Fighting KTM’s battles in the ever-growing 200cc segment in the Indian market for years are the 200 Duke and RC 200. These two models have been quite successful in keeping the rivals away in their respective (naked and fully-faired) categories. Clearly, they are pretty capable machines and no one wants to mess with them. But what if instead of fighting the enemies together they are made to fight each other?
That’s exactly what’s happening in the above video. Uploaded by YouTuber KSC Vlogs, the video shows a top-end highway battle between the KTM 200 Duke and KTM RC 200. It is an interesting competition considering both the motorcycles are mostly identical to each other in terms of the mechanicals. Things take a totally different direction when it comes to design. While the 200 Duke is a naked streetfighter, the RC 200 is a fully-faired Supersports model.
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We can see in the video that the riders have conducted two races. In the first attempt, the 200 Duke gets off the line instantly and takes the lead. It quickly reaches the 120km/h mark but struggles to gain speed after that, perhaps, because of the sheer windblast. On the other hand, the RC 200 catches up thanks to its aerodynamic fairing. It then passes the 200 Duke at over 130km/h and wins the race.
For the second attempt, the riders switch motorcycles. Surprisingly, the 200 Duke is again the first to leave the mark. This time it is able to cross 130km/h barrier and continues to lead the race. The RC 200 is right at its tail, also doing speeds above 130km/h. However, it is unable to get past. So, the Duke wins.
Putting into consideration a few factors. First, the 200 Duke is heavier than the RC 200. Second, being a naked motorcycle, it has no wind protection whatsoever. Third, the rider on the 200 Duke in the second race appears to be heavier than the RC 200’s. All these factors should have led the RC 200 to win, however, that didn’t happen. It couldn’t overtake the 200 Duke, perhaps, because the rider wasn’t using the slipstream to his advantage.
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