A super moto tourer? Have they gone mad? I can tell you one thing, your trips surely wont be boring on one of these. The 114hp talks to the rear wheel extremely quickly which in turns send the front wheel pointing to 1 o clock.

So what do we have here? A superduke engine, super motard chassis and a touring cockpit and facia area. Clever design I think to myself. Then I noticed the extremely grippy Conti-sport Attack tires and I knew that this baby … actually meant business. The LC8 motor has been around for a while and every time I ride it. It just feels smoother and faster. I love the new update on the speedo /rev counter. The older models were just way too orange… seems like everything has been modernised.

The suspension and brakes are obviously still made by Brembo and WP-suspension. Some of the best in the business, no doubt… Don’t even try to argue there. After you sample the Brembo’s response anything else will feel spongy and far less responsive. The suspension is fully adjustable. The rear is firm, but a couple of turns and you can have it as you please. The seat is comfortable, in typical touring fashion; you would be able to do a couple of long days on it.

The Super Moto R, the Call it the SMT’s Evil brother, Is a purpose built bike meant for one thing, Hooliganism. The SMT is not much different. It’s like you have a little guy sitting on your shoulder pulling on your ear to hang on the throttle cable. The 990 SMT accelerates extremely quickly to get you into the red limit of the law, in fact, I bet it should do it in 4 seconds. The SMT handles like a real sport bike. Turn – in is quick and stable. The sweet-spot in the mid-range is around 4-7000Rpm and the pulls you out of the turns with little trouble. It’s something that just makes you want more and more of it. Enter a turn drop a gear and power out… I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon.

The SMT has a 19l Fuel tank, seat height of 855mm and the ground clearance stands at 195mm. The clearance is pretty impressive as not much road bikes have such clearance. Rims and tires 17inchers and are 3.5 in the front and 5.5 at the rear with 120/70 covering the front rim and 180/55 at the back. Claimed weight is marked at 196kg without fuel. The bike really feels light and flick-able I can see owners fitting some scorpion dual sport tires to get the bike out on some gravel. It is probably one of the most versatile bikes on the road today. Take it on tour or take it to the track. The SMT excels either way.

Bike provided by KTM Cape Town 021 511 7966