Back in 2003, KTM took the LC8 V-twin motor from their flagship 950 Adventure, and stuck it in a big, gnarly supermotard. The 950 Supermoto eventually became the 990 Supermoto, but was ultimately dropped from the lineup with KTM’s next big motor upgrade. And that made the crew at RATicate Racing sad.
So when the Californian shop got a crashed 2015 KTM 1190 Adventure R in, they took the gap—and built the bike KTM never did. “We decided to take a fresh look at what we always hoped KTM would have built using the 1190 LC8 platform,” says founder David LaBree. “An oversized naked bike with long travel suspension—a big-bike Supermoto.”
“The new 1290 Super Duke R fills our desires for monster torque in a compact package. But with its short travel suspension and road oriented chassis, you find the need to ride it like a traditional sport bike in order to get the most of the performance.”
“The desire for sticking a leg out and launching off big curbs gave way to the RATicate Racing 1190 XLSM (Extra Large Supermoto).”
First on the list was undoing the damage done by the hostile impact of a Honda Civic. So the three-man RATicate team sent the frame off to Gerry Piazza at GP Frame and Wheel, where he straightened it out. “With a clean bill of health, and more importantly a clean canvas to paint on, we headed back to the workshop to start our journey into Supermoto bliss.”
Next up, the guys called renowned wheel builders, Woody’s Wheel Works, to build a pair of 17” wheels. They laced up a set of gold Excel rims to Woody’s hubs, wrapping them in Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires from CT Racing.
There’s nothing wrong with the OEM brakes on the Adventure R, but RATicate wanted to go all-out. So they matched a set of Brembo M50 calipers to a set of their own wave rotors. Up top are Brembo RCS brake and clutch master cylinders, and there’s a Scott’s Performance steering damper to keep things stable at speed.
The engine had suffered an unfortunate bout of dirt inhalation, leaving the valves ground into oblivion. So the RATicate team tore it open and performed a full rebuild, before switching their focus to performance upgrades. On went a new intake system and velocity stacks from Rottweiler Performance.
For the exhaust, Dennis Etcheverry at Norman Racing Group welded together custom titanium headers, mating them to the Akrapovič muffler from a 1290 Super Duke R. Then the bike went to Shiv Pathak at OpenFlash Tuning, where it was tuned and dyno’d to a massive output of 137 hp and 115 Nm of torque (nine horses more than stock).
Only then did RATicate start messing with the KTM’s bodywork. Aiming for a factory effect, they mashed together a KTM 990 SMR tank and seat, a 990 SM tail and a Husqvarna headlight nacelle. The actual headlight is a Baja Designs LED unit, and the dash is remounted on a custom bracket.
The subframe was modified to match the new lines, and to show off the WP Suspension shock. In a bid to save weight and make the bike even more rowdy, the guys deleted the ABS system and installed a set of CoreMoto lines.
Before stripping the bike down for final powder coating and assembly, the crew took it to the track for a decent shakedown. “It exceeded all our expectations in the fun factor department as it was an absolute wheelie machine,” says David.
“However we quickly had our fears confirmed when the bike tended to want to fold the front when pushed hard, due to the lack of trail after going from a 21” front wheel down to a 17” wheel.”
Back at the shop, the guys designed a set of custom triples with adjustable offset inserts to increase the trail. “We headed back to the racetrack to confirm our math, and with the increased trail provided by the adjustable offset we were back in business. The front end stayed planted through the turns, especially on entry.”
With that sorted, the frame was powder coated in a textured black, then O2 Creations treated the body panels to a custom wrap. Last minute touches include Acerbis hand guards, a RATicate Racing clutch slave cylinder and front sprocket guard, Vesrah brake pads, a Supersprox rear sprocket and a D.I.D. chain.
“At the end of day we found the missing link: a bike that straddles the line between the 690 Supermoto and the 1290 Super Duke. Whether you’re looking for wheelies from first to fourth gear, launching off a loading dock, carving up your favorite back road, or simply pulling a stoppie into your favorite parking spot at the local coffee shop, the 1190 XLSM has you covered.”
RATicate Racing | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by Max Klein at Oxymoron Photography
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