Naked Motorcycles

My love for the KTM 790 Duke has been well documented on MO, but the reality is that had KTM been a little less tight-lipped when I was laying down my hard-earned cash for the bike, I might never have owned it. Instead, an 890 Duke R would probably be parked in my garage. That doesn’t lessen my attachment to the 790, but it helps to explain my desire to squeeze as much power out of the parallel-Twin as I can, while maintaining its social acceptability on exhaust sound. (OK, maybe being mocked in the comments when the Akrapovic slip-on resulted in slightly lower peak power has a little to do with my search for power, too.) Regardless, my unspoken goal for my performance modifications has been to get as close as possible to a stock 890’s mid-range power. From the moment Rottweiler Performance released its Rally Edition Full Intake System for the 790/890 Adventure, I’ve been salivating at the prospect of installing an adapted version on my Duke. Well, with the release of the Rottweiler Performance Intake System for the KTM 790/890 Duke, that wait is over, and man, does it kick some butt. 

For the previous week, I’d anxiously checked the weather reports for updates. Sandwiched in between swaths of little sun icons were two little black clouds spewing raindrops. Naturally, those were the scheduled dates for the US press to ride the 2024 Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS on the Andalusian backroads and the famed Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto in southern Spain. 

If one were a slightly more casual Ducati fan, who wanted a classic to blip around in the post-pandemic on more than one to tear up the track with, one could do much worse than this 20-year old 2003 Ducati Monster 1000. Ten years after the original Monster, they’d already begun sticking liquid-cooled L-twins into everybody’s favorite naked bike. But the new 1000 Dual Spark air-cooled engine in the ’03 Monster 1000 was just as torquey, less pricey and complicated – plus the new air-cooled bike was much easier on the body and the occhi. Take it away, Yossef!