- Rumours were afloat in the market that KTM is withdrawing the 790 Duke from the roads following the implementation of BS6 norms.
- KTM has put all the rumourmongers to rest by announcing updates for the KTM 790 Duke to comply with BS6 emission standards.
- Expect a price hike for the naked bike after it gets its BS6 upgrades.
The deadline for complying with BS6 emission norms is approaching rapidly. All auto manufacturers are working round the clock to upgrade their vehicles to comply with the stringent emission norms. KTM is also working towards updating its existing bikes.
KTM had recently launched the 390 Adventure following the release of the BS6 250 Duke and the 390 Duke in the country. Rumour mills started functioning overtime by breaking the news that KTM is withdrawing its 790 Duke from the market. However, the story is not real, as KTM has confirmed that the Scalpel will get the necessary upgrades to comply with BS6 emission regulations.
However, indeed, the upgrades will not happen before the April 2020 deadline. Therefore, there will be a brief period when the KTM 790 will not be on sale in the market. The upgraded KTM 790 will reappear in the second quarter of 2020 after the forced absence for a couple of months. It is because the manufacturer will work on the bike after importing them from abroad.
One cannot predict the price of the upgraded KTM 790, but it will be more than what the current BS4-compliant model is available for in the market. The existing KTM 790 Duke price is Rs 8.64 lakhs.
The 790 Duke BS4 variant gets a 799cc powerful parallel twin-engine that is capable of delivering power of 105hp and torque of 86Nm. One has to wait and see what the BS6 upgrades have in store.
The bike was launched with great fanfare in September 2019. Out of the 100 KTM 790 Dukes earmarked for India, 41 have already been sold. Thus, one can safely conclude that the KTM 790 Duke has an encouraging market in India. Bike lovers will have to wait for the second quarter of 2020 to get a glimpse of the BS6-compliant KTM 790 Duke on the roads.
Image: Motorbeam
