2025 KTM 990 RC R First Look: Successor To The Legendary KTM RC8 Is Here!

15 years! It’s been more than 15 years since KTM has had a fully faired, street-legal, large-capacity sportbike in its lineup. The last one to rule the roads was the mighty 1190 RC8/RC8 R. Ever since, only the extremely exclusive track-only 2023 KTM RC 8C made a brief appearance on the scene. But now, KTM is back, and how! The brand has given us our first look at the 2025 990 RC R and it looks stunning, to say the least. 

This incredible supersport looks like a saber-toothed cat: lithe and feral, with the winglets looking like fangs ready to dig into its rivals’ throats. And to match those looks, it has been given an equally fierce heart. The LC8c Twin engine (from the new 990 Duke) pumps out 126PS and 103Nm. So, yeah, if you thought things don’t get sharper than a ‘scalpel’, they clearly do. 

As for the specs, the 990 RC R makes 3PS more than the 990 Duke and while the torque remains the same, the 990 RC R makes it at a whopping 10,500rpm, while the Duke makes the same at 6750rpm. Just imagine hearing this bike scream down the straight of a long race track. Quite an eargasm, eh!

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But even apart from the engine, this bike is as good as road bikes get. WP Apex suspension, lightweight aluminum wheels, Michelin tyres, a stiffened steel frame, and a shifter that can be reversed to race shift as standard: every aspect of the RC R is engineered to set corners on fire. 

More specifics about the bike will be revealed soon, so stay tuned. As for the timeline, KTM says the RC R (the track-only version of this bike) will debut towards the end of this year, while the road-legal version will arrive by early 2025. It’ll then slot right between the 600cc supersports of the world like the Kawasaki ZX-6R and the recently launched Honda CBR600RR and the 1000cc supersports like the Kawasaki ZX-10R, BMW S 1000 RR and Ducati Panigale V4. 

The KTM RC8 was a wild thing back in the day. Raw, vicious and unforgiving. And for that, this highly specced, sophisticated machine seems like a good modern-day successor. Would you like to see this in Ind… nah, who are we kidding? Given how quickly the two production runs of the USD 39,599 (about Rs 33 lakh) RC 8C were lapped up by buyers, this bike will be swept off the shelves before we even know it. For now, we can enjoy the pictures and just celebrate the stunning things that modern-day sportbikes are.