2025 KTM 1390 Super Duke GT Spied

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We recently grabbed shots of KTM’s 2025 1390 Super Duke GT testing. (Bernhard M. Hohne/BMH-Images/)

The debut of the KTM 1390 Super Duke R as the flagship of the Austrian company’s 2024 lineup never left much doubt that other models featuring the old “1290″ version of the LC8 V-twin engine would be hot on its heels with similar revamps. Now the next KTM 1390 has been seen on test, the 1390 Super Duke GT.

We’ve already ridden the 2024 KTM 1390 Super Duke R powered by the same engine that will be used in the GT model. (KTM/)

Before we get too deep into the details, let’s remind ourselves what that “1390″ engine entails. First up, like most KTMs, the number is only a vague approximation of its actual capacity. The 1390 motor measures in at a genuine 1,350cc, and since the smaller “1290″ motor is really 1,301cc the increase is just 49cc—less than half as much as the engine designations might lead you to believe. It’s achieved via a 2mm increase in bore, up from 108 to 110mm, combined with the same 71mm stroke as before.

Conversely, the performance increase of the 1390 engine is more than you might expect from such a small change, with peak power upped from a claimed 177 hp to an impressive 188 hp. That’s largely thanks to the company’s new variable valve timing and lift system, which is similar to BMW’s ShiftCam and the system used on several Audi cars. It works by sliding the intake camshafts laterally during operation to bring a second, wilder cam profile into action when the ECU decides it’s necessary. The change increased the engine’s peak revs from 9,500 to 10,000 rpm and brought an increase in torque from 103 to 107 lb.-ft. Historically the Super Duke GT has had the same engine tune as the Super Duke R, so it’s no wild leap of logic to assume the same will apply to this new 1390 Super Duke GT.

The 2025 KTM 1390 Super Duke GT’s brakes look up to any task. (Bernhard M. Hohne/BMH-Images/)

A bigger change, at least from the GT’s perspective, comes in the chassis. The current 1290 Super Duke GT is still based on the tubular steel frame from the pre-2020 1290 Super Duke R, not the latest version. It’s a much more substantial-looking trellis that puts less emphasis on using the engine as a structural component. For the upcoming 1390 Super Duke GT, KTM has finally decided to adopt the 2020-and-on Super Duke R’s chassis, which is around three times as rigid as the earlier design, while helping slice around 5 pounds from the bike’s weight.

As well as the new main frame, the 1390 Super Duke GT gains a cast aluminum subframe, again mirroring the changes made to the Super Duke R from 2020. The subframe isn’t simply carried over from the R, though, as the GT needs more pillion comfort and luggage-lugging capability, so it gets its own, unique casting. Below it, there’s the same updated single-sided swingarm that debuted with the Super Duke R’s 2020 revamp, and the suspension appears to be the same electronically adjustable, semi-active “third gen” WP Apex kit that’s used on the current 1390 Super Duke R Evo. Similarly, the Brembo brakes and the wheels are straight carryovers from the Super Duke R.

The current KTM 1290 Super Duke GT. (KTM/)

When it comes to styling, KTM has long concentrated on distinctiveness over delicacy, often opting for brutally sharp creases and unusual proportions and shapes. The 1390 Super Duke GT is no exception, and if anything, ups the ante with a confusing combination of angles and flat planes in the styling. The matte-black finish of the prototype means those shapes evoke the F-117 Stealth Fighter, but a less charitable view might be that it looks like the low polygon-count graphics from a PlayStation 1 game.

Up front the headlight is a development of the idea used on the latest Super Duke R, with LED running lights mounted in “floating” panels that bracket the main lamps. At the back even the passenger grab rails follow the sci-fi theme of the rest of the styling, looking like something that should be sprouting from a Star Destroyer, or the sort of boomerang TV antennas seen on 1980s limos.

Everything about the 2022 KTM 1290 Super Adventure R is big, including the roost it leaves in its wake. (Jeff Allen/)

Given the near-finished appearance of the bike, and the fact that KTM is known to be preparing a new sport-tourer as part of its 2025 model range, we can be all but certain that the 1390 Super Duke GT will make its official debut sometime between now and the end of this year as a key component of the company’s ‘25 lineup. Beyond that, it doesn’t take Nostradamus to see that the Super Adventure is also likely to be revamped with the 1390 engine, and we already know that a high-end Brabus 1400 R is in the works as a successor to the Super Duke R-derived 1300 R. Combine all those with an array of new “990″ models derived from this year’s 990 Duke parallel twin and it’s clear KTM is going to be busy with new model launches over the next year or so.

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