1390 Super Duke R (MY2024)

This is where the bike stops talking and starts proving it. At trackdays I have watched Super Duke riders run wheel to wheel with purpose-built supersport machines, and not only the quick group at the sharp end; it holds across every skill level. On our lap time sheet it dropped into times that belong to far more focused hardware. Not many naked bikes can make that claim honestly. The styling sets the same tone before the starter even spins: a lean, hunting look up front that unsettles you before the engine fires. It presents as extroverted and uncompromising, and the ride gives back every bit of it.

What stays with me most is how completely the old Super Duke jitters have been designed out. I put early bikes around this same circuit and spent every quick lap wrestling a jumpy front and a loose rear. The 1390 asks none of that. It tracks with genuine precision when the pace climbs, and it hides its mass through tight street corners and supermoto turns, feeling like a far smaller machine until I open the throttle. The tall stance throws a lot of frontal area into the airstream, so I braced for some wander through the fast sweepers; instead it stays composed at speeds few naked bikes hold this cleanly. The standard suspension, without the Evo's electronics, turns out to be a smartly judged setup that reads both road and track without complaint, and only riders chasing the absolute edge will start wishing for more stiffness. The rider aids do real work too, keeping all that force usable and bringing the front wheel back down in a measured way rather than snapping it.

It comes down to one thing that mattered more than anything else in my braking notes: haul it down hard and late into a corner, and the rear stays glued in place. It never skips, never patters, never asks me to manage the back while I am busy setting a line. I load the brakes, commit, and the tail holds precisely where I put it. On a bike carrying this much aggression, that planted composure is worth real confidence.

Two things define this engine for me. Roll off and it slows the bike cleanly, no snatch and no stepping out at the rear, and paired with a genuinely excellent quickshifter it turns hard downshifts into corners from a chassis chore into a smooth, ordered sequence. Then wind it back out and its priorities leave no room for doubt. The tune and electronics are built around one thing, peak output and drive that hits hard, and there is nothing here trying to flatter you or soften the delivery.

Over extended testing an electrical fault developed, and it turned serious enough to sideline me for a full track event. One incident against a lot of running, but not the kind of thing I want to babysit on a machine at this price. My other gripe is the bill beyond the sticker. The quickshifter is outstanding hardware that genuinely changes how the bike rides, yet it sits on the options list, and several other features follow the same pattern where some competitors include them from the start.

For a bike that looks this hostile, what caught me off guard is how much authority it hands me from the saddle; on a tight, technical layout that control is the whole reason it works. It isn't plush, and I won't pretend otherwise. At steady highway speed the tall seating leaves my chest in clean air with nothing to brace against, and the miles start to tire me. The broad tank also boxes in my legs, so moving with the bike feels tighter than its athletic character should ask.