2026 KTM 1390 Super Duke RR Track Review

• 202PS and 151Nm from KTM’s 1350cc V-twin
• Just 177kg without fuel and limited to 100 examples worldwide
• Track-only specification with WP PRO COMPONENTS suspension, Brembo GP4 MS brakes and Michelin slicks

Just when you thought KTM’s 1390 Super Duke couldn’t get any crazier, along comes a 202PS, 177kg, track-only version. Adam Child headed to Austria to find out whether the Beast can actually be tamed.

Words: Adam Child Photography: KTM

The KTM 1390 Super Duke R has never exactly been lacking in performance. Its monstrous 1350cc V-twin produces 190PS and 145Nm of torque and, with the lights, mirrors and numberplate still fitted, is already one of the wildest road bikes you can buy.

Then there’s the lighter, sharper and more aggressive Super Duke RR. Ride that and you might reasonably wonder why anyone could possibly want more.

KTM, apparently.

Meet the 1390 Super Duke RR Track – a 202PS, 177kg, track-only version of the Beast, stripped of everything required for road use and limited to just 100 examples worldwide.

KTM says it is the most powerful production motorcycle ever to leave Mattighofen. To discover what that actually means, rather than simply stare at the numbers, we rode one at Austria’s Salzburgring – one of Europe’s fastest and most intimidating circuits.

And yes, it’s every bit as mad as it sounds.

BUILT FOR ONE THING

Some bikes disguise their performance beneath understated styling. The 1390 Super Duke RR Track makes absolutely no attempt to.

Sitting on paddock stands with its Michelin slicks cooking beneath tyre warmers, it looks ready for its next victim.

Look closer and the details reveal just how serious KTM has been. Oil drain plugs and brake caliper bolts are pre-drilled for lock-wiring, titanium fasteners save weight and there’s no ABS hardware. Road-going switchgear has disappeared, replaced by dedicated race controls, while the compact 4.2-inch TFT concentrates on the information that actually matters on track: speed, revs and gear.

This isn’t simply a Super Duke with some expensive track-day accessories thrown at it.

KTM started with the 2026 Super Duke RR and removed everything required for road use, including mirrors, indicators, lights and ABS. According to KTM, the result weighs 9kg less than the road-going RR and 20kg less than the standard Super Duke R.

The braking system is equally serious. Straight-through brake lines connect the lever directly to Brembo T-Drive discs and GP4 MS Monobloc calipers, while the engine breathes through a full titanium Akrapovič Evolution Line exhaust.

It makes an enormous noise. Wear earplugs.

WP PRO COMPONENTS suspension replaces the road equipment, with closed-cartridge forks and a fully adjustable rear shock, while lightweight forged magnesium wheels wear Michelin Power Performance slicks.

And because this is a genuine track bike rather than a road bike pretending to be one, owners are also going to need paddock stands, tyre warmers and something to transport it in.

RELEASE THE BEAST

The tyre warmers come off and I climb aboard.

The race-pattern gearbox is one up and the rest down, while colour-coded buttons control the engine, rain light and rider aids. Three customisable Track modes offer six levels of wheelie control, five levels of engine braking, traction control and adjustable throttle response.

There is no rain mode.

Leaving the pits, a short-shift into second produces a vicious snarl from the Akrapovič. The pre-heated slicks mean there’s no need to spend laps gently bringing the tyres up to temperature, and the auto-blipper delivers clean downshifts into the first chicane accompanied by a glorious burble from the exhaust.

Then I start opening the throttle properly.

Accelerating through third and fourth brings the anti-wheelie into action. Even in fifth it is working to keep the front tyre somewhere near the ground.

Through the long right-hander before the climb, I brush a knee against the tarmac then accelerate through third, fourth and fifth. I’m not even reaching the redline, yet the KTM charges uphill with tremendous force.

Normally, short-shifting calms a powerful motorcycle by dropping the engine away from peak power.

Not this one.

There is so much midrange that it simply keeps driving.

It takes several laps to recalibrate. Just when I think I’m beginning to tame it, the KTM surges out of another third- or fourth-gear corner as though it is trying to pull my arms from their sockets.

LIGHT, FAST AND VERY PHYSICAL

Part of what makes the RR Track so effective is its lack of weight.

At 177kg without fuel, it feels extraordinarily light and flickable for something with this much performance, yet remarkably stable at speed. At an indicated 270km/h over the hill, it doesn’t weave or become unpredictable.

The rider, however, needs to do some work.

You have to stay tucked in, toes on the pegs, backside against the bump stop and chin near the tank. The reshaped tank and lower bars help shield you from the wind, but sit upright at this speed and the airflow grabs your body and, through your grip on the bars, starts unsettling the bike.

