Do you need a super-naked when the premium middleweight class has so much to offer?

More often than not, buying a bike is a decision made with the heart rather than the head. Whatever the deciding factor, bigger is generally viewed as better – but that’s not always the case.

Do you actually need a 200bhp sportsbike? Is a 268kg GS Adventure really the ideal adventure tool? And if you are into nakeds, do you need something as powerful and fast as a super-naked when there are fabulous smaller-capacity alternatives?

And it is this final question that we aim to explore as we ride four of the best middleweight sporty nakeds on the market – the KTM 890 Duke GP, Triumph Street Triple R, Yamaha MT-09 and Ducati Monster.

But, first of all, we need to decide what to call them because while certainly sporty and naked, can they be classed as middleweights?

With the KTM and Yamaha boasting a near 900cc capacity from their parallel twin and triple engines, and the Ducati exceeding this capacity with its V-twin, the baby of the bunch is the Triumph, which has a triple just short of 800cc.

Hardly traditional middleweights but the world has moved on in recent times, class boundaries have shifted and in a modern context they are best regarded as middleweights. And high-spec ones at that.

Each of these bikes comes with angle-responsive electronics as standard, top-spec brakes, adjustable suspension (although the level does vary, with the Monster and Duke lacking adjustability on their forks), up/down quickshifters (aside from the KTM) and trick dashes.

Maybe we need to add the term ‘premium’ to middleweight as they are far from bog-stock budget middleweights due to their comprehensive spec lists. And then there is how they ride.

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