First Ride: 2008 KTM RC8

Click to read: KTM RC8 owners reviews, KTM RC8 specs and to see the KTM RC8 image gallery.

I shouldn’t be here. We have the demonically fast Niall Mackenzie and James Whitham on the test team and instead you get me. Sorry.

The thing is, I’ve wanted to ride the RC8 since I first saw it, like you did, back in 2003. A ground-up, all-new, blank piece of paper superbike comes around once every decade, if that. So I pulled editor’s rights and grabbed the test-ticket. We went into huge detail on the story behind the RC8 in the February issue of TWO, so I’m not going to cover old ground here. We know how radical it looks from seeing it at the show, we know it’s a high-revving 1,148cc 75° V-twin, and we know KTM make mad, mental motorcycles and paint them bright orange. What I want to know right now is how well it goes.

KTM chose the extraordinary Ascari circuit in Ronda, Spain for the launch of their new Road/Competition-8 superbike. It’s privately owned by a Dutch millionaire and rented out to race teams and the well-heeled for test-days like this. Set into a natural amphitheatre of granite valleys and lined by orange groves, it’s impossibly posh and the perfect place for a launch of this importance. The track is fast, flowing and very technical, and KTM took the unprecedented step (in launch terms) of allocating every journalist their own bike for the day. This stroke of genius meant that we all got at least 3 hours uninterrupted riding on first road and then track. At least, those of us that managed not to fall off like great big girls did…

There’s a stark simplicity to the RC8. The frame is old-fashioned steel, very basic and only weighs 7.5kg. The rear shock linkage is a work of art and there’s easy access to everything. Apparently it takes just two minutes to change the rear ride height, and a rear wheel can be swapped out in half that time. “It looks like something is missing, but nothing is missing,” says the RC8’s creator, Wolfgang Felber. And the RC8 has been built to go racing. “We will go World Superbike racing, there is no question,” continues Wolfgang. “This is a steep learning curve for us as we are new in the superbike racing business and we don’t know where we will finish. But we will learn.” Superstock kit parts will be available for the RC8 immediately after its release here, a mark of how serious KTM are about their racing and, more importantly, the RC8, its first superbike.

There’s something refreshingly honest about both the staff at KTM and their new bike. The row of 40 RC8s all parked up look impressive enough, and I’d forgotten how great the bike looks. In white, it’s a work of art. In orange, less so. The angular plastics, sky-high seat unit and imposing lines of the bike make the RC8 stand out a mile from the often silly, plasticky looks of a Japanese superbike. Sit on the RC8 and you get a further reminder of its European origins – it’s big. You’re not locked into position as you might be with an oriental sportsbike and you don’t look ridiculous if you’re 6ft or over, it’s a proper man-sized motorbike. Hit the starter and the motor snatches into life before settling into a steady warm-up. It’s a deep, throaty burble, but most of the noise comes from the airbox as the underslung exhaust is a distant rumble away. Can’t wait to hear an RC8 fitted with the open Akrapovic racepipe they supply as part of the PowerParts kit.