and can travel quicker in tighter corners . In spite of discovering tightening corners at speed on Sunday , I found there was no hint of pushing the centreline envelope . With a top speed of around 200km / h its not going to beat the bigger boys , but there are few places or times where instant loss of licence is worth it . However , if you are travelling swiftly and need to stop , the front end brakes are pinpoint perfect . Twin 300mm brake discs sit up front , with a single 240mm disc at the back ; ABS is standard . WP APEX suspension components are provided at both ends . I enjoyed the ride adjustment as it came without having to fiddle about but the bike can clearly be set up for aggressive track agility . The 43mm upside-down forks use an open cartridge design , with compression and rebound damping handled by separate fork legs . Adjustment is down to five clicks a side , simpler and easier to play with without tools . Wheels are shod in R17 Bridgestone S22 tyres , which the 990 Duke shares with the 1290 Super Duke R , along with the ‘ over and under ’ stacked headlight set up . I have to say , though , that the DRL ’ s split diamond framing of the lights , in black plastic , reminded me of nothing so much as an orangutan ’ s face .
ELECTRONICS Up front the prominent 5-inch TFT display ( and USB-C charger ) gives the bike five electronic rider modes Sport , Street , Rain ( and Demo mode for Performance and Track , which can be paid for to keep using ), and various settings . KTM ’ s new menu design lets riders allocate features four ‘ favourites ’ slots on the display ’ s home screen — including readouts like lean angle data . And Track mode offers access to anti-wheelie and launch controls . ABS can be switched from Road to Supermotard allowing the rear to lock up . The quickshifter can also be turned on and off . A switch marked with a C ( for custom ) can
+ Aggressive ; capable ; superb engineering – Pay to unlock software features already in the bike
52 KIWI RIDER