Motorcycle Of The Year Winner: KTM 1290 Super Duke GT

[MoSSaN69]

It takes a really special motorbike to win our MOTY award, and the Super Duke GT comes from premium stock, as it’s based on the winner of our 2014 Motorcycle of the Year, the 1290 Super Duke R. The uncanny beauty of the GT is that it retains the wonderful virtues of the R and expands the platform with a plethora of comfort and convenience updates that enhance the bike’s appeal without appreciably hindering its performance capabilities.

2017 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT First Ride Review

The addition of cornering ABS, cruise control, heated grips and KTM’s first quickshifter to the Super Duke platform adds to the SDR’s attractiveness, as does standard equipment like electronic tire-pressure monitoring, self-canceling turn signals and LED cornering lights. While it’s true that some of these items have been added to the latest Super Duke R, the GT version receives KTM’s admirable semi-active suspension, comfier adjustable ergonomics, a variable-height windscreen, standard hard-shell saddlebags and the ability to carry up to 500-lbs of humans and luggage thanks to its bespoke subframe.

The Super Duke GT ticks all our boxes of what we like to see in a sport-touring motorcycle, bending toward the sporting side of the S-T spectrum. There are several bikes in the category that boast seats with thicker padding or electrically operated windshields or shaft-driven wheels that don’t require lubing or adjusting, but the 525-lb SDGT (full of 6.1 gallons of fuel) leaves them all feeling heavy, ponderous and dull.

BMW S1000XR vs. KTM 1290 Super Duke GT vs. MV Agusta Turismo Veloce

Among sporty sport-tourers, the GT was the clear winner ahead of BMW’s S1000XR and MV Agusta’s Turismo Veloce, pumping out more power while weighing 25 lbs less than the Beemer and just a handful of pounds more than the MV while boasting a V-Twin engine with 500cc extra than the Italian. The GT’s 153 hp and 94.5 lb-ft of torque topped the trio in that comparo – and anything else with standard saddlebags that you’d consider riding across the country.

That comparison test concluded with this statement that sums up our affection for the KTM: “At the end of the day, motorcycling is about having fun, and none of us needed a stinkin’ scorecard to tell us which bike gave us the biggest thrills.”

So, for the breadth of its capabilities and many ways it elicits grins from the entire MO staff, the Super Duke GT earns our award for the 2017 Motorcycle Of The Year.

[Madalin AM]

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