KTM RC8 concept
It is not often that we get to see spy shots of a new ‘concept’ model being put through their paces without that manufacturer having largely made up their mind that it would end up being a production model. Motorcycle manufacturers are not in the habit of throwing away hundreds of thousands of development dollars/euros, along with the precious man hours of their engineers and test riders, without having an end game in sight.
Presumably this RC8 concept machine is powered by the LC8c compact parallel-twin engine which KTM is currently using in an 889 cc capacity across their adventure and naked-bike line-ups.
In the current 890 Duke R this incredibly diminutive engine, it is essentially the same size as KTM’s 390 single, despite having twice as many cylinders, makes just over 120 horsepower. The Duke R is also claimed to weigh only around 170 kg, wet.
The RC8 Concept machine appears to be suspended by some of the higher end suspension from the WP catalogue while the brakes also look top shelf.
The kit does not appear to be quite up to the full race-spec components seen on the run of 100 track only RC 8C specials that were produced under a KTM partnership with Kramer. That track special rides on Apex Pro kit that would likely be too cost prohibitive if KTM were to produce this RC8 for the road at a price point that would see the machine actually sell in any real numbers.
As for the track only limited-edition, well they all sold out in under five-minutes when orders opened on the KTM web-site. The track bike makes 128 horsepower and weighs a spritely 140 kg.
Yamaha have dominated World Supersport competition in recent years but next season the World Supersport Championship will have its biggest shake-up since its inception. Ducati are turning up with 955 cc twins, and 765 Triumph engined machines will become eligible. Organisers will use various methods to try and artificially achieve parity, including torque mapping the engines to reduce outputs at various RPM to try and level the playing field somewhat, but it will be very interesting to see how season 2022 pans out…. Perhaps just how that pans out in 2022 will help KTM decide whether or not to put this new RC8 concept bike into production. The RC8 could be expected to be lighter than Ducati’s Panigale V2, but one would expect it to be well shy of the Ducati’s 155 horsepower that it derives from its larger 955 cc V-Twin. But organisers will achieve some sort of parity largely by the aforementioned torque mapping of the engines to reduce their power/torque to try and produce a fairly level playing board.
