By Chris Newbigging
New bikes
02 October 2007 12:25
KTM is looking for road rider’s thoughts on the new 690 Stunt prototype motorcycle to see if there’s enough demand for a production version.
The Stunt is based around the 2008 KTM Duke’s 653cc engine and chassis parts, with even more minimalist bodywork and stunt-ready features including a scraper rail on the tail, and crash bars around the engine.
The bodywork is stripped right down to allow the rider to move on the motorcycle – the under seat fuel tank isn’t even covered by panels like the rest of the 690 range, so crash pucks protect the outer extremities of the tank.
Lights and road parts don’t feature on the prototype, but the Duke base motorcycle supports the wiring for lights, so making the change to a road legal motorcycle.
The front end features a radial four-piston caliper biting on a huge disc to make stoppie and burnouts easy, and the handlebars are fitted with a thumb-operated rear brake to allow experienced stunt riders free-reign to try more radical tricks.
The single sided-swingarm is the first from KTM, and holds the rear lightweight wheel, matched at the front by another black-finished rim. An Akrapovic exhaust, Renthal handlebars (with a cross brace which acts as the fluid reservoirs for the clutch and brakes) and WP suspension complete the high-spec concept model.
The machine has been developed as a concept by Kiska Design, an outside company which has designed nearly every new KTM in the last 16 years. Gerard Kiska told MCN:
“We looked at ideas from the urban stunt scene, and we just captured them and implemented them into the design. We based it on the new Duke, as it already has the right dimensions.
“We have kept the bike close to normal riders – even in Austria when I go downtown I see riders doing wheelies and stoppies – it’s a new kind of fun. You can have a different adventure in every car parking space.
“It has to be decided whether the bike will go in to production, we’ll have to look at public reaction.
“The LC4 is a fantastic engine, and we will keep on surprising people with what we can do with it.
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