The two bikes arrived hot on the heels of its smaller 200cc RC200 and Duke200, barely a year after their launch, and are not mere upgrades from them, but rather a de-tuned version from its larger RC 390 and 390 Duke siblings.
KTM RC250
According to the KTM Malaysia CKD, these bikes are “ready to race” and are the performance benchmarks with a few differences between them other than their basic selling price (before GST) at RM17,888 and RM18,888 for the Duke 250 and RC 250 respectively.
For similarities, both bikes use the same 248.8cc engine pushing out 31.3hp at 9,000rpm and 24Nm of torque at 7,250rpm, while mated to a six-speed transmission with a slipper clutch.
The 37.2kg engine uses an electric starter and is fitted with an electronic fuel injection system and engine management system from Bosch, while a 38mm throttle body takes care of air intake and a stainless steel silencer for the exhaust.
KTM 250 Duke
Their powder coated steel trellis frame has a 43mm up-side-down fork at the front and a monoshock suspension at the rear, but the RC’s front suspension travel is shorter by 25mm at 125mm, while the rear suspension travels the same at 150mm.
As standard, the bikes are now equipped with a Bosch 9MB two-channel anti-lock braking system for the front radially mounted four-piston Bybre calliper and 300mm disc along with the rear’s single-piston calliper and 230mm floating disc.
They ride on a 17-inch cast aluminium wheels for both front and rear and are equipped with 110/70 (front) and 150/60 (rear) series tyres.
The Duke’s trail measures in at 100mm, has a ground clearance of 170mm, saddle height of 800mm, a take capacity of 11 litres and dry weight of 139kg.
According to KTM, the company hopes to sell between 150 and 200 units per month for the RC 250 and 250 to 300 units per month for the 250 Duke, with this year’s annual target of 5,000 units.
KTM 250 Duke
KTM RC250
