Engine and Performance
We’ve been touching on this through the review and now we look at this in more detail. The engine is the
beating heart of any bike and the 1050 can and will get your heart pumping too, should you wish it to. You
get a 23ltr tank and thanks to the lower weight you will get a better return on your MPG – a quick look at
the Fuelly site shows a track of 10 miles per litre meaning you can expect a return of around 230 miles to a
tank – showing 48.6 MPG (UK). I’m rather happy with that kind of return for the play performance the 1050
puts out in comfort! You’re also looking at 15,000Km or 9320 miles between services for the bike.
The engine the V twin, 2 cylinder, 4 stroke and liquid cooled it delivers smooth low end grunt and
powerful mid range pull from the 1050cc displacement over 6 gears and a ride by wire throttle system.
Gear changes are a breeze with the slipper clutch and I had no issue with any false neutrals from the set
up. Even two up there was more than enough pull through the rev range for safe overtaking and pulling
out of the bends. You could tour all day and night long on the 1050 and with a compromise on peak
performance you get the mpg and the manoeuvrability that you’d expect from a much smaller bike. The
DLC coating on the KTM engines that combines with the twin spark and ride by wire to complete the
package for me. The twin spark system is the result of having two sizes of spark plug working
independently of each other for a better burn. This means smoother power, better mileage and lower
emissions from the engine.