With 26 horses it won ’ t tear your arms off , but the 199cc , four-stroke single with 4 valves per cylinder and DOHC , revs brilliantly and smoothly . The use of those revs round town , flicking between 5-9000rpm , and using the sweet shifting gearbox to its full extent , will have you grinning and zipping about with real ease . But it ’ s the cornering that this surprise package unpacks with aplomb . I attempted to grate the pegs off it and failed . It ’ s not particularly featherweight at 159kg – in fact the 200 has packed on a hefty 11kg from its previous incarnation – but it feels as nimble as a dirt bike , and throwing it down into a corner rewards with some hilarity , as it eats it up , and just asks for more .

FOXY Like most of the Duke range , the riding position is one where the front is out of view under the dash and imparts that peculiar feeling that ‘ motards inspire - like flying on an invisible carpet . There are only two choices of colour , white and KTM orange , but the tank and trellis frame are black , and the wheels are orange . It ’ s not subtle , and the tank and intake plastics look vaguely like a modernised chicken carcass to my eye , but that aside it ’ s a hell of a lot of fun to ride . It couldn ’ t be called a wolf in sheep ’ s clothing , but it ’ s definitely a slinky little fox in fox ’ s clothing . Zapping around town , over the Auckland harbour bridge and on a few daily zaps in Auckland , I had no hesitation on jumping aboard to play . The swing arm follows through with the trellis motif and it looks smart , if industrial . There ’ s 150mm travel on the rear coil , with adjustment available in preload only , but you ’ re fairly unlikely to want to burden it with a pillion , unless emergency dictates . The seat position is slightly aggressive and pitches you into the bike but it is hard - comfort is non-existent , but it keeps your focus where it should be . This is no tourer .

30 KIWI RIDER