After only 30 seconds on the KTM 690 Duke, I realized that this particular duke is bleu blood unlike anything I have ever experienced before. The KTM motto claims that their bikes are "Ready to Race" and this baby can certainly be ridden as-is on a track, for track days or even amateur racing.

Hmmm, let me see: High seat, high performance tires, longish suspension travel, short, low-slung exhaust can! Yes Virginia, this is a high performance toy.

Add an hour or two of test and set-up time, to adapt the preload and damping settings to your weight and pace, and you have a high performance machine that you can have fun with on the track, as well as on the street if you let yourself go just a little bit. This happy state of affairs is very much a double-edged knife, as not everyone can live with a tool as sharp as this one.

This Duke comes across as a pavement-only Supermotard, with quality, fully adjustable suspension components, sport-bike 17in. tires, and one big, ill-tempered, kick-ass single cylinder engine that challenges the rider to climb quickly above 5 500 rpm, where the bike comes alive with near-600 Sportbike performance while preserving its agility and responsiveness.

Powertrain
The big single sets the tone on the 690 Duke, pushing out a punchy 65 hp at 7,500 rpm, with a stimulating 49.4 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 rpm and masses of torque from 4,000rpm. As you would expect, this most recent version of the big KTM single benefits from the latest engine management electronics, optimised intake and exhaust geometry, and an effective balance shaft to offset the vibrations from the big piston - a happy development after some real shakers from KTM on previous big singles.

You can select from three settings to determine just how bad you want the engine to be, with setting 1 emasculating things by roughly 30% for novice riders or horrible weather and surface conditions, setting 2 for maximum power and nastiness, and setting 3 for the same power and torque as setting 2, but with a milder throttle response.

The big single sets the tone on the in-your-face 690 Duke, pushing out a punchy 65 hp at 7,500 rpm.