KTM 1290 Super Duke: spy shots

German website Motorradonline.
de has posted some ’stolen’ photos a prototype that seems to be very close to what will be the production version of the 1290 KTM Super Duke, a first ‘incarnation’ of which appeared last year at 2012 EICMA exhibition in Milan.
The differences between this and that prototype are numerous, starting with the appearance of the headlight unit, which overly recalls the design of the smaller models of Duke range, especially the 390.

The charming double exhaust from Akrapovic we saw at the EICMA (one high and thin bordering the tail, the other integrated into the design of the ‘belly’) has disappeared in favor of a single, huge and frankly rather disappointing ‘low’ silencer mounted on the right side.
Not that we expected to see that solution on the production model, but given the stance of the prototype showcased at the EICMA we were hoping for something more intriguing and way less trivial.

Even the flashy two-tone white/orange paint of the rims (which matched that of the frame) is gone, though it might surface again later on a quite likely R-spec variant.

The image picturing the left side of the bike reveals a new design of the single-sided swingarm, while the dashboard looks similar to that of the 1190 Adventure, with dual LCD screen and analog tachometer.
The V-Twin engine derived from the 1195 RC8R remains in evidence, while the coolant reservoir is definitely not that ‘cool’, reminding us that, after all, this prototype is still work-in-progress.
The final production version should make its appearance in November at the EICMA 2013, and we very much hope that the final version of this bike will be much closer to the wicked prototype we saw in Milan last year than to this quite controversial incarnation.