Only a couple of hours ago, we reported that Austrian bike maker KTM plans to come up with not one, not two but three all new fully faired bikes that will cater to the entry level sportsbike market. These bikes would share platform and engines with the Duke series of 125cc, 200cc and 375cc bikes and would make their debut late this year at the 2013 EICMA motorcycle show. These bikes would be sold under the RC moniker and the styling of these bikes would take design cues from the KTM Moto 3 racer. Now, in an interesting development, it has emerged that KTM also plans to come up with dual purpose small capacity motorcycles based on the Duke platform. These bikes would be aimed at the touring bike market and are likely to sit between the Duke series of naked bikes and the fully faired RC series of models. Not much is known about these bikes but it would be safe to assume that the 200cc and the 375cc models will make it to the fast developing Indian motorcycle market. These bikes are likely to be sold under KTM’s Adventure moniker and might take styling inspiration from the much bigger KTM 1190 Adventure.
It is tough to tell the time frame in which these bikes would come to us but our guess is that these entry level touring bikes could come to us sometime in 2015. It may be noted that motorcycle touring is still in nascent stages in India and the need of purpose made touring bikes is felt by only the most serious of the bike tourers. Currently, the CBR250 is a hot favourite among those looking for an entry level touring bike. This position was earlier enjoyed by the now-dated Hero Karizma and there also is a section of long distance motorcyclists who have taken to the Pulsar 220 DTSi. There is also another segment of tourers whose weapon of choice is the Royal Enfield range of motorcycles but ultimately, the truth is that India seriously need much more demand for dual purpose bikes that are apt for some serious touring.
As is obvious, the upcoming Adventure series of low capacity dual purpose bikes from KTM would borrow the engines from the Duke series of bikes but safely expect the bike maker to re-tune the motors and extract more torque out of them before plonking them into the upcoming Adventure series of bikes. Expect these bikes to cost anywhere around INR 10-15000 more than their Duke counterparts if and when they come to us.
Source CycleNews