KTM RC 125 teased in India: Yamaha R15 rival launching soon

KTM launched the 125 Duke in November last year and the bike has already become the top seller for the company. Dubbed as the baby Duke, the bike was priced quite high but had all the right ingredients to justify its price tag. Going by the success of the 125 Duke, Austrian bikemaker is now planning to launch the fully faired version of the bike. As is the case with its bigger brothers, the fully faired version of the 125 Duke will be called the RC 125 and will share almost all the components from its naked sibling. It’ll challenge the Yamaha R15 V3 in India. KTM today teased the bike in a short video which highlighted the outline of the bike with a coming soon message.

For those curious as to when will the bike be launched, it is expected that the launch event of the KTM RC 125 will happen by the end of this month. This comes as a piece of good news for those who like the baby Duke but wanted a more performance-oriented version of the bike (as if it wasn’t already a pocket rocket). Another interesting news about the RC 125 is that it will be brought in with an all-new black and orange paint scheme. In all probability, this won’t be the only colour option available on the bike and it will come with at least one more combination if not more.

As mentioned earlier, the RC 125 will share almost every component with the 125 Duke. This includes the engine and cycle parts among others. The major changes on the bike will be full cowling along with altered positions of the handlebar and footpegs resulting in a more aggressive riding stance. The 125 Duke is powered by a 125 cc, liquid cooled four stroke engine with a twin overhead camshafts running a 4 valve head. This motor churns out 14.3 Bhp of peak power and 12 Nm of peak torque. A 6-speed manual gearbox will be standard with this engine. The same will be found on the RC125, though the performance could have a minor difference. This is because of the fact that the RC 125 will get full front cowling resulting in better aerodynamics which in turn results in a higher top speed. Performance during regular city usage, however, will not bear any changes. Also, it’ll make less power than the Yamaha R15, which is powered by  155cc engine.

Like the Duke 125, the KTM RC125 is expected to offer dual disc brakes with single channel ABS as standard. Suspension components will consist of upside-down front forks and a monoshock rear shock absorber. The motorcycle is already being built for the export market at KTM’s Chakan factory, off Pune. With the launch expected by the end of this month, expect deliveries to begin by the end of July. The 125 Duke currently retails for Rs. 1.30 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). We expect the RC 125 to be priced in the same range with a bump of around Rs. 5,000 at maximum. This is because the RC 125 would be in deep waters if it is priced around Rs. 1.40 lakh as that is the price of the Yamaha R15 V3 as well, which is a much powerful bike.