Key highlights
- KTM 490 Duke spied in Europe
- Features a new steel tubular trellis frame
- Likely to get a new sub-500cc parallel-twin liquid-cooled engine
KTM is working on a new sub-500cc platform. This new engine will house multiple motorcycles in the near future, out of which the 460 Duke was recently spotted out in the wild with half-baked bodywork.
The recent spy shots of the test mule have surfaced from Europe, where a prototype of this new platform was seen with a new steel tubular trellis frame and a new parallel-twin liquid-cooled engine that acts as a chassis stress member. Moreover, the prototype used a new trellis subframe, replacing the composite subframe seen on the 390 models.
The test bike is draped in the Duke’s bodywork with unfinished panels and a dummy fuel tank. The headlight is also carried over from the 390 Duke, which indicates that the final look is yet to hit the testing phase. However, the bike looks mechanically complete.
Along with the new engine, we can spot a new banana-type swingarm, new 17-inch alloy wheels, WP brake calipers and master cylinders on both ends, single disc brakes at the front and rear, adjustable suspension, and a new upright exhaust system with a catalytic converter shoved under the engine.
Online reports hint that this new engine will be shy of 500cc capacity, and KTM will also use it on the RC 490 and an Adventure iteration as well. While some reports hint that this will be capped at 48 bhp due to the A2 license rule, we suspect that in the global market, apart from Europe, it could offer around 55-60 bhp.
KTM is most likely to display the final model at the EICMA 2027 in Italy, while the production model could launch in Europe and India by 2028.
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