The Austrian company has long committed to building competition-spec motorcycles for serious riders, and it has been rewarded with numerous off-road , motocross, and supercross championships. Both enduro and motocross models come in two- and four-stroke varieties, with much of the lineup receiving important upgrades.
We ride and review all of the new KTM motorcycles and share our likes, dislikes, and overall opinion of each model, along with a breakdown of important specifications and retail pricing.
Browse the latest KTM street, sport and off-road motorcycle reviews and comparisons from Cycle World. We ride all of the KTM motorcycles. Read our detailed reviews and learn how those motorcycles stack up against their two-wheel competition in our comparisons. The car featured a curb weight of 1, pounds and w powered with a 2. He had the goal in mind to revolutionize dirt bike racing in his home country.
He sourced the bikes and had them shipped to the US under his last name in and it began with the GS model. The bikes sold explosively in the 50cc market and it was at this point in time that KTM began to dominate the racing sphere. It had been around for a while and it was just beginning to become established as a well-known brand.
This was before mass media had experienced a total explosion with social media and the internet so word of mouth spread fairly slowly and some were skeptical of newcomers at that time, but for those daring to give the brand a try, the experience was rewarding and the reputation of the brand gained a stronger foothold where it was previously obscured from a lack of exposure.
By , KTM had completed its spin-off from the parent company. After this, there were four more companies that divided from the organization to form four under the KTM brand. This is the part of the original brand that has developed into the KTM that delivers outstanding competition racing bikes throughout the world. It was a long and complicated path to arrive at this point in their development and expansion but they had arrived. Things got a little shaky though.
There were ups and downs and financial issues. The management of the bank took over the KTM company in after it filed for insolvency in , but this would not be the end of them. Not by a long shot. It even acquired the tooling division called KTM Werkzeugbau the same year. By they were back on their feet and they also acquired the Husaberg AB Swedish motorcycle maker as well as the White Power Suspension Dutch company.
When Eric Trunkenpolz, company manager passed away, the company changed hands. This signaled a tie of significant changes for KTM. They ended the manufacture of scooters in , moved to water cooled engines and it produced its first cc water-cooled motocross bike early in the decade. It became an industry leader with the new disc brakes in both front and rear in the id s and the KTM teams were amassing more and more wins.
Their innovation and advanced technology were not disputed as remarkable and it brought the brand into a world-class with recognition as a leader in sportsbike racing. After the dust had settled from the bankruptcy filing in , Trampas Parker took thee World MX cc title for America. There was a flurry of new innovations in the s era with the introduction of the Duke series in Title after title rolled into the win categories while new innovations such as the electric start LC4 engine that powered the Adventure and Supermoto machines and the PDA linkless suspension that hit just prior to the turn of the century.
It was common knowledge by that KTM was a powerfully dominating force in the dirt bike market. They took a slow and methodical approach to branch into the street bike market while enjoying the benefits of ruling in sports racing. There as an untapped market awaiting them and they had the brilliant idea for making a dirt bike street-legal. It was a bit on the revolutionary side at the time and KTM set about producing their first dual purpose bike that could tear up the racetrack and then take the rider home via the freeway with no impunity.
This thrilled enduro riders. The shop came to be known as Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen: Kraftfahrzeug, the German word for motor vehicle, Trunkenpolz, named after its founder Hans Trunkenpolz; and Mattighofen, the location of the shop.
This was the beginning of the KTM brand name. KTM R The end of World War II saw an almost instantaneous decline in engine repair jobs which led to Trunkenpolz considering the creation and production of his very own motorcycle.
Unlike BMW, which was a major supplier to the Third Reich, KTM was not encumbered by the same post-war manufacturing restrictions that were handed down to other former Axis companies by the newly-formed United Nations.
Trunkenpolz prototyped his first motorcycle in called the R Production of the R began in with a team of only 20 employees including Johann Trunkenpolz, himself. The team was able to produce 3 complete motorcycles per day. That same year, Trunkenpolz partnered with businessman Ernst Kronreif who became a major investor and shareholder of KTM.
The following two years brought forth the introduction of three new products, the R Tourist in and the Grand Tourist and Mirabell scooter in KTM made their official racing debut in and secured their first title in the Austrian cc national championship of that year.
KTM built their very first dedicated sport bike in , the Trophy cc. The name, no doubt, was in reference to their win at the Austrian cc national championship just 3 years earlier. The Mecky and Ponny I and II became trusty urban transport while the Comet went on to be a new favorite for off-road racers.
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