[visordown.com] - Should naked bikes be about performance or style?

[Ninjette Newsbot]

KTM's new 1290 Super Duke

And BMW's 'NineT' R1200


AS the launch of 2014’s new bikes approaches, pictures have emerged of two machines that take a very different approach to the idea of a naked roadster.

First comes KTM’s 1290 Super Duke. After endless teasers of the prototype, official pictures of the production version have just been released, along with some serious specifications – 180bhp and 106lbft.

Just as well KTM has given it the latest Bosch-developed traction control and ABS, as on the 2014-spec 1190 Adventure. This is a machine that could bite you.

Simultaneously, the best shots yet of BMW’s ‘NineT’ R1200 retro have turned up on a German website.

It might share the KTM’s cylinder-count and feature a similar capacity, but the air-cooled BMW – yes, it uses the older version of the boxer engine – is likely to make just over half the power of its Austrian rival. Instead of stunning with performance, it’s been designed with style top of the priorities list, and in near-finished form it’s looking good.

Interestingly, the three bikes in the spy shots – all taken at a petrol station – each have different exhaust arrangements. When BMW first mooted the bike, in the form of the 2009 Lo Rider concept, it suggested it was a blank sheet for modifications, also displaying illustrations of various different styles applied to the same basic components. With a range of different exhaust designs and no doubt plenty of other options, BMW appears to be carrying the idea through to fruition.

The bike celebrates the firm’s 90th anniversary (hence the name). It also shares many of its parts with this year’s Concept 90 one-off show bike. Huge swathes of brushed aluminium – and we’re praying it’s real, not coloured plastic – give it the style of a hand-made café racer, while the all-new frame, combined with conventional suspension rather than the usual Telelever front, promises decent handling. That engine is good for around 115bhp, so performance will be brisk rather than mind-bending.

Naked bikes promise to be the big news for 2014; BMW is also planning to launch its own terrifyingly fast unfaired machine based on the S1000RR, and Kawasaki is readying a new Z1000. V-twin fans will also be given the option of a new 1198cc, water-cooled Ducati Monster to rival the KTM Super Duke. However, the NineT shows a different tack, erring towards beautiful detailing and materials rather than all-out performance, with a price likely to be in a similar league to the faster competitors.

So the question is, which of these very different naked bikes is more appealing? Do you prefer the idea of arm-wrenching performance from the KTM or would the classy styling of the BMW lever your wallet open? And, are naked bikes really appealing enough to sustain all these new models, or is it just a case of the emperor’s new clothes?

Tell us what you think.


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BMW NineT spotted testing
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