The KTM has had just one upgrade since last year, which may not sound a great deal to get excited about. However, if you’re going to upgrade a bike in just one area, suspension is the go-to option for a tweak that makes a difference in all the scenarios the bike might find itself in. It’s a clever move by KTM, not least because the rest of the Super Duke is hardly a bad bike – far from it. It actually finished runner-up to the Streetfighter V4S last year, with us giving best place to the Ducati ultimately because the Italian bike’s electronic suspension gave it greater versatility and a much higher level of refinement. There’s also the added benefit that comes with semi-active suspension of it adapting to whatever you and/or the bike is doing.
The suspension’s brain monitors all aspects of the rider’s inputs to the bike, including speed, gear position, revs, throttle position, lean angle, brake pressure, and so on, and makes thousands of decisions every second on what to do with the damping settings based on what it sees. Furthermore, it also looks at suspension travel, specifically how fast it’s moving and in which direction to determine if it’s
