They had been announced, promised and studied but now the 490cc engines have been permanently removed from the company’s future plans. To give this news is right Stefan Pierer, CEO of Pierer Mobility, the parent company of KTM, Husqvarna and GASGAS. The reason for abandoning this project, according to sources, is the cost that these engines would have in the production phase. In the images of the KTM portfolio, in fact, we can see how the 490 models have been obscured.
KTM had announced the will to achieve a middle displacement to bridge the gap still present between the 375 cc single cylinders and the 799 cc Lc8c twin cylinders. To take the place of the 490 units there will be an engine between 600 and 700 displacements which will be developed following the project of the 790 series LC8C engine and it is thought they will have a power of around 80 HP, a “middle ground” between the 44 HP of the 390 series and the 95 HP of the 790 range, thus giving life to the 690 models. Initially entrusted to CFMOTO, this project now seems to have passed into the hands of Bajaj Indians
With this new engine unit KTM would pose itself with a competitor naked model to the MT-07 on Yamaha, at Z650 at Kawasakiat Trident 660 di Triumph and to the new ones Hornet e GSX-8S of Honda and Suzuki. From the photo in the portfolio, it can be seen that the intentions of the manufacturer were also to introduce an adventure model, two Supermoto models and a faired sports car.