This is still a naked motorcycle doing speeds usually associated with superbikes.

The final section of Salzburgring contains fast corners taken in second, third or fourth, but remarkably the exact gear barely seems to matter. There is so much torque that you can short-shift where a conventional sports bike would bog, then open the throttle as the KTM approaches upright, trust the electronics and let the front hover above the track.

Its drive across the start-finish line is immense.

STOPPING THE MADNESS

Thankfully, the brakes are every bit as impressive as the engine.

The Brembo GP4 MS calipers are phenomenal and have less mass to deal with than on the road-going bikes. The wide bars, reshaped tank and roomy riding position give you plenty of leverage, allowing you to brake astonishingly hard and deep into a turn.

There’s no ABS safety net.

Everything depends on rider feel, but the WP suspension and Michelin front slick provide exceptional feedback. Each lap I move my braking point further forward, yet there always seems to be more braking performance in reserve.

By the fourth session we begin reducing the traction control and anti-wheelie intervention before removing the latter altogether.

Now things get properly interesting.

The acceleration becomes even more ferocious, with body position and throttle control replacing electronics as the primary method of keeping the front wheel down. It lifts in third and will rise in fourth unless I crouch forward over the tank.

First gear feels almost too aggressive, as though the bike wants to rotate around its rear axle.

But because the KTM is so light, wide-barred and communicative, I can almost steer it from the rear as the front rises. Strangely, reducing the electronic intervention makes me feel more involved and more in command.

CHASING A LAP

Trying to extract a lap time from the RR Track requires complete concentration.

Tiny changes in body position affect the line and feedback. This is not a motorcycle to ride casually after a heavy lunch, especially with the rider aids turned down.

The windblast makes 20-minute sessions physically exhausting too.

Yet the chassis rewards commitment. You can brake astonishingly late, trail the brakes towards the apex and start applying power early. You can lean on the electronics or trust the feedback coming through the WP shock and enormous rear slick.

Ground clearance is never an issue and the combination of Michelin slicks, quality suspension and the chassis continually encourages you to push your braking points and corner speed.

The engine also changes the way you ride.

A conventional race bike often needs to be kept screaming in the upper reaches of its rev range. The KTM doesn’t. There is so much torque that you can take the lazy option, short-shift or use fourth where another bike would require third, and it still fires out of the corner.

Hooking up a genuinely fast lap on what remains a relatively comfortable, wide-barred naked bike feels slightly ridiculous.

And deeply satisfying.

In the penultimate session I begin chasing lap times, holding the throttle open later, braking harder and applying the power earlier. At the limit, the engine, chassis, suspension and brakes come together and I feel completely connected to the motorcycle.

Then, as the sun begins to fall, we take the set-up in the opposite direction.

Traction control and anti-wheelie go back up. I short-shift into sixth on the back straight to give my arms a break and stop worrying about lap times.

I just ride it for fun.

And strangely, it’s no less satisfying.

VERDICT

Some people will look at the KTM 1390 Super Duke RR Track and consider it completely pointless.

And I understand the argument.

In the UK it costs £32,999, it isn’t road legal, it’s difficult to race competitively in many classes and you’ll need stands, tyre warmers and a van or trailer just to take it somewhere you can actually ride it.

Then there’s the small matter of riding a naked motorcycle at 270km/h. It’s physically punishing, while the brakes are powerful enough to have your arms begging for mercy at the end of every straight.

But I’m delighted KTM built it.

This is the animal the Super Duke has always threatened to become.

For serious track-day riders, its appeal lies precisely in the fact that it is different. It has superbike levels of performance but delivers them through huge V-twin torque, wide bars and a relatively roomy riding position.

And this is far more than a marketing exercise.

The RR Track is capable of producing lap times that would embarrass plenty of fully faired sports bikes. Yet equally, you can turn the rider aids back up, short-shift through that enormous spread of torque and simply enjoy yourself.

For me, that captures what motorcycling is about: pushing boundaries, doing something exciting and having fun.

It’s just a shame KTM is only building 100 of them.

Now I need a few days for my arms to recover.

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International Tester

Adam Child

Adam Child is an award-winning international freelance motorcycle journalist. Starting life at Fast Bikes Magazine before moving to Motorcycle News, 'Chad' made the move to freelance and has never looked back. With invites to virtually all the new model launches around the globe, Adam is one of the hardest working and most respected motorcycle testers in the industry. And he's also bloody quick, with lots of racing on his CV including the Isle of Man TT and national championships in the UK.