Austrian rider René Mähr and his team-mate Pauli Pekkanen, from Finland will be racing these at Valencia on Sunday. Race starts 1040 CET.
would be good to see those machines put through their paces.if they perform anywhere near how they LOOK it will be interesting.
Any idea if its being televised, will be at Brand’s but SKY+ might come in handy
that does look nice from the side, bit dodgy from the front though, and crap engine v-twin bah (okay slight exageration) but give me 3 or 4 pots anyday…
Very shekshee:cool:
I think the two colours looks nicer than the single coloured ones at NEC:cool:
Beautiful! Prequel to WSB racing. KTM need as much data and development as possible before SBK 
Ducati did it with the 1098.
I’d have expected you to mark it down for poor off-road ability as well.
Lovely bike. I like it looks.
I made a mess of my keyboard…
Big article in Bike on the KTM. Am seriously considering it this year.
Gonna wait till any teething problems have been ironed out and will definately be next on the list 
Was recently speaking to a World Endurance rider who rode an RC8 at a recent well known tyre manufacturer’s test day. Said rider thought that the RC8 was very “agricultural.” Clunky gearbox, poor steering and generally not a pleasure to ride.
Of course these race prepared bikes will be completely different beasts! And good luck to them, I’d like to see KTM do well on the roads in something other than 125GPs.
Jeremy McWilliams thought the gearbox was clunky, but very much liked the handling etc.
Being superstock, the race bikes will very close to the machines going over the counter.
It’s going to take a while for the Austrians to match the 1098, it is after all their first superbike. They have set the bar high for themselves by doing such a good job with the 950SM and the Superduke. BTW - They did win the 250GP on Sunday!
Apparently you can adjust absolutely everything on them - Pegs, Bars, Trick WP suspension, Seat Height etc. Can personalise it from comfy touring to race track scalpel.
Heard they are a little viby around 10,000rpm but that the handling is lovely. Plus it is as sexy as Eva Longoria and Danni Minogue wrestling naked in Jello. All that for around £6-700 quid less than a 1098.
Still I expect Ducati Pete to prefer the 1098 (clue’s in the name). Probably likes the dry clutch and the lifestyle or caning around Milano pinching ladies bums going ‘Hey pretty lady check out my big Vespa’ 
Whatever the performance that’s one sick looking bike especially in that colour scheme (how shallow am I? ) Would luurv to shoot it. 
I really WANT to prefer the RC8. I love my Superduke, I love KTM’s “Ready to Race” attitude and it looks so nice. I even have the KTM orange and black Directors chair for trackdays!However, I suspect some aspects of the RC8 just require a little further refinement. (Not suspension though, the decent WP stuff is just as good as the mass produced Ohlins)My gooner friend is correct about the bottom pinching though.
Here’s one I pinched recently. (clothed and safe)
Thought it was an off road bike its KTM thats what they do?
Interesting stuff in the head to head in MCN.The Aprillia gets smoked by everything, then the 1098 and RC8 head-to-head.
Actual performance and dyno figures :
RC8 139.83 bhp Top speed 168.8mph
1098 144.04 bhp/171.2mph
Blade 162.29 bhp/177.2mph
RSVR 119.69bhp/163.3mph
As far as handling goes I would make the the following observation; that even back in the days of the 888 and then 916 the multiadjustable Ducatis are delivered in the “slowest” steering trim. I spent a fair bit of time setting my 916 up - tried different rear ride hieght settings, both head angles, various trail settings by way of yolks down forks.
In the end it went from upright braking hard to knee down in a quick push of the inside bar, held a tight line on any throttle position or trailing the brakes. It did however require the steering damper then!
The other thing about that test: The fugly Blade smokes everything!