KTM 1290 Super Duke GT | The Ultimate Sports Tourer? 

3000 miles on my new one, nothing is more fun to ride than a KTM. I think it is the best kept secret for sport tourers. I'm getting over 50MPG if I don't flog it !! I think the Japanese bikes feel cheap and tinny in comparison!! You missed the boat Dude!!

Great video mate, I've been following you for a minute now, awesome to see the great content coming. Just a small correction; this monster is the ultimate everything. It's soooo good. Oh, and KTMs rule, they get a ton of flack but I think they make bikes that are still FUN. They inject their DNA in all of their models in a way few manufacturers can.

Dam that motorbike is almost as cool as you Red! 😎 Great video

Brilliant! A friend of mine took delivery of his GT last Saturday. I love that 1290 engine in my SAS, you can ride that bike like a hooligan but it can also be very docile with the right settings. Cracking review, as always! Cheers, Lupo

Fair assessment on the SDGT. I own a '17 model with now 42K miles on it. I really cannot fault the bike in any regard. It does everything so well. Lots of the YT reviews compare new prices on these bikes but I have never bought a new motorcycle. I let the PO suffer the depreciation which in the US, KTM suffers. IMO the BMW/DUCATI/KTM European brands outclass the Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha in raw feel and quality of construction. Just a higher end product. Not more capable, just a higher more refined feel. If that means anything to you.

Had my 2022 gt from new, no reliability problems at all. It's personal choice for me it's perfect, trip to the tt last year proved It's total all round ability and all the tech you could want.

I bought my gen1 SDGT 2nd hand with 900 miles on the clock for £10k the bike was 10 months old,massive saving over the new price,that was 4 years ago now,still have the Duke & won't be selling it,most fun bike I've ever owned,Mega bike.

Nice video like always

Great review mate !! Should definitely include the R1250RS in this comparison also a great sport tourer, regards!

Hey Red,good vid. I like the chunky look but don't like the front lights. I do miss riding but don't have anywhere for a bike. The more I watch the reviews it comes back to a traditional sports tourer, the 1000 1000 wins for me. Ps, I get the riding for mental health reasons👍😎

Thanks you for this vidéo. Very nice motorcycle 👍🏍️.

Totally agree with you, I tried one and found it top heavy, whilst the heat from the engine scorched my thighs. Also, I think there was damage to the side panels where it had been dropped.

Thanks for the honest review - it’s refreshing to see a negative review. I have been considering the 1260gt due to the higher riding position- currently have the ninja 1000 sports tourer and I find it uncomfortable after 90mins (6ft 3)

Ok! This needs to be said, right now. A high screen, will not necessarily kill the buffeting. It could make it worse, try dropping the screen, it may surprise you.

My previous bike was Z1000SX, now I have SDGT 1290 :-) It take some time used to the big twin motor. He can't forgive that much that inline 4.

Hi, thank you for the video. I owned a 2021 SDGT and I bought it new. From the engine ,suspensions and frame structure the behavior was flawless. The two side cases for luggage are big enough (room for a full face helmet inside) and they don’t mess with the aesthetics of the bike. They’re practical to use, but for a sport tourer, the ergonomics of the pillion seat and leg position wasn’t compatible with comfort on longer rides, so it was somehow a deception on that touring aspect. The main reason that made me sell it was both, the electronic bugs and the random malfunction messages that annoyingly insisted to pop up from no where, without a real cause, and the dealership difficulties to deal with those issues. I didn’t expect to spent such a significant amount of money on a bike that I bought new, and gave me all that trouble. She had to go, unfortunately. If KTM solves this reliability issues, the Brand can get to a far more important position than what it already has achieved in the ranking of the most prestigious names in the Industry, but it didn’t accomplished to get there yet. That (ad)venture with The Chinese motorcycle industry brought them some nice sales figures but they carried along with it, some nasty “real world” results, that are blurring the Brand’s name, I think. If that relationship doesn’t get assertive, fast, I think the brand will get injured for a long laps of time, as we know, a bad owner’s experience is hard to forget and it’s happening a little too much, everywhere…within almost every sales territory. I hope they can fix it, because KTM has real value and merit on a wide range of product solutions in the motorcycle world. It’s something alike the Italian brands. The products are enthusiastic and exciting… but that feeling doesn’t last long and soon “regret” takes their place and becomes the central reference taken from the experience? When I watched your video I first felt some amount of nostalgia but right after it, the feeling of relief came out strong and steady 😅

It's a fantastic bike for small twistys. Lots of power and super handling. I ride dirt roads, twisty mountain roads, small country roads all the time. Almost never highways and I ride alot. 20 000 km my first year on my first gen 2018 gt. When It's time for a new bike It's probably going to be a newer gt

Good initial review. I've only ridden The Beast a couple of years ago and that was great but so much power and torque on public roads was scary. I reckon if had bought one I would have lost either my license or life by lunchtime which begs your question is it the best sports tourer? Agree with you. No. I shall stick with either my Triumph Sprint 1050ST or Honda VFR800 each cost me around the £3-4k mark and have colour coded manufacturer luggage as well. My VFR has only 60% of the power of this but it is more than enough for touring on and it is very comfortable. My Sprint has 123bhp and is quicker and even more spacious. Each have great engines V4 and smooth triple. I think to buy this KTM 1290 Super Duke GT you have to really want it and have DEEP pockets.

