Hey there riders, Moto Journo Kris here and I thought I’d cover the ‘new’ 890 Duke GP,
which KTM have just unveiled. From the name I was expecting an even more off-its-chops version
that would sit above the 890 Duke R. We’ve got a standard version, the R,
a GP has to be better than the R, right? Especially as KTM referred to two new models
in the middle-weights. So what’s the 890 Duke GP? Well it looks like a fancier 890 Duke, with
additional stickers for the racier look, while a seat cowl for the pillion perch is standard.
There’ll apparently be a small premium over the standard bike for the GP loadout,
and while there’s no denying that the newest offering looks seriously cool,
I don’t think slightly differently livery and a a single accessory a whole new model makes, even if
the orange wheels used to be an R exclusive. To be fair KTM do call this an ‘exciting visual
alternative’ but basically this follows the trend of adding a paint scheme moniker to a model name
to differentiate it, if backed up by the cowl, which probably does represent most of the $300
premium you’ll expect to pay here in Australia. Pricing I’m seeing quoted for Australia is $17,120
ride-away for the GP, compared to $19,840 for the full berries 890 Duke R in 2022, with that price
in the UK for the GP being £10,249. I haven’t been able to spot US pricing unfortunately.
What are you getting in the 890 Duke GP? The 889 cc parallel twin, pumping out 115
hp and 92 newton metres of torque, with a PASC slipper clutch and six-speed gearbox, Bosch EMS
and ride-by-wire, plus 46 mm throttle-body. The exhaust remains that brushed stainless steel
high undertail unit, and the bike is of course Euro5 compliant.
As on the other 890 variants, the Chromium Molybdenum-steel frame
runs the engine as a stressed member, and WP Apex provide the 43 mm USD forks and monoshock
with 140 and 150 mm of travel respectively. Total ground clearance is a generous 191 mm.
Seat height is a fairly run of the mill 820 mm, not super tall or super short really,
and of course the rider ergo will be the same, a somewhat aggressive
upright nakedbike stance, with wide bars. Lighting is full LED, with a colour TFT dash,
Supermoto and cornering ABS, three standard ride modes, with an optional track mode, plus
anti wheelie, traction control and throttle maps. Providing cornering functionality is a 6D IMU.
The bike weighs in at 169 kg, but that is a dry figure, with a 14 L fuel tank and
claim of 4.8 L per 100 km, meaning 250 km between stops should be easily doable.
Brakes are four-piston calipers on 300 mm rotors on the front,
with a single floating two-pot caliper at the rear on 240 mm rotor, so fairly standard stuff there,
with those being the KTM branded calipers. The wide bars also offer four positions of
rotations for a more tailored ergonomic, with typical Duke handling the expectation here,
if perhaps not quite as impressive as the 890 Duke R, which offers adjustable suspenders.
That rear fender is the one area that stands out as a bit of an eye-sore, but then that’s
a bit of an expectation these days, explaining the popularity of fender delete and tail tidy kits.
Obvious competition for the 890 Duke GP are bikes like the MT-09, which is more competitively priced
and offers fully adjustable forks in contrast, the Tuono 660, which which demand more of a
premium and is perhaps closer to the 890 Duke R, and the Street Triple R which again demands
a higher premium for a higher spec load out. Overall I think the addition of the 890 Duke GP is
a move aimed at making it a more enticing package, with a bit more style, to help balance out the
appeal of the higher spec 890 Duke R, which will carry an almost $3k premium here in Australia.
But let me know what you think of the new 2022 KTM 890 Duke GP, is this the bike
you’ll be considering this year, and what are your thoughts about the move by KTM?
Let me know in the comments and as always thanks for watching and stay safe out there.
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