If you love your trackdays or want to step into racing and have a few dollars lying around, KTM’s RC 8C is a dream machine as it is the most focused and uncompromised production motorcycle that has ever been built for the racetrack.
Why is it so good? As a trackonly model, it was never planned to be homologated for the road. Free of the compromises necessary to build a road-compliant sportsbike, the Austrian manufacturer, working in partnership with race specialist Kramer Motorcycles, could focus on one design intention: cutting awesome lap times around a MotoGP track like Phillip Island. Every aspect, right down to its adjustable steering head angle and special aero wings, exists to make it quicker apex to apex. This makes for a ride unlike anything you can experience on a homologated, Euro5+, road-legal sportsbike.
Even if track-only weapons aren’t your bag, this updated RC 8C has taken on a wider significance since KTM recently outlined details of the 990 RC R that will go on sale in 2025. The 990 will be KTM’s first pure road-going sportsbike since the withdrawal of the RC8. While the two models’ engine capacities will differ and many of the RC 8C’s race details will be exchanged for required road equipment, both bikes will share similar power and torque outputs, chassis design, dimensions and geometry.
AMCN headed to one
