Photo: Facebook capture
Remember the all-new R1200GS stranded on the side of the road with a broken front rim after hitting a small pothole? Well, here's a KTM 1290 Super Duke GT that sort of shared the fate of the Beemer but in a much worse predicament, left with a bent rim because of hitting a large rock in the middle of the road.
Rocks on the road are a major hazard if run into or over, and it's been more than once that riders crashed because of them, sustaining severe injuries. In more fortunate cases, the motorcyclists escaped unhurt, but the bike almost never comes off well from such encounters.
This 1290 Super Duke GT was a part of the fleet KTM brought to Mallorca for the official presentation. The bikes were handed over to the press, and the riders scattered on the Spanish island to put the machines through their paces on the winding roads around Palma.
One of the fellows had to stop his ride much earlier than expected after he got a flat tire caused by a bent front rim. Traveling around a corner and having a natural stone wall on his right side, one of the moto-station journalists could do nothing to avoid running straight into it.
The fellow remained with the rubber side of the motorcycle on the road, albeit with the front tire deflated. The pigeon-sized rock dealt a serious amount of damage to the front rim, and it would need a very skilled mechanic to return that wheel to functionality.
So if you wondered how good the 1290 Super Duke GT is for all-round traveling purposes, you now know that you should tread lightly when the road surface is lousy. Likewise, you could venture a bit off the road, and even on rock-paved surfaces but mind your speed and your line around the obstacles on the ground.
KTM has other machines for those who want to ride fast on rough terrain, but the Super Duke GT is not one of them.
This 1290 Super Duke GT was a part of the fleet KTM brought to Mallorca for the official presentation. The bikes were handed over to the press, and the riders scattered on the Spanish island to put the machines through their paces on the winding roads around Palma.
One of the fellows had to stop his ride much earlier than expected after he got a flat tire caused by a bent front rim. Traveling around a corner and having a natural stone wall on his right side, one of the moto-station journalists could do nothing to avoid running straight into it.
The fellow remained with the rubber side of the motorcycle on the road, albeit with the front tire deflated. The pigeon-sized rock dealt a serious amount of damage to the front rim, and it would need a very skilled mechanic to return that wheel to functionality.
So if you wondered how good the 1290 Super Duke GT is for all-round traveling purposes, you now know that you should tread lightly when the road surface is lousy. Likewise, you could venture a bit off the road, and even on rock-paved surfaces but mind your speed and your line around the obstacles on the ground.
KTM has other machines for those who want to ride fast on rough terrain, but the Super Duke GT is not one of them.
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