I bought a left over 2020 in 2021, and luckily in the USofA sport tourers aren't all that popular. 12K USD out the door. I've done over 20K miles on mine and love the heck out of it. My ex-gf had the Ninja 1K SX (sports tourer designation here) and i found it was way too sports oriented and by the time we got anywhere she was just knackered from the riding position as it was a lot sportier. She ended up with a whole new bar set up etc. The SDGT is a bit quirky, and top heavy feeling, and it's not for everyone, but holy hell is it great at gobbling op tons of miles at a stretch.

Another nice video , very nice bike but I also think this is not the best sport tourer. As you say , everyone has their own personal opinion on this. ✌

I think it’s a bike you need to spend more time in the saddle on before the grin factor kicks in. An hours test ride isn’t really enough. I went from a Street Triple RS to my Gen2 GT and it took a while getting used to the gearing and power delivery. First ride for me was Bristol to Oxford in torrential rain and gale force wind and not once did I feel unsafe on it. Following day was Oxford to Norfolk and it was dry and sunny and I had an absolute blast!

A crazy amount of HP, 150 more than my humble Meteor ! "Different strokes." I can't get over how you blokes go blasting around those country lanes at 70 mph ! 😆 Ala Lawrence of Arabia 😉 Cheers 🍻

Standard tyres here are Continental SportAttack 4's. They don't gell with this bike. Try the RoadAttack 4. It wil transform the bike to the best sports tourer by far. Me and my mate ride 2017 SD GT's. Four times a year we do Eifel, Black Forrest, Alps and Dolomites. We ride there from Holland so it has to have both touring and twisty capabillities. And believe me it does. Ride the twisties as if it were a naked. Stupid fast, silly leaning angles, trailbreaking like mad till the apex. Blasting out of corners on the monster torque. Mind you, with the sidecases, buddybag and tankbag! Best sports touring bike? You bet. Btw, wet weight is 235kg not 225

I hear a lot about ktm engines leaking oil... is that a recurring theme in all ktms? or only on specific engines? kinda want one, but I am not liking tha potencial reliability issue....

Surely the Kawasaki H2 SX is more powerful at 198bhp. Good review 👍

Cracking review! I just can't get past the looks of KTM's - not my jam

Hi Angus. Interesting that a couple of times you referenced the Ninja sports tourer over the Suzuki given that you concluded you preferred the Suzuki. Mind you, I guess we are talking tiny margins. Regards Den

I'd vote second best. Caveat: I ride my wife on back 90% of the time--I have other lighter, smaller bikes for solo/local hooliganisms. I traded my GT for a 2023 Ducati Pikes Peak V4 and this is my favorite for two-up--maybe solo too. The Ducati feels much more stable and actually more nimble side-to-side. Yeah--it costs about $9000 more--but at this point, the GT is literally a old parts bin Superduke with a much flimsier frame and swing arm than the latest Superduke--which is already being geared for replacement/update. I believe the flex is part of what I felt was making the GT feel relatively squirmy/unsettled on corner. Keep in mind I have owned every single Super Duke ever made (4 of them) and three of their big adventure bikes--plus a Duke 890R...a SMC 690R -12 KTMs before trying the Pikes Peak. 1290 motor still king of roll-on in-gear torque.

bike looks awesome im just worried with reliability in long term

Wonderful engine but, quite surprisingly, coming from a 1290 Evo and looking for a more sport touring oriented solution, I ended up liking the BMW R1250 RS more than this one. Maybe it was just because moving away from the Superduke was so difficult that I had to do a real cut 😉. Nice and enjoyable review as usual, thanks ✌️

Did it run hot?

I see you casually drive in town on the 3rd gear. When you want to give it some power i guess you ll drop to second gear. Doesnt it power-drop on second gear, under 60kmh / 40mph? I get this every single time. can only normally throttle hard in under 60kmh, in 1st gear. otherwise it will like stop providing power for a second, and then re-give power.

What a bike! Too much for me. I'm going to buy a jacket like yours. It must have panniers for it.

For that price I hope it comes in at least 3 colours.(haha).

Well… unless you are talking about the M1000XR. It has 200bhp… But who’s counting?

I disagree that it is the most powerful sports tour motorcycle. You forgot to include the Kawasaki H2 SX SE turbocharged bike. That one is close to 200 hp and it comes with panniers as well.

Maybe its just me, but the sound of that bike is "cheap" n naaah. Strange you find it good sounding engine.

Nice one..but, surely the SAS has the most gizmos, as it has Adaptive Cruise Control? On my second SAS.. no issues with either. Cheers👍🏻

No, because it won't make it to 30k miles before the repair bills start adding up to 50% of the original cost. There's no point to a touring bike that will fall apart. The only way I'd buy one of these is if KTM offered the same warranty Kia does on it's cars.

no no no BMW s1000xr with similar options is much more expensive.

RPM at US freeway speeds? 80-90mph?. very important. the kawy an suzy both fail miserably with intolerable buzzing at very high rpm at these everyday normal freeway speeds. add to that misery the ridiculous fly screens an you'd never make it on the freeway at these speeds even 1hr. anyways its another dorko dad adv aint foolin nobody. squid missiles with bags.

too much editing on this video. Its hard to watch with it flicking around so much! Cant you just ride and talk without having to edit so much?

Just got rid of mine due to the usual KTM glitches. A good bike spoilt by KTM electronics. Also come on KTM why do you have to pay a shed load more to unlock all the toys.

Unreliable KTM. Just get a Kawasaki Versys 1000 SE GT, bulletproof.

Put it in sport and switch the gizmos off and hang on for your life,what a 💩review,wasted time...