Up-spec’d Super Duke leaked in approval documents
Production halts and financial woes have inevitably hampered KTM’s new model plans over the last year but with investment from Bajaj securing the company’s future it’s back on track and new documents show that a higher-spec ‘RR’ version of the 1390 Super Duke is coming in the 2026 model year.
Recently type-approved in Europe, the 1390 Super Duke RR is a follow-up to the old 1290 Super Duke RR and we can look to its predecessor to get a strong indication of how the bike will look and perform. The old 1290 RR first appeared as a limited-edition run of 500 bikes back in 2021, with another run of 500 appearing in 2023. In each case, the focus was on weight reduction – slicing 9kg from the stock 1290 Super Duke R’s mass – and higher spec running gear including more exotic WP Apex Pro suspension.
The type-approval for the 1390 Super Duke RR points to a similar approach. The documents show that the RR has a street-legal Akrapovic titanium silencer, taken straight from the existing options list, as standard, saving weight compared to the normal system but not adding any performance. Peak power is unchanged at 140kW and 10,000rpm and torque stays 145Nm at 8,000rpm, just like the stock 1390 Super Duke R.
Weight, however, drops by 10kg from 212kg including a full tank of fuel to 202kg in the same state. That’s likely to come in part from that silencer, but also via the judicious use of carbon fibre and a lithium-ion battery instead of lead acid.
The bike’s dimensions reveal additional tweaks. The bars measure 17mm wider than the standard bike, for example, which could simply mean they’re new but more likely comes down to the addition of lever-guards on the bar ends – another feature of the old 1290 RR, and parts that are again already available in the options catalogue. The RR is also 13mm taller than the R, hinting at a cowl over the instruments, and 2mm longer – matching the new Brabus 1400 R for length. That could indicate that the RR will have the same carbon fibre single seat unit that first appeared on the Brabus bike.
We’d also expect a brake upgrade, probably to the same Brembo Hypure calipers used on the Brabus 1400 R, with carbon air ducts – a feature from the old 1290 RR that’s been carried across to the new Brabus 1400 R.
KTM’s model launches have been delayed by the company’s struggles, so it’s not clear when the 1390 Super Duke RR will be revealed. The timing of its type-approval in Europe – which came at the same time as the documents for the Brabus 1400 R – suggests it was intended to be shown at EICMA and to reach production in early 2026, but that’s likely to have slipped back by some months.
