Road-Legal KTM RC 8C Sportbike Spotted Testing for the First Time

It has been a few years since KTM offered a customer-level supersport bike, but all that is going to change in the coming months as an all-new fully-faired motorcycle has been spotted testing for the first time, which seems to be the road-legal version of the RC 8C limited edition track-focused bike. In terms of the mechanical specifications, the upcoming motorcycle would be based on the 890 Duke R while the production version is expected to make an official debut at the EICMA motorcycle show in 2022. Here are the spy photos of the road-legal KTM RC 8C:

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To jog your memory, KTM RC 8C is a purpose-built, lightweight racing prototype that uses the familiar LC8c engine from the KTM 890 Duke R. It is then wrapped in a bespoke, track-ready chassis that is bristling with high-end components. Officially, the superbike will be released in 2023, and only 100 machines will be made, with 25 lucky customers having the opportunity to join the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team.

It weighs 140kg dry, which almost gets the bike to a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. In essence, the KTM RC 8C allows customers the opportunity to own a machine that is as close to a factory race bike as possible, without the drawbacks of needing a specialist race team to maintain it. It is the first supersport bike that KTM has offered since 2015, which was the very last year of the KTM 1190 RC8 R. While the new RC 8C looks dramatically different from the 8-year-old RC8 R, they were both dreamed up in the KISKA design lab in Austria. 

The engine is paired with a dedicated airbox and a full Akrapovic titanium exhaust that sits on a custom steel tubular frame, and the entire bike is wrapped in carbon-kevlar reinforced bodywork inspired by the KTM RC16 MotoGP bike. As for the suspension, upfront is a 43mm WP Apex Pro Cartridge fork and in the rear is a WP Apex Pro 7760 Shock with preload adjustability. 

Engineered to be the ultimate track bike, the KTM RC 8C is a completely hand-built machine powered by the 889cc LC8c engine found in the KTM 890 Duke R, generating 128 hp and 101 Nm of top torque. Knowing that KTM also has the glorious 1301cc LC8 engine found in the 1290 Super Duke R, a more powerful version of the RC 8C is expected to be seen down the road.