2024 KTM 790 Duke: 10 Things You Should Know (2024)

KTM is doubling down on the outstanding Duke 790 naked bike. Known as the original scalpel for its unparalleled precision, KTM is taking an aggressive stance, fitting of the scalpel, with its marketing approach for the 2024-year model. The Austrian motorcycle brand is marketing the 790 Duke as a no-nonsense attitude bike that delivers sharpness in a raw, naked package. And when we say 'no-nonsense', we're using a much more civil expression here, not exactly the words used by KTM to describe the 2024 scalpel.

Put it simply, the 790 Duke is all business, a pure naked bike, exposed, with no fairings or windshields. Unlike some of its competitors, the 790 Duke was created as a naked bike, instead of a stripped down superbike. This allowed KTM to come up with a product that flirts with perfection for what it was built for. Naked from the ground up, the 790 Duke defies the laws of physics with its dynamic behavior, agility and precision unlike any other naked motorcycle out there. It's a middleweight motorcycle that aims to punch above its weight, and once you've tested one, you'll be left wondering if you really need a more powerful naked bike.

10 The 2024 Model Returns To Celebrate 30 Years Of The Duke Lineup

It's been 30 years since the first KTM Duke naked motorcycle was introduced. Prior to the Duke, KTM only made off-road and racing bikes. In 1994, they released the single-cylinder 690 Duke as its first street motorcycle. This original 'thumper' was fed by a carburetor and built to deliver power as low in the rpm range as possible. The 2024 Duke model year lineup marks 30 years of KTM street bikes' anniversary, a significant landmark in its history. And even more significant to the Duke, which has been an ongoing project over these past decades, always receiving improvements and becoming even better with each passing generation, even on its smaller models, like the 390 Duke.

9 A Middleweight Duke Is All You Need

The 790 Duke is KTM's entry model in its middleweight lineup, and one could argue it's all the naked bike one could ever need. It's powerful, torque rich, has a light frame and an exhilarating growl from its LC8c parallel twin engine. Ever since the 790 Duke came into being, it left an indelible mark in the naked bike segment.

2024 KTM 790 Duke Specs And Performance

The bore and stroke of the engine is 88 mm and 65.7 mm respectively, allowing for higher revs, without producing too strong reciprocating forces from the pistons and other moving parts. The 799 cc engine is peppy, eager to accelerate towards its redline and delivers impressive acceleration and speed. KTM claims this is the most compact and torque-hungry engine in its class, with an impressive top end power, while maintaining a low overall fuel consumption. It's not a horsepower monster like the upcoming 1390 Super Duke, but while accelerating, it doesn't fall too much behind due to how much power can be transferred to the rear wheel while still keeping the front barely touching the pavement.

8 Chassis Tuned For Sharp And Precise Handling

Everything from the suspension geometry to the lightweight construction of the bike and its engine characteristics were fine-tuned for precise urban use. The Chromium-Molybdenum-Steel frame uses the engine as a stressed element and is compact, light, and rigid, helping the motorcycle to be fast not only when accelerating on a straight line, but also around high and low speed corners. KTM markets the 790 Duke as having the agility of a single cylinder, with the punch of a twin-cylinder, and they seem to be right, if the action in its launch video can be used as a reference.

After seeing what the 790 Duke can do in the hands of a capable rider, it's hard to argue against KTM's marketing positioning of the bike as this sharp and precise machine. A true scalpel used for accurate insertions with surgical precision. After one is acclimated to it, it should be not trouble at all making it perform precisely as intended.

7 Unique, Aggressive Design

The 790 Duke is as naked as they come, and contrary to its adventure models, it has no fairings of any kind, no micro windshield on top of its headlights, and it's not making any excuses about it. Being a purpose built naked motorcycle from the ground up, the KTM 790 Duke boasts a design worthy of its moniker, and unlike any other naked bike, even though there's not much room to set itself apart from the crowd when designers are left with so little to work with on a naked motorcycle. Regardless, the Duke 790 manages to do it, aided by sharp lines everywhere you look. From front to back, you'll notice these on the headlights, mirrors, fuel tank, seat, and even the passenger seat. The two-into-one exhaust tip is a work of art in its own right. Small and compact, it helps the bike produce its distinctive and angry engine sound.

