Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM, announced a few years ago that the company is developing a completely new 490cc platform. The twin-cylinder engine was to be used in motorcycles based on this. Most of the popular models: Duke, RC, Adventure, etc would have had at least one variant here.
This was the most exciting news for enthusiasts. It would have been a great stepping stone for all existing 250/390 KTM users. And also the people looking for mid-displacement twin-cylinder models. These were to be manufactured in India by Bajaj Auto, and the pricing would have been a selling point as well.
But according to an online report from Autocar, this platform has been shelved. It claims that the costs of developing and testing such a low-capacity parallel twin engine are high, and KTM is hesitant to put all this money down.
The prospect of owning a street-naked, twin-cylinder KTM motorcycle with 60 to 65 horsepower and tonnes of features and equipment at an expected starting price of Rs 4.00 lakh was enticing.
We see a large market for such motorcycles, at least in India, but KTM is not convinced. KTM’s decision to focus its efforts on other platforms is most likely due to the global prospects for near 500cc motorcycles.
This leads us to believe that speculations about a larger engine capacity for the upcoming next-gen 390 Duke may be correct, given that the 490cc platform will not see a day of light in the future.
