Austrian manufacturer KTM has been making some impressive strides the past few years

Austrian manufacturer KTM has been making some impressive strides the past few years. Its off-road catalog has been carving out an ever-larger share of that market, and the orange-liveried motorcycles are now viewed as equals (and in some cases superior) to the more established brands. And its 250cc single-cylinder powerplant has forced Honda to work overtime in order stem the onslaught of KTM-engined dominance in the Moto3 class in MotoGP.

But its on-road lineup hasn’t been exactly sleeping either. After coming away impressed with the nimble and feedback-rich handling of its RC8 R supersport machine last year, we were anxious to see what KTM would come up with after hearing it was developing a naked streetfighter-style machine that would lay waste to anything in its path. And the initial reviews certainly didn’t disappoint.

We had Roland Brown cover the specifics of the new KTM 1290 Super Duke R in his first ride story in our March issue (“The Beast”), and needless to say, we were chomping at the bit to get our hands on one after reading his brief experience with the bike. So when KTM North America called and said it was stopping by with our test unit, the Sport Rider staff was already fighting to see who would get the key first.