KTM CEO and President Stefan Pierer:
"We at KTM think that a sportbike with such performance doesn’t have any place on the public roads.”

Strange way of thinking if you ask me.
A naked bike with 180 hp is no problem, but as soon as you put a fairing on it, it is to dangerous for public roads? WTF!

What a fooking douche.

This sets a bad precedent " He also stated that part of his reasoning is fear of European politicians who would ban motorcycles outright if they could." So you won't sell it for street use because you are afraid of what the nanny government might do? This sounds like a total cop out. At first I thought it might be due to return on investment reasons, but that doesn't hold water if you are going to spend the money to campaign a MotoGP effort. It may be that they are afraid to jump into the superbike wars with the likes of Ducati, Yamaha, Kawasaki etc.?

Well....

I can see is point of view. It's the reason I'm so happy with the 990. Agile, fast but no silly 200mph speeds

But I love the RC8R and it's a valid option in the Superbike range. Not up to S1000RR and similars but the one I'd choose to keep company to my SD.

I think the problem in this statement is:

- ktm can't compete with R1/s1000/panigale etc. let's not make it -> OK no R&D money spent in this range and keep focus in what sells

- we'll make a superbike good enough to rival r1 / s1000 / panigale on the track but won't make a road version -> from what I've read about the new R1-M it's the wrong move sales wise.

What a heap of shite. The 1290 will happily harass any sportsbike on (private) roads where you don't get much above ~130 mph. How exactly do fairings make that any more dangerous?

They say the LC16 engine will be too fast for the roads...not the current 1290.

From the competition standard should have to be a +200hp

BS! Are they going to ban super cars too? Cop out in my opinion, holds as much water as their quality control.
There I said it, it's out in the open now....

EDIT: BTW I would be ashamed if first cry I'm an hooligan we have the beast etc ... and now pussy out.

Mark my words it will reach the public in 15 years lol

Arent KTM supposed to be racing in MotoGP next year?

Same drama, different source. Just showing the story has traction.




.

And I don't think there is that much profit in superbikes anyway. They are merely the flagship and it's all the bikes that come in under them where they make their money. The V4 almost bankrupted Aprilia if the stories are true and how many RSV4s do you see on the road. I know you hardly see any on track, which is dominated by the ZX10R superbike wise. I see more Panigale on track than I do RSV4s. And Aprillia have Piaggio backing them and they don't make their money in Superbikes lol.

Yes, Stefan Pierer is a hypocrite. And frankly - a liar.

We've known for a while now that (not "new" news) KTM is going to cease manufacturing street going Superbikes.

What's new, is the "too dangerous" claim, which is nothing but a smokescreen for KTM's (and let's not forget their 50% "partner") unwillingness to commit the resources to field a competitive product. LOL - in unskilled hands, I would immediately argue that KTM's bigger displacement MX and Enduro bikes are at least as potentially lethal as anything they've put on the road to date.

What's more damaging here - and concerning - is that given his position as CEO of a motorcycle manufacturer, Pierer's public claim is damaging to the market as a whole. "If we can't compete, let's bring everyone down with us" - that's what I consider irresponsible.

That's the the crux of it. Forget KTM as a brand for a moment. I don't know about you guys, but none of my bikes operate themselves. If I choose to use my right wrist irresponsibly, the bike has little to do with it. Does it really matter whether your motorcycle accelerates to 60 mph (~100 kph) in 3 seconds or 4? Does it matter if the top speed is 116 mph or 186 (300 kph)? Exercised irresponsibly, a 500 cc single will get you killed just as easily as litre I4. Run into something at 100 mph, it doesn't matter what your bike's displacement is - you're fooked. The bike itself, cannot achieve said velocity without an operator - so stating that one category of bikes is somehow more "dangerous" than another - is purely ridiculous. To suggest that one rider may be more "dangerous" than another, well, that I would completely agree with.

