So when will KTM jump into WSBK with the RC8? It would seem with their support of MotoGP 250's and the Red Bull Rookie Cup's that it isn't to far of a stretch to see them put together a WSBK team to campaign their new RC8.
KTM originally said they would be joining WSBK in 2009 but the latest I've heard is that they are going to wait until 2010. Currently they're racing in World Superstock and I believe the plan was to do some racing in national championships somewhere along the line.
Hopefully their entrance into world-class racing will encourage them to do something about the Darth Vader bodywork. Man, that is one ugly pig!!! Being "different" is not always better. Perhaps they should take a look at what is coming from Italy these days.
Well, perhaps they could take a look at the recent 1000cc jappers, then. Their pure sports rigs are reasonably clean and functional-looking, although they do seem differ mainly in color and graphics.
My distaste for KTM was triggered by my neighbor's 990 Super Duke. It is orange and nothing short of hideous. It is rumored to have attracted the attention of the Taste Police, who have more than once asked him to keep it covered up when parked in his yard. I am not making this up.
that's funny. i always thought the superduke was pretty ugly but i do like the rc8. i've been a ktm fan since they quit being penton... well, because they were once penton. good bikes w/ a proven history
Pentons were darned fine bikes. I remember when they first became a force in dirt machinery. Everybody wanted a Penton or a Husqvarna whether they needed one or not, me included.
My ride in those days was a cranky, tired '61 BSA 500cc Gold Star that has over time been forgiven its transgressions against my sense of humor. Well, almost.
love the way it looks , i was hoping they wont change too much . It has just the right lines and i agree ......all the Dukes are just horrible . Maybe they get one right with a RC8 frame
ah yes, the Husky. i always dug the Bultacos. i think it was the colors cause i was just a kid, i know now they weren't too reliable. i always thought they were made in mexico. i'm not sure if that was because of the "taco" part or that dad said they were spanish and for a kid in Texas, spanish meant mexico. dad raced enduro on a penton and would drop me off after the family enduro with some other racer's hot girlfriend who was working one of the better (read "mudhole") checks and i'd sit all day in the woods writing numbers, flipping minutes and watching bikes get stuck like something out of an ed hertfelder story.
ah, now ya got me all sentimental like . anyhow, that's why i like ktm
DOSED, I am not much of a fan of the angular fairing and headlamp - but as they say, one man's thing of beauty is another man's case of the uglies, or words to that effect. Hey, my neighbor thinks his 990 is pretty.
H-Z, nostalgia is a good thing as long as you can remember just the good stuff. The BSA had a habit of not wanting to start once in a while, and nothing - NOTHING - would make it run, including towing it for seven miles behind a truck. Next time it would fire off and start barking on a single kick.
Its worst trick was to decide not to run after it had been dropped or stalled out in the woods or the mud. After this happened a few times, I finally learned to lean it up against a tree and walk home, even if it was five miles, and come back for it the next day. Trying to start it after a hot stall only wasted energy and serenity for the walk home.
After I sold it, I never owned another serious dirt bike, but had lots of fun on my bro-in-law's Husky 250. And now, thirty years later, I wouldn't get on a bike like that on a dare.
H-Z, nostalgia is a good thing as long as you can remember just the good stuff.:
well of course
DARBY - 10 May 2008 12:06 AM
The BSA had a habit of not wanting to start once in a while, and nothing - NOTHING - would make it run, including towing it for seven miles behind a truck. Next time it would fire off and start barking on a single kick.
Its worst trick was to decide not to run after it had been dropped or stalled out in the woods or the mud. After this happened a few times, I finally learned to lean it up against a tree and walk home, even if it was five miles, and come back for it the next day. Trying to start it after a hot stall only wasted energy and serenity for the walk home.
After I sold it, I never owned another serious dirt bike, but had lots of fun on my bro-in-law's Husky 250. And now, thirty years later, I wouldn't get on a bike like that on a dare.
hehheh. classic. that's actually probably a good memory by now, right?
Nostalgia only goes so far with me in regards to that BSA. Gold Stars are bringing some incredible prices these days - I seriously doubt if anyone who ever struggled with one would pay five figures for one. To each. I was delighted to send mine on its way for what I had paid for it.
Swamp, friend that I am, I'll give you - yes, GIVE YOU - a fairly new orange 990 SD, along with directions where to pick it up. Might even pay for your gas and a sack of burgers to rid my subdivision of this eyesore.
My June Motorcyclist magazine arrived late yesterday, and the feature article is on the RC8. They give it good marks overall, the typical motomag treatment.
BUT --
The more I see of this bike the worse it looks. I suppose there is something to be said for the pure shock value of its appearance, but in the eyes of this beholder it is just plain fugly.
cause i was just a kid, i know now they weren't too reliable. i always thought they were made in mexico. i'm not sure if that was because of the "taco" part or that dad said they were spanish and for a kid in Texas, spanish meant mexico. dad raced enduro on a penton and would drop me off after the family enduro with some other racer's hot girlfriend who was working one of the better (read "mudhole") checks and i'd sit all day in the woods writing numbers, flipping minutes and watching bikes get stuck like something out of an ed hertfelder story. 
