New items 2004: Presentation of the KTM 990 RC8

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New items 2004: Presentation of the KTM 990 RC8

Full the edge

Orange ?? sure, of course! And angular? how else? In the style of the jagged 990 Duke, KTM designed the prototype 990 RC8. MOTORRAD presents the ultra-light super sports car as a world exclusive.

Attack from Mattighofen: Ultralight, extremely styled? the RC8 wants to give the established street two-cylinder fraction the edge. Peacefulness has never been the maxim under the KTM
Machines designed, but the RC8 goes one better. An aggression on two wheels. Brave, tough, bold, evil! Not a bike for the masses, but rich-
good for the bad wolf. And at the same time with a thoroughly elegant line.
Who is behind it? A young dynamic project group led by engineer Philipp Habsburg, including MOTORRAD man Werner Koch. The troop has been working flat out for months. The first prototypes have already undergone extensive driving tests, and on this basis a design model was created by KTM’s regular designer Kiska, which is now being presented to the public at the Tokyo Motor Show. In the course of the winter, two ready-to-drive machines are to be built for further development.
However, the patience of potential buyers will be put to a tough test, the athlete will only start series production in 2007
planned. It’s a shame, because the compact, angular fighting machine would already be a great alternative to the V-twin-cylinder athletes à la Aprilia RSV 1000 R or Ducati 999. Especially since they look a lot-
lig pursues an independent direction that is certainly polarizing. The days of smoothly washed mainstream optics seem to be coming to an end.
In contrast to the 990 Duke, which is technically largely based on the Enduro 950
Adventure based, the chassis of the RC8 is a completely new development. The backbone is basically still a grid structure, but it has been completely redrawn. Few, but very strong tubes create a clear structure that should ideally pair extreme rigidity with low weight (less than nine kilograms). A small aluminum auxiliary frame stabilizes the sleek rear end, into which the 17 liter tank extends far. In front of the tank, under the orange plastic cover, the airbox is hidden, to which the air is fed on both sides via angularly packed intake ducts and inlet slots underneath the headlight.
The reduced design is only made possible by a constructive trick: the Austrians relocated the silencer under the engine. This is basically nothing new? This principle is known from the Buell models or from the Honda study NAS 1000 ??, but it has a number of advantages: Because of the flat dry sump engine, there is plenty of space in the fairing keel for a huge silencer, around 20 liters gross. The elbow length required for a good torque curve can also be easily integrated. Freed from the exhaust system, there is great design freedom in the rear area. And thoughts about the lean angle are also superfluous.
It must also be used in the construction
the swing arm no consideration
year elbow can be taken. Here the Austrians did not simply resort to the usual aluminum swing arms made of drawn profiles, but instead milled a massive, spatial structure from the solid. If this part actually goes into series production, it should be welded from cast parts and formed sheet metal parts. Contrary to the previous PDS house philosophy, the WP shock absorber is not supported directly on the swing arm, but via pivot levers. This is intended to achieve the particularly important, fine response behavior in road operation and a progressive identification of the rear wheel suspension. WP delivers that too
massive upside-down fork to which the two Brembo four-piston calipers are radially screwed.
The oil tank with a practical viewing tube peeps out from behind the vertically cut cladding on the right; electrical components and the battery have to be stowed away on the left. KTM attaches great importance to a tidy look, all cables are laid as concealed as possible. Likewise is
the rotary steering damper in front of the steering head is largely invisible. Handlebar flapping is consequently more exuberant despite
Performance, low weight and sporty geometry are not an issue.
The engine, which weighs less than 60 kilograms, is supposed to reduce the total weight to 175 kilograms and set new standards for power-to-weight ratio in the two-cylinder segment. Together with the targeted 136 hp from the full liter displacement, this promises a dynamic that is certainly not far from the
current four-cylinder generation is removed. However, there are direct competitors
the two-cylinder athletes from Ducati and Aprilia. KTM is now giving them time until 2007 to lose a good twenty kilos. And maybe one or the other
atlook at the other edge.

Technical data – KTM 990 RC8

Engine: water-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke 75-degree V-engine, a balancer shaft, two overhead, gear-driven and chain-driven camshafts, four valves per cylinder, bucket tappets, dry sump lubrication, injection, engine management , regulated catalytic converter, 12 V / 12 Ah battery Bore / stroke 101 x 62.4 Displacement 999.8 cm3 Compression ratio 11.8: 1 Nominal output 100 kW (136 HP) at 9600 rpm Max. Torque 103 Nm (10.5 kpm) at 7300 rpm Power transmission: hydraulically operated multi-disc oil bath clutch, six-speed gearbox, secondary 38:17 ratio. Chassis: tubular steel frame, screwed-on aluminum rear frame, upside-down fork, slide tube diameter 48 mm, adjustable spring base, train – and compression damping, aluminum two-arm swing arm, central spring strut with lever system, adjustable spring base, rebound and compression damping, double disc brake at the front, Ø 305 mm, radially screwed four-piston calipers, disc brake at the rear, Ø 210 mm, single-piston caliper. Cast aluminum wheels 3.50 x 17; 5.50 x 17 tires 120 / 70-17; 190 / 50-17 Chassis data: wheelbase 1399 mm, steering head angle 67.3 degrees, caster 89 mm, spring travel f / r 120/125 mm. Dimensions and weights: seat height 835 mm, ground clearance 150 mm, weight with a full tank 192 kg, tank capacity 17 liters.

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