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Aufitt · August 30th, 2014, 01:24 PM

Some good news for 'Straya and also you 'Muricans,
Ive been talking to a Journalist from www.mcnews.com.au who has been out on track at Auto Dromo di Modena in Italy on the RC390 today.

'Was a good day. Five crashes amongst the international press today but none of the four Aussies there went down. Was a challenging and busy little circuit even on the little 390.
Bike works really well, there was one flip-flop section with a bit of a dip that was a bit much for it so you had to kept it stood up a little through the second section otherwise the peg dug in and the back slid out.
Was bloody hot out there today, fairly humid and a bit over 30c shock to the system coming out of Victorian winter straight into summer weather and leathers.
Some really, really smart thinking in this bike. Check out the muffler outlet there integrated into the belly pan of the bike, the actual collector/muffler is where the shock linkage would normally be at the front and above the swingarm pivot, as the RC390 uses a PDS style shock with the shock mounted directly to the frame and no linkage, KTM have patented this style of exhaust system, it's clever.
The peg mounts are also via the swingarm pivot.
See the tail section... What looks like a cowl is actually the pillion seat that looks like a cowl, the whole tail section at the back there is actually some sort of compressable black substance that actually looks like a hard cowl, but actually is a perfectly functional seat... #trippy.
ABS is not low-rent option but is excellent latest generation Bosch 9MB set-up, and is fitted as standard. It can also be switched off.
Indicators are integrated into the mirror stalks at the front, there is a very narrow extension out of the back for the plate and tiny LED indicators, but the rear light and brake light is actually cleverly integrated into the bottom of that trippy tail section and while minimalist and hardly noticeable while looking at it, it actually is clearly visible in use. Haven't ridden it at night so can't rate the headlights.'

'Ergonomics are surprisingly good. Everything fell easy to hand and felt perfectly natural. Comfort was okay but as you would expect on a machine with sporty geometry like this and a more forward weight bias than the Duke 390 there was some weight on the wrists. Will be good training for those learners that are wanting to progress to a big sportsbike when off their learner restrictions'

Instrumentation is better than most bike costing many times as much. Full funtion trip computer, fuel gauge and programmable shift light etc. all in one large and fairly high resolution LCD. If it had remote tyre pressure read out and everything could be switched from the bar the instrumentation would score an A+ at any price point

I asked about a few things about the bike, rear suspension is non adjustable dampening, preload only, and November is the earliest we will see it in Australia.
Its been on KTM Au website all year-
http://www.ktm.com/au/supersport/rc-...l#.VAIxXRWwrIU

As for the USA (asked for you lot) 'American journos here with us definitely going there'

No doubt a full write up will be on http://www.mcnews.com.au/ in the near future.

August 30th, 2014, 01:24 PM	#199
Aufitt The A Team Name: Aufitt Location: Western Australia Join Date: Aug 2012 Motorcycle(s): Z50, CB125, RZ500, MC22, R3. Posts: 394	Some good news for 'Straya and also you 'Muricans, Ive been talking to a Journalist from www.mcnews.com.au who has been out on track at Auto Dromo di Modena in Italy on the RC390 today. 'Was a good day. Five crashes amongst the international press today but none of the four Aussies there went down. Was a challenging and busy little circuit even on the little 390. Bike works really well, there was one flip-flop section with a bit of a dip that was a bit much for it so you had to kept it stood up a little through the second section otherwise the peg dug in and the back slid out. Was bloody hot out there today, fairly humid and a bit over 30c shock to the system coming out of Victorian winter straight into summer weather and leathers. Some really, really smart thinking in this bike. Check out the muffler outlet there integrated into the belly pan of the bike, the actual collector/muffler is where the shock linkage would normally be at the front and above the swingarm pivot, as the RC390 uses a PDS style shock with the shock mounted directly to the frame and no linkage, KTM have patented this style of exhaust system, it's clever. The peg mounts are also via the swingarm pivot. See the tail section... What looks like a cowl is actually the pillion seat that looks like a cowl, the whole tail section at the back there is actually some sort of compressable black substance that actually looks like a hard cowl, but actually is a perfectly functional seat... #trippy. ABS is not low-rent option but is excellent latest generation Bosch 9MB set-up, and is fitted as standard. It can also be switched off. Indicators are integrated into the mirror stalks at the front, there is a very narrow extension out of the back for the plate and tiny LED indicators, but the rear light and brake light is actually cleverly integrated into the bottom of that trippy tail section and while minimalist and hardly noticeable while looking at it, it actually is clearly visible in use. Haven't ridden it at night so can't rate the headlights.' 'Ergonomics are surprisingly good. Everything fell easy to hand and felt perfectly natural. Comfort was okay but as you would expect on a machine with sporty geometry like this and a more forward weight bias than the Duke 390 there was some weight on the wrists. Will be good training for those learners that are wanting to progress to a big sportsbike when off their learner restrictions' Instrumentation is better than most bike costing many times as much. Full funtion trip computer, fuel gauge and programmable shift light etc. all in one large and fairly high resolution LCD. If it had remote tyre pressure read out and everything could be switched from the bar the instrumentation would score an A+ at any price point I asked about a few things about the bike, rear suspension is non adjustable dampening, preload only, and November is the earliest we will see it in Australia. Its been on KTM Au website all year- http://www.ktm.com/au/supersport/rc-...l#.VAIxXRWwrIU As for the USA (asked for you lot) 'American journos here with us definitely going there' No doubt a full write up will be on http://www.mcnews.com.au/ in the near future.