In an interview with Speedweek, KTM CEO Stefan Pierer revealed that the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer would introduce a new twin-cylinder motorcycle in the 500cc segment. The motorcycle is in the works to meet the growth in developing markets where mid-capacity offerings between 500-800cc are considered premium motorcycles.
Pierer brought up the news while speaking about the new 790 Adventure – which the brand is expecting to sell 15,000 units of them – and said that the mid-capacity segment is becoming increasingly important. He also added that they were planning to introduce a SMT (Super Moto Touring) offering in this segment. He then went on to talk about the upcoming twin-cylinder offering that will sit in the 500cc segment; he explained that it would be the bike that will compete against other 500cc Japanese motorcycles.
While he didn’t give away any more information about the motorcycle itself, we’re sure KTM will use its motor on multiple platforms. We have seen them do this with the India-made 373.2cc engine, which can be found on the sport-naked Duke, the supersport RC and an adventure bike that is still under development. Their latest 799cc, parallel-twin motor has also already been fitted on two motorcycles – the 790 Duke and the 790 Adventure.
The 373.2cc motor found on the 390 Duke and RC 390 in India make around 43.5hp. Meanwhile, the 799cc, twin-cylinder motor found on the 790 Duke makes around 105hp. One expect the power figures of the upcoming mid-capacity motorcycle from KTM-Bajaj to sit somewhere in the 55-70hp space.
Azaman Chothia
Vishal Venugopal
