Is this the new 2012 KTM 690 Duke R? The spy photo was allegedly snapped at a Mattighofen petrol station in Austria, the same town where KTM has its head office. Coincidence?
The photo of the blacked-out Duke is most likely a pre-production model undergoing testing, but there are differences in its design which suggests it could be a close-to-production version of the 190km/h naked bike.
Though it's hard to tell from the angle of the photo (and we're curious why more photos from different angles weren't taken - a controlled leak from KTM perhaps?), the headlight appears to be altered from the current KTM Duke. The vertically stacked twin projector beam layout has been switched with a single lens, but it's unclear whether this is the final design.
Another major design change is the exhaust pipe.
No longer underslung below the belly pan, the exhaust juts out from the side of the bike and this alteration changes the bike's aesthetics somewhat. No doubt part of the stricter European emissions targets coming into force, the large exhaust may be necessary to accommodate catalytic convertors and other smog reducing elements.
KTM is expected to launch the new 2012 model year 690 Duke R at the EICMA motorcycle expo in Milan in November, and there's good chance that between now and then the new middleweight Duke's design could be chopped and changed.
Powertrain tweaks are also expected to be part of the 2012 update for the KTM 690 Duke R, the big OHC single-cylinder four-valve engine likely to be mildly fettled to boost its current output of 70hp (52kW) and 70Nm to something like 75hp and 75Nm.
Expect the Marchesini rims, aluminium frame and bold orange highlights of the 2011 KTM 690 Duke R to return when the 2012 model makes its debut in November, and if we're lucky the suspension and brakes may come in for a minor tweak.
There's also a small chance that this spy photo could represent a smaller capacity Duke, 450 or thereabouts, as KTM has indicated plans to expand the range, the first part of which can be evidenced in the Europe-only 125 Duke.
Watch this space.
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