For the very first time, KTM India has introduced a new 160cc motorcycle in its Indian portfolio. We’re talking about the just launched KTM 160 Duke for a price tag of Rs 1.85 lakh (Ex-sh). Now, the company has announced a fully faired version of 160 Duke as well, which will be called RC 160. Let’s take a look at further details.
KTM RC 160 Announced
If we take a look at KTM’s operations in India, the company has strived to carve out as many body styles as possible of a platform. In that regard, we had ‘Duke’ street fighter genre, ‘RC’ supersport genre, ‘Adventure’ adventure tourer genre and in 2025, we got ‘Enduro’ enduro genre of motorcycles and there might be the launch of ‘SMC’ supermoto genre bikes too.
The just launched KTM 160 Duke is the spiritual successor of 125 Duke, which has been discontinued. However, KTM’s 125 Duke had a supersport counterpart as well, which has also been discontinued. We’re talking about KTM RC 125 and the company has announced RC 160 to fill the shoes of RC 125.
Where powertrain is concerned, just launched 160cc engine is a significant upgrade. This new engine is capable of generating 18.7 bhp of peak power at 9500 RPM and 15.5 Nm of peak torque at 7,500 RPM, mated to a ride-by-wire throttle. It is also a single-cylinder liquid-cooled SOHC engine. In comparison, older 125cc engine packed only 14.5 bhp and 12 Nm.
What to expect?
When compared to 160 Duke, the soon to launch KTM RC 160 will get a full body fairing owing to its supersport genre. This fairing is likely to be the same one as seen on RC 200 and RC 390. We can expect it to have clip-on handlebars as opposed to the wide street style handlebars seen on 160 Duke.
Equipment is likely to be mostly identical between just launched 160 Duke and soon to launch RC 160. These include the 320 mm front disc, 230 mm rear disc brakes with Bybre callipers, 110-section front and 140-section rear tyres, 17-inch alloy wheels, non adjustable WP APEX non-adjustable USD telescopic front forks, rear mono-shock and more.
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In terms of features KTM RC 160 announced, will get LED headlights, LED tail lights, LED turn indicators, a fully digital 5-inch LCD instrument cluster with Bluetooth connectivity, KTM Connect, music control, turn-by-turn navigation and more.
Source: Bike - rushlane.com
