You feel that? Who cares what that rodent in Punxsutawney says; warmer weather is on the way. For every motorcyclist who would rather suffer a lobotomy than stay off two wheels any longer, that means breaking out the bike and hitting the road. Of course, it also means riders need the right tool for the job. The right bike for the right kind of riding. Want to head out and carve canyons? Grab the keys to your sport bike or street fighter. Do you have a hankering for highway miles? Hop on the big, luxurious touring motorcycle.
That is, unless you choose a bike that can do both of these things. That’s sort of the impetus behind a sport tourer. Granted, it’s an ill-defined category of motorcycle. For some models, sport touring means a powerful, lightweight sport bike with touring-friendly tweaks. For others, the formula means a heavier, luxuriously comfortable touring bike with a little bit of an attitude. But there is one bike that offers a good balance.
Why A Sport Tourer?
It’s in the name. For a wide swath of mileage-minded motorcyclists, touring means a big ol’ bagger, like an Indian Chieftain Powerplus or Harley-Davidson Road Glide. But what if you want something that can lace up its running shoes and sprint, corner, and handle itself like an athlete without giving up its highway manners? That’s where a sport tourer comes in. Rather than focusing on race-derived, track-ready performance or lazy, continent-crushing cruising, a sport tourer can do a hefty helping of both. Think Swiss Army Knife on two wheels.
The Sport Touring Formula
To make a good sport tourer, you need a few things. Start with an eager, performance-oriented engine. Add a comfortable, albeit athletic riding position. Toss in storage, capable handling, usable ergonomics, and the ability to ride two-up, and you’ve got the basic formula for a go-anywhere, do-anything sport tourer. And KTM seems to have a solid one.
The KTM 1290 Super Duke GT Is A Grand Touring Twin With Performance DNA
Starting Price: $20,499
Enter the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT. The Austrian brand calls the 2024 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT a “comfortable cruise missile.” Big talk, indeed. But when you dig down into what makes up the 1290 Super Duke GT, it seems like KTM might be on to something with the touring-ready Super Duke. Like the discontinued KTM 1290 Super Adventure S/R and Super Duke R Evo, the GT is motivated by a 75-degree LC8 twin. KTM claims an output of close to 175 horsepower and 104 pound-feet of twist, more than enough fun factor for a 517-pound sport tourer.
This Is A Rev-Happy Mill
Part of the appeal of the 1290 Super Duke GT’s beating heart is how it revs. KTM gave the LC8 a crankshaft with a low reciprocating weight within the case. As a result, the LC8 revs freely. Speaking of lightness and revving, the LC8 has a set of light, Formula 1-inspired 108mm forged aluminum pistons with a penchant for, you guessed it, working up the rev range. If that wasn’t enough, the motorcycle marque designed the piston skirts with a hard-anodized finish. It’s a feature designed to reduce friction and keep the bike running smoothly. Atop the lower end of the engine, KTM installed a set of four-valve cylinder heads with twin-plug ignition, resonator chambers, and titanium valves. As far as service intervals go, KTM says you can wait 15,000 kilometers (about 9,320 miles) to service the mighty LC8 V-twin.
The GT Comes Ready For Two-Up Riding
Some motorcycles are solitary machines. They sport solo saddles and are completely devoid of rear passenger pegs. That’s not the case here. KTM says it engineered the 1290 Super Duke GT’s subframe specifically to support a passenger and a set of fully-loaded hard-case bags. On top of that, the semi-active WP suspension is electronically adjustable. At the touch of a button, the rider can make tweaks to the 1290 Super Duke GT’s ride, much to the benefit of a passenger along for the ride. KTM also claims to have worked some fuel-mapping magic to smooth out throttle responsiveness with a passenger in mind.
Spendy Storage
If you’re more concerned with how much you can tote than who you can tote, the 1290 Super Duke GT offers a set of direct-fit hard-case bags. The bags connect up via the GT’s integrated mounting system. Each bag will swallow up to 30 liters, for a combined cargo volume of 60 liters. That said, the lockable side bags aren’t standard and are pricey, at around $954 for the set. Don’t expect to put a ton of weight in them, either. The maximum load for the two bags is a combined 15.4 pounds.
10 Sport Tourers That Balance Passenger Comfort And Solo Performance
These ten touring motorcycles aren’t just comfortable for your pillion, they’ll plaster a big grin on your face when you set out by yourself!
An Emphasis On Smoothness And Agility
For the 1290 Super Duke GT, KTM has taken a specific focus on balancing mile-munching grand tourer credentials with enough agility to thrill riders. For 2024, the 1290 Super Duke GT got a steering damper as standard equipment, along with an electronically adjustable WP suspension system and four-way adjustable preload. Ride modes like Comfort, Street, and Sport are accessible via the bike’s 7-inch TFT dash. Suspension adjustments and the ride modes are also accessible using the buttons alongside the GT’s heated grips.
In addition to rider-made adjustments, the Suspension Control Unit (SCU) makes adjustments to damping, load, and anti-dive rates on the fly. Moreover, KTM touts the GT’s single-piece, single-side swingarm as the lightest in the difficult-to-define class. Weight savings continue with the GT’s 17-inch wheels, which reportedly save 2.2 pounds of unsprung weight.
Wrapping up those cast-aluminum wheels is a set of Continental ContiSportAttack4 tires. Braking comes courtesy of four-piston Brembo monoblocks and 320-mm floating disc brakes up front, while a two-piston Brembo caliper bites a 240-mm disc out back. As for suspension travel, the front end has just under 10 inches of travel, while the rear may travel as much as 6.1 inches.
5 Sport Bikes We Love (And 5 Sport Tourers We’d Rather Buy)
When speed isn’t everything, these five sport tourers win
Prices Start At $20,499
Pricing for the 2024 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT sits at $20,499 with a freight charge of around $750. Depending on which sport tourers you weigh it against, the 1290 Super Duke GT is on par with, if also slightly pricier than, some competitors. The BMW S 1000 XR, for instance, starts at around $18,825 before speccing it out with pricey upgrades. Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GT is one of the most well-priced bikes in this space, meanwhile. It is almost $6,000 cheaper than the GT, although there aren’t as many goodies on it either.
That said, there is some bad news. You can’t get a 2026-model-year KTM 1290 Super Duke GT as of this writing. Instead, KTM is looking to bring the updated 1390 Super Duke GT to the US soon. This should follow right after we get the adventure-touring 1390 Super Adventure S Evo here by end of 2026. Until then, we’d suggest you hit KTM dealers and get yourself a good deal on the 1290 GT.
The Most Comfortable American Touring Motorcycles For Long Road Trips
While Harley’s new lineup dominates the list, Indian has some impressive options for you as well
How The 2024 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT Gets It Right
Admittedly, the sport touring segment is an ill-defined one. Some entries cater more to the touring side of things, neglecting to stay lightweight or nimble in the process. The 2024 KTM 1290 Super Duke GT skews to the sporty, opting for in-corner thrills and high revs over raw touring utility. Still, the GT manages to tick boxes in every category, offering an athletic riding position and a highway-ready demeanor without too much compromise in either category.
Sources: KTM