2024 KTM 1390 Super Duke R review | KTM refines its bonkers super naked, but it’s still an animal

KTM’s Super Duke has always been the most unhinged of all the super nakeds. A big, brash orange V-twin that’s happy on one wheel as it is blasting around a racetrack, it mixes superbike power and handling with supermoto attitude.

Over the years it’s been refined to be easier to manage and now in its transformation from 1290 to 1390 it’s taken another step with variable valve timing, more grunt from its even bigger engine, refined electronics and suspension. But its extra ccs and bhps aren’t the story here. Yes, it’s faster, but it was rapid to begin with, but it’s evolved to be even friendlier.

That’s not to say it’s a pussycat, far from it. Five sessions around Almeria gets every muscle in your body burning from hanging on and if you want to clutch up a wheelie in fourth gear it will happily oblige.

But the refinements add up to create a super naked that grunts effortlessly off corners in tall gears, steers accurately with little effort and stops like a race bike. It’s far roomier than a race rep, too, which will be music to the ears of bigger riders and even bigger bonus to life on the road. But it's expensive, especially if you want all the electronics.

Although the trellis steel frame and single sided ali swingarm stay largely the same as the KTM 1290 Super Duke R’s, the handling has gone through the refinerator. The 1390 has a new WP Apex rear shock and 48mm forks with a five-way dial on top of each fork leg to adjust rebound and compression damping.

Brembo Stylema front calipers remain, but there’s a new two-way adjustable Brembo MCS master cylinder. Now the KTM flows even more serenely and accurately around a racetrack with the lightest of inputs, with braking power savage enough to dislodge fillings. If only superbikes were this easy.

Standard Michelin Power GPs sit between sports and trackday rubber and cope well at Almeria at the KTM’s world track launch, but you’d want stickier for prolonged hardcore track action. But the undoubted highlight, as before, is its spaciousness. With so much legroom and wide bars, it’s a superbike for tall riders and makes a race-rep seem like a minimoto by comparison.

It says 1390 on the tin, but the V-twin is ‘just’ a 1350cc, up 49cc from the old 1290, thanks to a 2mm bigger bore. There’s a new airbox and 60mm throttle bodies (up from 56mm), increasing power from 177bhp to 187bhp. Variable valve timing makes its KTM debut to help the Super Duke through ever-tightening emissions regs.

Similar to BMW’s ShiftCam system, it swaps from mild to wild inlet cams at 5700rpm, with a 250rpm variation between the cylinders for smoothness. It’s easier to ride…sort of. The power delivery is smooth and with so much grunt you barely need to use the lower gears, but acceleration is so brutal it’s a battle just to hang on.

There are no big innovations on the electronics department, but they’re polished to make life with the 1390 Super R that bit easier. The most useful rider aids on super naked with this much grunt are the IMU-controlled traction and wheelie controls. You feel the TC activate almost immediately at full lean where even the best tyres in the world would struggle to hang on against so much torque.

Without this silicon assistance the KTM would be a wild and precarious ride around a racetrack. Wheelies are cool, but they get in the way of a fast lap time, so help from the electronics is welcome, too. The up/down quick shifter is slick and cruise control will be useful on the road.

KTM’s new 1390 Super Duke R has superb ‘as new’ build quality and attention to detail. It’s a mixed back when it comes to the outgoing 1290’s reliability. Some of MCN’s online Owners’ Reviews have zero problems and others have had issues with electronics, dashes and leaks, but KTM are quick to address issues and they say 1390’s reliability is improved, as well as having linger service intervals with valve clearance checks every 60,000km (37,200 miles).

Compared to its base-level super naked competition, the KTM is pricier than the £13,100 BMW S1000R, £14,310 Yamaha MT-10, £14,400 Aprilia Tuono V4, £17,299 Kawasaki Z H2 and £17,950 Triumph Speed Triple 1200 RS, but it’s cheaper than Ducati’s £21,595 Streetfighter V4.

We pit the hotter 1390 Super Duke Evo R against the Ducati Streetfighter V4 S and the Aprilia Tuono V4 Factory in our super naked group test.

That’s before you’ve added the electronic rider aids that make the 1390 so special. A 5in colour TFT with new graphics and functions is standard, along with Rain (128bhp), Street and Sport riding modes.

But you’ll need to pay well over a grand more for the fancier electronics on our test bike, like its five-way adjustable wheelie and engine brake control, two racier riding modes, cruise control and a new tyre pressure monitor to include track pressures.

As before the Super Duke is loaded with top notch goodies, from fully adjustable suspension to Brembo, electronic rider aids and details like back lit switchgear. New for the 1390 are its stacked projector LEDs are flanked by daytime running lights.

The headlight unit is lens-less, saving 700grams and KTM says the spread of light is improved. We’ll put that to the test when we ride it on UK roads and see if it’s as hard to clean as it looks. It also has a new 17.5 -litre tank (up 1.5 litres), longer side panels, a slimmer seat unit, lower bars and taillights incorporated into the indicators, BMW-style. It also has wings, but they do little to keep the KTM’s front wheel down.

The 1390 Super Duke R Evo model comes with third-gen WP Apex semi-active suspension with automatic preload adjustment. It’s fully adjustable via the dash, but you need to pay extra to unlock Track and Pro modes. It’s the model to go for due to its flexibility, if you’ve got the cash. With launch control activated the rear preload unwinds to drop the rear of the bike, similar to. MotoGP (although it does it in a different way) to help you fly away from the lights like Binder.