Milan Show: KTM 125 Duke... M/C Saviour

Of the bikes that we saw at the EICMA show it wasn’t an electronically supported sports bike or a unique and genre-defining muscle machine that were impressive, but the host of learner friendly 125 singles and in particular the KTM 125 Duke.

On first glance the 125 Duke looks wild with the token angular bodywork that befits the company’s overall styling cues and the bike was swamped with enamoured gazes from all ages – in particular an Italian father and son who spent well over 10 minutes looking over every inch of the lil’ Duke with mouth-watering anticipation.

The three colour options are ideal for the teenage crowd that KTM are trying to attract with this bike. There was the standard and somewhat reserved brand orange, but what stood out were the electro rave inspired graphics of the orange and purple/black colourways, that will certainly garner the approval of the Monster energy drinking and flat-peak baseball cap wearing crowd.  

Not one to hog the bike from the budding future bikers I had a quick sit on it and the riding position felt like the 125 Duke was ready to pounce on the inner city streets with a tall supermoto style that also felt light, manageable and in no way daunting for new riders.

The factory is going to be releasing a set of OEM custom bits for the 125 Duke, which will consist mainly of a screen, belly-pan, barkbusters and an exhaust, which will likely come from Akropovic.

One concern I have for the Duke is that even though it is competitively priced in the region of £3500-4000 (compared with the high-selling Honda CBF125 at £2320 and the Yamaha YZF-R125 at £3999), it still seems pricey for the target 17-year old audience.

But it seems as though this isn’t a major deal as UK dealers are already taking pre-orders through a £100 deposit and the waiting list keeps growing with the majority of the 125s tapped up already.

A topic of discussion was around how these new bikes could inspire the much-needed injection of the new generation and save the skin of the motorcycle industry. Fingers (and toes) crossed…

By Robin Goodwin