KTM and Husqvarna 500cc will fight the most popular Honda 500 series of motorcycles from all direction and take a large chunk of that pie, worldwide! KTM has revolved a lot around single-cylinder engine set-up for the 125cc to the 390cc bikes. In December of 2018, Stefan Pierer- KTM CEO cemented the development of a 500 cc parallel twin-cylinder engine. KTM and Husqvarna 500cc Motorcycles will be manufactured by Bajaj Auto in India and is likely to suffice five new KTM models. Five new members to join the KTM family, precisely, KTM 490 Duke, KTM RC 490, KTM 490 Adventure, KTM 490 Supermoto, and KTM 490 Enduro. Now the latter two are noncommittal with their names but are bound to roll out of the production line.
Diving deeper into the specifics of KTM and Husqvarna 500cc motorcycles, we’ve learnt that the KTM 490 Duke, RC 490 and the Adventure 490 will house a mildly altered trellis frame to fit in the wider engine. KTM is likely to go with similar styling, hardware specs for the aforementioned models to keep a check on the manufacturing cost. And hence the presence of similar full-LED headlight, TFT-display with Bluetooth connectivity, etc. shouldn’t be astounding.
The Supermoto and Enduro siblings will likely get a reworked skeleton, and corroborate the existing models. KTM uses a Chrome-moly tubular space frame and a central-tube frame with a double-cradle for the Supermoto and the Enduro models, respectively.
KTM and Husqvarna 500cc Motorcycles parallel twin-cylinder engine will probably use liquid-cooling, 4-valves per cylinder, and a Double Overhead Camshaft (DOHC) setup. Depending upon the model, the engine mapping, gear ratios will vary, but the performance figures will remain similar. The 490cc engines will likely churn out 55-60 hp of maximum power and the mill will come mated to a 6-speed transmission with the assistance of a slipper clutch.
Inverted forks at the front and a rear monoshock will be the standard set-up for all five models. Considering the purpose, the enduro, Supermoto and the adventure will have a longer travel than the naked and the supersport models. The wheel size will be different for different models. The endure and adventure may sit on a larger front wheel. Disc brakes on both, front and rear wheel will be a standard set-up with switchable ABS.
