SuperBike Magazine July 2020
The July issue is packed with awesome content to keep you busy over the remaining days of July. We are hard at work putting our August issue to bed!
The July issue is packed with awesome content to keep you busy over the remaining days of July. We are hard at work putting our August issue to bed!
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Article by Clinton Pienaar • Pics by Beam Productions<br />
DOES THE GT TAKE THE<br />
“BEAST”<br />
If ever there has been a bike that has crept in under the radar into SA it must be the<br />
1290 GT, and No! the GT does not make it loose any of the charm that the R has, it’s just<br />
packed in a more comfortable user friendly package.<br />
Hindsight is a 20/20 vision and<br />
I’m sure nobody has a crystal<br />
ball with them when they order<br />
bikes (especially when you<br />
order bikes that did not sell well<br />
in their precious incarnation, but blimey,<br />
this GT is quite a bike and we need more<br />
of them.<br />
Let’s start with the engine, I have been<br />
quite outspoken about this 1309cc V Twin<br />
LC8 engine, in my opinion it could represent<br />
the finest engine in the whole of the<br />
motorcycling world. The move up from<br />
OUT OF<br />
THE R?<br />
the 1190 to the 1290 was staggering in the<br />
adventure bike form and now they have<br />
even tweaked that engine a little more<br />
with lighter titanium inlet valves which<br />
in turn raise the rev ceiling up by 500 rpm<br />
and now the bike delivers a whopping 175<br />
Hp, up 2 from 173 previously. Software<br />
updates also see a broader flatter torque<br />
curve which is simply put “staggering” just<br />
off idle.<br />
On the ergonomics side, the seating<br />
position is a little more friendly on the<br />
arms from the Super Duke R. The handle-
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