6 LED Lighting And TFT Display

Up to the standards of modern day motorcycles, the scalpel comes with LED headlights that turn the night into day as it makes its way into the city streets. The headlights are flanked by two vertical strips that are used as daylight running lights. The multicolor thin film transistor (TFT) display presents all the relevant information the rider needs in a clear, uncluttered way. As the revs go up, the bars change color, either to entice you to push it even harder, or to remember you the engine is still cold from your morning start. This TFT display also adapts automatically according to changes in ambient lighting.

5 State-Of-The-Art Rider Aids

Ride Modes:

• Sport
• Street
• Rain
• Track

The rider can also count on modern rider aids to assist him in prescription doses, according to what he needs. The bike features BOSCH's lean sensitive ABS, as well as lean sensitive traction control. These systems will allow for some wheel slip depending on the setting chosen, but they also have an off switch for the daredevils among ourselves. One useful and interesting rider aid that compliments the Duke 790 slipper clutch is KTM's Motor Slip Regulation (MSR). MSR is basically traction control, but working in the opposite direction. It ensures the rider will not be caught by surprise by a rear wheel lock up when aggressively shifting down or simply abruptly disengaging the throttle, which is, by the way, ride-by-wire.

4 Amicable Ergonomics

A street bike is, by definition, meant for everyday use, and KTM wants Duke owners to ride their bikes as often as possible. This helps promote their product, as they're seen more often on the streets, and keeps riders hooked on that Duke thrill, unlike anything else, and coming back for more. To that end, the rider ergonomics on the Duke 790 are not overdone when it comes to sporty riding. They're accommodating and comfortable, allowing for a relatively upright riding position with knees bent a little over 90 degrees and arms stretched.

The seat height is 32.5-inches has a design that gives the rider room to move closer to the tank and hug it with his or her knees, transferring weight to the front when the time comes to take charge of the bike and show it who's in command. In this position, as the rider's body tilts forward, his arms will be bent, and he'll have plenty of leverage on the handlebars to steer the bike easily. This will also help traction control in keeping the front wheel glued to the ground when accelerating hard.

3 High Performance Suspension

Arguably the best KTM naked bike comes with WP APEX rear shock, which is gas assisted and features a progressive spring and preload adjustment. It is linked directly to the die-cast open-lattice swingarm reducing parts needed and complexity. At the front, 43mm upside-down open cartridge forks, also from WP, use split function technology, where the compression and the rebound take place in each separate leg of the fork. This in turns allows for better fine-tuning of the fork. The front fork springs are also progressive, allowing for a smooth and comfortable initial operation, while growing ever harder as the forks gets more compressed, preventing bottoming out. The front suspension travel is 5.5-inches while the rear is 5.9-inches.

2 Brakes, Wheels And Tires

At the front, KTM Duke 790 has two radially mounted, four-piston, fixed calipers' disc brakes with 300 mm in diameter. The rear is a two-piston caliper, single disc. The front brake lever is adjustable so that it sits right where the rider wants it, within easy reach. The wheels on the 790 Duke are made from lightweight alloy manufactured through a low-pressure die-casting process, and are fitted with a set of specially developed MAXXIS Supermaxx ST tires for optimum street performance. The world of motorcycles is marked by partnerships to make the best components for our beloved two-wheeled companions.

1 Forced Oil Lubrication Ensures All Critical Engine Components Are Safe

The 790 Duke lubrication system uses two oil pumps working together to keep a constant and controlled flow of oil to all critical engine components. This is useful since these bikes are expected to be subject to strong accelerations and decelerations, as well as different lean angles that could all impact oil flow, if not for this forced system. The fact that KTM took the time to work on this shows their commitment to quality and durability of the powerplants powering their bikes, and all the more reason to Duke it out on the 2024 KTM 790 Duke.