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KTM Track-Only MotoGP Replica Costs €140,000, Envisaged for 2018

KTM is pushing hard to have the MotoGP bike ready for testing by November and then start a full, final year of real-life, on-track testing ahead of the premiere class comeback scheduled for 2017.
Older KTM MotoGP bike 3 photos
Photo: KTM
2005-spec MotoGP KTM engine2005-spec MotoGP KTM
Still, Mattighoffen is also eyeing a production racer based on the MotoGP machine, and we hope it would not be as disappointing as the recently unveiled Honda RC213V-S. The production racer will follow the premier class bike, and KTM CEO Stefan Pierer says that it will be developed in 2017, with massive input from the racing program.

Nevertheless, the main focus is centered on the MotoGP, Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsport Director tells speedweek. He says that first, KTM must have a final version of the MotoGP bike in the box, and then they will know how its commercial version should be like.

"It can't be cheap, simply because a lot of high-quality, tuned parts are used"

Speaking about the customer V4 liter-class bike, Beirer adds that it will be largely based on the MotoGP machine, using the same tubular steel trellis chassis. Apparently, KTM will offer the production racer with seamless shifting and pneumatic valves, and the bike will be closer to the MotoGP than Honda's RC213V-S is to the base RC213V.

KTM hopes to sell 150-200 bikes for a price around €140,000

Mattighofen estimates that they could sell 150 to 200 copies, but Beirer says that having even 100 such bikes on the tracks around the world would be a massive success. Given the expectancy, KTM could sell the production racer for €140,000 ($157,000), which is significantly lower than what Honda asks for the RC213V-S (€188,000 in 159 hp trim and extra 12 grand for the race kit).

With the MotoGP electronics package out on the track and being tested under racing conditions, KTM can effortlessly intervene and tailor the power delivery for the production racer, as it seems that the brains of the two bikes will be fairly similar.

It will be interesting to see how powerful KTM's new 1000cc V4 engine will be, and how much of that power will be reserved for the production racer.

A road-going bike is still a possibility

Beirer doesn't exclude the possibility that KTM delivers a road-going bike based on the production racer. Even though Stefan Pierer denied that KTM was interested in delivering a new liter-class superbike to follow the 200 horsepower trend, Pit Beirer leaves a tiny open door to the idea.

Bierer sais that priorities are the MotoGP bike, followed by the production racer, and in the end, maybe, a street version. Knowing how many times KTM said one thing and did the opposite, we can almost bet a street-legal superbike would arrive in the future.

The production racer is estimated to become available in the second half of 2018, so it's still plenty of time to see how things develop.
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