This starts to reek like all the other nannies out there - the anti-drinking, anti-smoking, anti-marijuana, anti-gun, anti-risk, anti-whatever, ... the anti-fun people. The ones who bring it down for the rest of us are those small numbers that behave truly irresponsibly, or simply cannot control themselves.

I find most "superbikes' to be less than ideal everyday street companions. Most aren't very comfortable, and the ergos don't provide the best rider position for maximum visibility. The engines are absolute overkill. Wonderful - but overkill.

There isn't a person on this forum that needs or is able to exploit 150 or more horsepower on the street. The dyno may say one thing, but now you have all your nanny-tech to save your bacon from your brain (right wrist). I would go so far to state that there may be one or perhaps two registered here capable of exploiting that much even on a track - and then for only the most brief of periods. Don't kid yourself racer-Rickeys - you're dreamin' to think you do/can.

So, what's the point of the street-going "superbike"? Nothing more than ego-gratification. The simple knowledge of most owners, that they possess one of the most bad-ass toys ever devised. It's not about actually using all that juice, it's just knowing it's there, and that a lot of others know it as well. It's this that manufacturers exploit - and profitably.

Then there's the tiny minority of us, who race or track the things, who perversely enjoy the challenge in attempting to master the machine's capabilities. Who somehow seem to overlook (ignore?) the tire-eating expense of such pointless exercises. To me at least, that is all superbikes are "useful" for - personal entertainment.

There's profit in Superbikes - it's just not grossly so, say, like scooters. It wouldn't be such a competitive market, if they weren't profitable at all - "flagship" or not. The cost difference in manufacturing a Supersport 600 and a Superbike is little, and as you all know, there's a substantial difference in pricing. For the Japanese, it's all just a hobby - at least for Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, and to a lesser extent BMW (and now Ducati). For anything above 400cc, the global market is miniscule, and damn near insignificant given the other operations of these companies (or their parents).

With all the ass-saving nanny-tech going into everything these days, on paper, a "superbike" sure is a lot less intimidating than a decade ago, at least to the ignorant novices who buy them. Which is not to suggest that anyone - no matter how skilled - can't ruin themselves in a heartbeat on one.

That's what it comes down to, how we choose to behave determines "dangerous" - not the bikes. Worth noting, that by continuing to purchase KTMs, in some ways, we (royal) are advocating and enabling Mr. Pierer to behave irresponsibly. Arguably "dangerous" to the continued existence of a product that could be further reaching than he may have imagined. His vice isn't speed however, it's greed.

A lot of that is true SDnerd but there is and has been for while talk within the EU of controlling the superbikes. True or not they get a bad press as they are like all motorbikes dangerous in their very nature compared to say cars. Yes ABS and traction control have helped and I don't think it's something we would see anytimes really soon but controls could be around the corner. France already had it's 100hp limit which will be lifted in 2016 because it wasn't EU wide and the EU likes the same for everyone. Yeah he made a gaff but I haven't seen the whole conversation, perhaps it was taken out of context. Maybe he meant the RC16 with it's 260bhp was too much for the road, which he kind of has an argument for. KTM street wise will make more money from their small displacement engined bikes like all the manufacturers do. He was probably looking for as excuse to say no more superbikes as they aren't interested in making one and chose the wrong words to use. TBH as much as I would like to see KTM make one and a nutty one at that because I love nutty bikes, there isn't much point unless they can take on the likes of BMW, Ducati and the Japs and I don't think they are in a position to do so financially.

I always have to laugh about this dangerous stuff!
Bikes are dangerous to the rider mostly. On the other hand it's OK to let millions of people die in wars, starvation, poverty, bad medical conditions and so on.
One politician has caused more deaths due to bad management and having no conscious than bikes will ever do.

We soooo need protecting isn't it!

KTMGUY for president (of the world)!

lol I bet that cop booked them for stopping to soon

Nice summation Nerd.

I know I will not be buying an orange product anytime soon....not even the Adventure bike I was considering. KTM can pound sand.

You are correct....

I should have said nice summation Crotch , nice elaboration Nerd.