In June 2021, KTM dropped a bombshell of a motorcycle in the form of the RC 8C. It represented the brand’s comeback to the high-performance supersport segment after it discontinued the 1190 RC8 a few years ago. Until now, the Austrian brand had focused mainly on its enduro, adventure, and street lineups, with the sole supersport model available globally being the beginner-friendly RC 390.
Now, you may be fooled into thinking that the RC 8C isn’t a potent sportbike. I mean, it’s just packing the same 889cc engine found in the 890 Duke, right? Well, yes, but this bike means serious business. Designed as a track-only machine, the RC 8C is as race-focused as it gets, and is the ultimate embodiment of KTM’s philosophy “Ready to Race.” The bike is super limited, too, with just 100 units ever seeing the light of day. The Land Down Under is pretty lucky, as nearly a quarter of the bikes produced will headed to Australia and New Zealand—24 in particular.
It goes without saying that the KTM RC 8C isn’t for the faint of heart, and by no means is it a budget-friendly supersport. After all, you’re pretty much getting the very best of what KTM has to offer. In Australia, the RC 8C will retail for $56,990 AUD, which translates to around $35,315 USD. Meanwhile, the limited-edition supersport will sell for $61,999 AUD in New Zealand, translating to around $38,419 USD. Online orders for the KTM RC 8C will open starting October 19, 2022.
Diving into just a little more details about the RC 8C, the bike is indeed packing the same engine as the 890 Duke R, but sports an upgraded intake system as well as a race-spec ECU. When compared to other track-specific machines, maintenance, parts availability, and tuning can all be done rather quickly because it is a production engine. The power output is 128 horsepower and 75 ft-lbs of torque. The bike weighs an amazingly light 140 kilos when dry. Other expensive accessories include a stainless steel racing exhaust from Krämer Motorcycles that has an Akrapovič titanium muffler with a carbon end cap.
The KTM RC 8C also has a top-notch factory AIM MXS 1.2 RACE instrument panel and data recorder with a five-inch TFT display, which integrates GPS. Everything that can be shown on the display is totally configurable, including ECU settings, engine statistics, and data from a live lap. Additionally, logged data may be reviewed and analyzed in AIM RaceStudio with no extra charge.
