m not a huge fan of the anodized orange yokes, but each to their own.

£2,000 or an R model?
The stock 690 Duke is a brilliant bike and while I liked the R, in the cold light of day I’d probably get the stocker and pay a few hundred quid for the altered cam to boost its performance. I’ve got nothing against the R, which is a very cool bike, but unless you are planning on trackdays the stock Duke is every bit as good for 90 per cent of the time. If you add up the individual additional components (I also quite like the different seat) the R is good value for money, but I’m not quite sure it justifies £2,000 over the base model and I reckon you could upgrade the standard bike’s motor as well as sorting its suspension for less. That said, I’d certainly invest in a set of KTM crash bars as you can easily get a bit too excited!

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2013 KTM 690 DUKE R
Engine: 690cc single
Power: 70hp@7,000rpm
Torque: 52lb ft@5,500rpm
Top speed: 130mph (est)
Weight: 149.5kg (dry)
MPG: 42 (est)
Price: £8,795

[George29]

Can't wait to have a test ride on one of these, seriously considering swapping the Daytona for one. They look such good fun

[trickywoo]

£9,000 for a single cylinder

It'd need to come with a stack of track day vouchers to make it worth that.

Depreciation will be spectacular IMHO so might make a good used buy (if anyone buys new).

[Vapour]

Expensive!

[Thermonuclear]

Too much money. Looks good but needs to be 1k cheaper IMO.

[MC Bodge]

I would definitely have one of these in my collection, if I had a collection.

[mopman94]

I would get the standard model and see if the dealership will throw in a couple of freebes / discounted parts. Another thing to note if you can't take pillions on the R because they have removed the passenger seat and foot pegs.

[Ballon]

I have one, bought it in May. I wanted a smaller bike, but did not want to go down the 600 Japanese route (just my preference), also I need a tall bike, my previous bike was a 990 SMT. I've never owned a single before and I'm very impressed, much smoother than I imagined. Performance is great and the handling is brilliant and surprisingly its very comfy (better than the standard) also on motorways its much better than I imagined it would be, it sits at 80 quite easily. Residuals are pretty good and it does have a pillion set and footrests, though you can take the seat off and replace it with the seat hump. I've done over a 1,000 miles so far, commuting, the Sunday afternoon thrash and a bit of touring. I keep finding an excuse to ride it, more so than any of my bike over the last 20 years. Lastly its averaging 63.4mpg

[mopman94]

Ballon said:

it does have a pillion set and footrests

Oh ok, I was looking at it when I was at the KTM dealership at the weekend, I thought they removed them in favor of not having them, I didn't realise it came with the seat and pegs to put back on. I thought it was a bit odd to not give you the option

[MC Bodge]

Ballon said:

I have one, bought it in May. ... my previous bike was a 990 SMT.
...I keep finding an excuse to ride it, more so than any of my bike over the last 20 years.

Interesting. How does it compare with the 990SMT?

[Ballon]

MC Bodge said:

Interesting. How does it compare with the 990SMT?

The SMT was was a great bike and to be honest had I been doing morke long distance riding I would have kept it. However my needs have changed (less touring) and the Duke does what I need it to do. I am sure that there are plenty of other bikes better suited, but I like slightly quirky bikes and I like the KTM brand.

[MC Bodge]

Cheers.

What would you describe as the ideal road/environment for the Duke? eg. Snake Pass? Settle-Hawes? A single-track Lakeland road? A cliff-top coastal road?

What's engine 'performance' like on a more open road for overtaking?

I was thinking about a 950/990 SM/T, but I'm now erring towards something like a Street Triple.

[Richyboy]

Seriously desirable but why so much cash, I thought they were made in India.

[GT3-RS]

Richyboy said:

Seriously desirable but why so much cash, I thought they were made in India.

to keep them desirable.....with all the parts on mine it came to just over £11K......LOL......see you on track somewhere next year

[RumpleFugly]

The 690 isn't made in India. KTM build it in Mattighofen and have for years.

It's only the Tata codesigned 125, 200 and 390 bikes that are made in India.

[SteveSteveson]

graphene said:

The author is right - the stock bike looks better value, unless you can get £300-400 discount on the R. The extras seem OK value, I suppose, since if they were options, then they would probably total a little more than £2000 pounds.

However, the Duke R, at £8799, is pretty much at 600cc Supersport prices (ZX6R:£8899, R6:£8999). Despite being different classes of bikes, I think that matters.

More importantly the Street Triple R, which is possibly the only direct competitor, is £7,699 or £8,049 with ABS.

I love thumpers, and would consider a 690 if I were looking at a big bike, but this is about £500-£1k too much for the market IMO. It may be good value for the parts, but I don't think it will do too well.

However, given the high residuals of the standard 690 I can see it holding value. It will probably drop the first £500-£1k very fast then stay at about 15% over the standard model.

Edited by SteveSteveson on Wednesday 13th November 13:54

[pozi]

Back in 2005 I bought a 625 SMC which came with the high spec WP suspenders, Brembo brakes and Akro exhaust for £4800.

Even allowing for inflation that is £6300 in todays money, although on the plus side the mad new prices seem to be pushing up the value of my bike

[RemaL]

Lovely bike But not at that price

[ianrb]

There seems to be a lot of 2013 models for sale from dealers with zero miles and £1000 or so off list. I think most people find the full price a bit steep for a single.

[Hooli]

Looks fun, way too expensive though.

[Captain Greg]

I have a new 2015 690 Duke R please can you guys help me understanding the thing? If I unplug the gear position sensor in order to cut or confuse the software that its in third gear to use the more powerful map the entire thing is dead after re plugging in the gear position sensor?
I read on KTM forums that first and second gear limits the (already limited power) Im looking to get max power out of the thing its 3 months old and I have done 700Km so its not yet had its dealer first service they had to plug in the diagnostics tool on PC to reset seems bit silly because does this mean we as owners cannot do any work on it?

I have turned the pot under the set to the most aggressive Map