As we reported earlier, KTM is in the process of making 490 Duke, RC 490, and 490 Adventure on the all-new twin-cylinder platform. The Research and Development centre at Bajaj Auto is successfully carrying the development of the new platform in Pune with the help of KTM’s R&D centre.
The new motorcycles are expected to be unveiled in the year 2022 and ahead of the official unveiling, SRK Designs has digitally rendered the KTM 490 Duke to give the fans a sneak peek into the design of the naked motorcycle. The first look of the 490 Duke clears the fact that it is based on the 390 Duke.
If we take a closer look into the detailing of the bike, we can notice that several design elements have been taken from the bigger KTM motorcycles. The subframe of the new bike looks the same as the one on the 790 Duke. Further, the taillight and the rear fender appears to have been taken from 890 Duke R.
The other parts of the bike like USD front forks, fuel tank, front fender, alloy wheels, and the mainframe have been borrowed from the 390 Duke. However, the seat is bigger and would provide the rider with enough space to move around, while the headlight seems to be much sharper than that of the current-gen 390 Duke and resembles the one used in the 890 Duke R.
The rendering of the KTM 490 Duke uses a familiar exhaust though it is expected that the Austrian bikemaker might go for a different unit for the final model considering that the engine is a twin-cylinder. The 490 Duke engine will be similar in terms of technology to the one we see in 790 Duke.
Although the company is yet to decide whether the parts of the new-gen models will be manufactured by Bajaj Auto or not, the company’s partner CFmoto in China already makes KTM models based on the 790 platforms.