New KTM single sports bike?

[SteveC#222]

I see from Motorcycle News  (... yes I know, I know)   that KTM are developing a single cylinder sports bike based around the 690cc LC4 engine. KTM are quoting 78 BHP, 132 kg and 142 MPH for the prototype and a power to weight ratio similar  to a 600 4 cylinder!      that could be interesting!!

[Steve Lake]

it could also be bluddy expensive......and have a thimble sized fuel capacity (see friday rant)...
Don't get me wrong, i'm all for it.....but lets hope they design in stuff like ...easy cheap servicing.....fuel economy..... decent range betweenfill-ups......a kick start......(surely a kickstart must make a bike cheaper, and lighter.....considering that there will be no starter motor with all it's associated parts and a battery about a 3rd the size) apparently there is no reason why engines shouldn't be aircooled.....the designers just need to be a bit clever....then thats a load more weight saved......

pip pip

[guest27]

I saw that too - and wondered why.  It may well be a fine bike, like the Cagiva Mito 500 thingy would - but then the bike press in the UK will compare it to the latest 600 zap pow digital watch 4 cylinder from Japan and declare it rubbish.  The boys who just follow fashion - ie most - will then not buy it and it will deemed a failure.

Apart from the final bit - read Triumph 675 - has been ridden and actually came out many times as being the best of the class - yet MCN et6 al still spend 90% of their copy comparing the honda 600 to the yam 600, the Kawa 1000 to the Suzuki 1000 etc and most of the public seem to think that the 675 is either rubbish, nice but not that nice or made in Taiwan.

I love sports bikes and can see a single cyl sports bike becoming the reincarnation of the old RD350s - but only if it is cheap enough.  Must be substantially less than a 600/4

R

[SteveC#222]

Yes, cost is going to be the thing that means it will probably remain as a prototype. To quote the article "How much will people pay for something like that?"  that means it will be expensive and at the end of the day it won't do anything that a 600 bandit can't do ( if you're into that sort of thing), and you can buy a brand new Bandit for £3.5K.   

[bullet350]

 78bhp single?

 is it just me or has that got 'blow-up' stamped all over it?

 the 60bhp ktm's don't seem to last all that long.

bullet350

[SteveC#222]

Yes, but it's aimed at the sports bike market.......so it'll only ever do 1000 miles a year on dry days between may and september 

[guest7]

KTM parts bills are one of biking's biggest scare stories. I know of a 125 stroker trail bike (mildly tuned for a KTM), that seized. The parts bill for the rebuild?

£700      (and that was in the late 90s)

GC

[guest24]

My old man (a fully paid up nechanical engineer/designer etc etc) always said that a high state of tune for a engine is 10bhp per 100cc. Anymore than that and reliability states to wane.

I must admit 78bhp sounds a lot from one cylinder and I would ride it worrying about a big bang happening 

[002]

KTM parts bills are one of biking's biggest scare stories. I know of a 125 stroker trail bike (mildly tuned for a KTM), that seized. The parts bill for the rebuild?

£700      (and that was in the late 90s)

GC

Standard Yam Barrel with a KTM parts label/number stuck over the Yam label !!!!!
And cost more !

Jethro

[guest295]

It needs a top-end rebuild after 16 hours' use; and only King Kong could kickstart it. This is not a motorbike to ride for pleasure.