The MCN Test: £70-a-month prize fighters

This year, we’ve been spoilt when it comes to affordable, middleweight nakeds.

Where Yamaha’s MT-07 once reigned supreme as a frugal and confidence-inspiring fun factory, both Honda and Suzuki have upped the ante by offering more tech, more power and more functionality, without going potty with the price.

But it isn’t just Suzuki’s GSX-8S and Honda’s CB750 Hornet that have hit the market, as KTM have thrown a serious spanner in the works with their 790 Duke – and yes, that is the model that was replaced by the 890 a few years ago.

Where the 890 Duke sits in the higher echelon of sub-litre nakeds (think Triumph Street Triple and Yamaha MT-09 territory) the company have revived their 790, by giving it a Euro5-compliant engine update, lower-spec braking power and non-adjustable WP suspension, with a bit less technology, too.

The 790 Duke, strictly speaking, isn’t built by KTM, but is assembled in China by CFMoto in order to save a bit of cash.

Yet the KTM has a few aces up its sleeve; not only is it the torquiest and most powerful of the bunch, but it’s also significantly cheaper than the Honda and the Suzuki – not just in terms of monthly payments, but also with a lower deposit and final payment thanks to a cracking offer, which the firm say will be rolling until at least the end of the year.

So, is it too good to be true, or have KTM produced an absolute corker?