Thread: KTM 1190 RC8 Extreme Superbike

KTM new 1190 RC8 is surely the most eagerly awaited bike of 2008. Not only does it mark another important and very big step for the Austrian factory in its expansion into the mad bike market, the latest flagship KTM is an entirely new player in the high profile, big superbike sector. It certainly offers all the specifications buyers in this category expect liquid-cooled V-twin engine producing 153bhp, a light, 188kg kerb weight and high quality components, including WP suspension, Brembo Monobloc brake callipers and so on. What's also promising is KTM's exciting, uncompromising attitude and willingness to take risks: all of its road bikes to date have been hard edged, performance oriented and a thrill to ride, so a full-on superbike surely was going to be the wildest of the lot.

Then there's the styling: penned by the Austrian Kiska Design Company, as are,most other KTMs, it's radical, angular, aggressive and unmistakably KTM, even in the white colour option rather than the signature KTM orange. It's not classically good looking in the way of Ducati's 1098, although against that the Italian bike is rather derivative, if undeniably attractive and classy too. But the KTM is certainly arresting and well balanced visually. Good reasons for a significant number of people to have placed deposits on new RC8s even before the first test reports emerge. So, are they going to regret it.

Unlikely, but they might be surprised the first time they swing a leg across the bike by the riding position, which far from the Ducati-type, wrist breaking, track attack ergonomics you might expect is almost sports tourer. Well, it's sports tourer with the bars, footrests and seat adjusted that way pleasingly, all of these can be tailored to suit the rider or riding, and for our road ride on some twisty back roads in Spanish Andalusia they were moved into their most conservative settings. Like this you're sat reasonably upright with plenty of room even for longer legs, yet the fairly low screen does an excellent job of separating the airflow without excessive turbulence, sufficient for cruising way in excess of legal road speeds indefinitely. Seat comfort is good too: if not exactly plush it's still fine for several hours on board, and even the mirrors are wide enough to see what's behind you well, you could if they didn't shake and vibrate so badly.

The engine works very well in medium pace riding too, providing huge midrange torque and perfect fuelling at all throttle openings (on my example at least, some riders complained of jerkiness, but I could find none on two different bikes aside from a barely significant amount of abruptness in first gear). All of which is a little awkward for KTM, as the bike's very versatility is really not something the company is especially keen to trumpet, as this rather goes against its focussed image. So, off to the fabulous Ascari test track near Ronda in southern Spain where the RC8 could show off what it's really meant to do and here it acquitted itself well too. But even with the ergonomics adjusted for circuit use it's still nowhere near as committed as a 1098, and still on full lock the tops of your hands clash with the mirrors, which if you're wearing bulky knuckle protectors can actively interfere with full lock, low speed steering. Ah well, a few quirks never hurt the Italians.

It's a fine track bike though, yet very different to the 1098, with which comparisons inevitably will be made. Where a Ducati has heavy steering the RC8 responds more eagerly to rider inputs, then turns very sharply towards the corner apex, so much so that it took me several laps to adapt and stop myself having to re-evaluate a too-tight line. Even so, it's still very stable in turns, or it is once the suspension is set up for circuit riding: on road settings the front end is choppy and unsettled, but KTM does recommend base settings to work from so you're not on your own when you take it out on a track day.



What you also have to learn is not to keep revving the engine. As it approaches the red line the power delivery becomes a little flat so it's not as satisfying as it might be, but anyway, once you've got used to changing up a gear at 9500rpm, which is 1,000 revs short of the peak, all of a sudden your braking points move towards you a few metres as your speed rises and lap times fall, and the power train feels more comfortable generally. The mid-range torque is huge, in fact, happy to slog out of corners from very low down and still thrust you forward hard, to a clear sensation of hammering pistons and shuddering transmission that adds to the sensual reward as well as the stopwatch one. I suspect a Ducati 1098 will have a performance edge it has a few more horsepower and a little more torque too but it won't be a huge difference, and the KTM's extra agility could well compensate on some circuits.

A shame then the Re8's gearbox is poor as otherwise you could gel very well with the bike. Approaching turns with the fierce brakes working hard you need to concentrate to bang the lever down through the ratios firmly enough or you can end up in some intermediate neutral, which leaves you coasting wide-eyed into a corner far too fast. And even when the gears mesh they do so with a clattering you can feel with your foot as well as hear. Upchanges need less lever movement than going down, which doesn't feel entirely natural, and on rare occasions the bike will jump out of gear soon after you've changed up. The dropped gears are unusual though and you do adapt, but definitely room for improvement here.

Those immense Brembos at the front, as on the 1098, are great for track use but will be just too strong for many riders on the road, especially in poor conditions. Two fingers are plenty to rip the tread from your tyres, but you need lots of predictable grip to use them anywhere near their potential, and roads don't always give you that. Thanks to its CAN-bus digital electrical system the RC8 can match Ducati with the comprehensiveness of its dash. This can be set for road or track, and tell you anything from lap times to service intervals to how far you can go on the fuel you have left. This last piece of information will never be that great as the bike's 16.5 litres will probably mean refilling by 160km or so, although it's still better than the 1098's pathetic 13.5 litres to dry.

The KTM is usefully cheaper than a base model Ducati too, although if it lacks anything of substance in a direct comparison, it's the heritage and cachet of the Italian bike's badge more than anything to do with performance directly. And that's something only decades of superbike dominance can put right. Even so, as a slightly leftfield alternative to the default V-twin superbike, and despite its imperfections, the KTM has a lot to offer, including wild looks and benchmark matching performance.