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TRACK SUCCESS
Can KTM’s bargain RC8R really compete
KTM RC8R
£12,995
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he KTM RC8 booms ups the hill, sucking in the cool fresh air of an early summer morning through its flared nostrils. Big, ballsy and with a character that goads you on, the Austrian twin is one of the few sportsbikes in the world that hasn’t been compromised by the misplaced need to go racing, and this makes it one of the most compelling roadbikes money can buy. At the top of the crest the front wheel floats, you modulate the throttle, then feed it third, fourth, fifth. It’s hard not to get addicted to the boom of the Austrian’s midrange. The KTM can stretch its legs now, peddling velocity in that deceptive, effective way that only a big-bore twin can. Despite the shakes, despite the blurred mirrors, there is serenity. And thanks to the fads and fashions of consumer culture, if you shop around you can get one for less than the price of new R6. They are meant to be £13,000 new, but you can pick up pre-registered ones for just £9000. Has the world gone mad? 36
If you look at Ducati’s Panigale Tricolore , it’s easy to think ‘yes’. We already know that the Panigale is one of the most advanced, opulent sportsbikes of all time. We all know the story by now – no other bike has ever had the combination of looks, ground-breaking tech and enough electronic gizmos to keep an army of ten-year-olds with wellheeled dads off their Playstations. ‘Tarquin, one requires a tad more rebound and be a good chap and knock the TC back, please.’ This model is the top of the range – the £23,495 Ducati 1199 Panigale S Tricolore is the most expensive volume sportsbike you can buy. As well as the all the gizmos, like the electronic suspension and the traction control system of the Panigale S, it also features a Termignoni silencer, giving a 9bhp increase in power, an upgraded on-board datalogging system and that red, white and green paintjob. It’s truly lovely, but is it better than a bike that’s half the price? To find out, Kev and myself spent a day charging around the local B-roads and Bruntingthorpe before I headed to Mallory Park with Bruce and his laptimer. It’s a rough job, but needs must.
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ROAD EXCESS
Words Matt Wildee, Bruce Dunn, Jon Urry Photography Matt Howell
with the £24K Ducati Panigale Tricolore?
DUCATI PANIGALE S TRICOLORE
£23,495
The KTM is a special bike, but the truth is it lacks the sense of event The engine hardens, the throttle response gets sharper and the bike you feel every time you straddle a Panigale. There simply isn’t a bike becomes angry, ripping forward on an ever-spiralling wave of power on the planet that has as good a view from the cockpit as the 1199. and torque. Booming, charging, electrifying, the top yoke wants to The Ducati’s iPhone-like, hi-res dash, framed by the smack you in the face and you toe gear after gear, blood-red fairing inners and sculpted top yoke is like making the most of one of the nicest gearboxes and nothing else we’ve ever seen. the best quickshifter I’ve ever experienced. Good job Start up the Panigale and it booms through those too – the Panigale’s power delivery is intense and open Termis (which according to the Mallory Park exciting, but you do need to tap that lever. Still, noise-testers are actually quieter than the stock everyone should ride one once. pipes), chuffing their spent gasses against your shin. The KTM is less exciting, but for road riding, more The revs rise and fall in an instant with the intent effective. I’m following road tester Kev Smith on the that only a race-developed engine can muster. It’s back roads to Bruntingthorpe for this month’s cover rough and ready and up for a fight. shoot. He’s never ridden the Panigale before so On the road it feels the same. Riding a 186bhp I chuck him the keys. We’re tramping on, but while V-twin is an earth-shattering experience. A Panigale the KTM remains supremely stable, the Ducati is The Ducati may be a wonderous engine is fickle, obtrusive and inefficient below thing, but the KTM is so easy to use throwing some shapes. The front heads skywards 7000rpm. But above that everything seems to work. on the road it beats it hands down out of every second-gear corner and it shakes its head
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