You don’t have to stop going to the well until it’s dry, right? And lately, certain wells — the kind filled with money — aren’t just running dry, they’re overflowing. This is how the second round of collaboration between Austrian motorcycle maker KTM and German uber-tuner Brabus will come to fruition. Last year, the duo debuted Brabus’ first foray into the world of two-wheelers, with the KTM 1290 Super Duke R Evo rendered in a limited edition model renamed the Brabus 1300 R, to Brabus’ monobloc Z. Sit down and wrap yourself up in a pile of carbon fiber.9-spoke forged wheels, limited to 154 and sold out in two minutes for about double the price of the base Super Duke. Now KTM and Brabus are back with his Brabus 1300 R Edition 23. It makes some detailed changes to the formula and expands availability to 290 units.
To recap the original, almost every exterior part has been tweaked or replaced. There is a round LED headlight that leads to a low, short handlebar. Mirrors are one of the improved elements, extending outward from the heated grips instead of hanging under the bars. Many of the decorative parts such as bar levers, fork triple clamps, foot pegs and reservoir caps were manufactured by CNC machinists. The fairing is still carbon fiber, but the weave is exposed on the Edition 23. The diamond-stitched black seat has a Brabus badge. The thin, upturned tail ends with a redesigned pillion seat for balance beam professionals. WP Apex Adaptive Suspension with 5 preset damping modes plus Auto mode stabilizes the trellis frame on new Platinum Black finished Monobloc Z 9-spoke forged wheels. A Brembo Stylema monobloc caliper clamps the front rotor and a twin Brembo caliper powers the rear rotor.
Nothing has changed about the motor, a 1.3-liter V-twin engine rated at 180 horsepower and 103 lb-ft of torque once again breathing through Brabus dual-pipe slip-ons.
Last year’s colorway was Magma Red or Signature Black, with 77 examples of each version produced. This year it’s all greyscale, with a choice of Stealth Gray or Super Black, with 145 examples each.
KTM takes orders again Via dedicated siteGates open on Thursday 16th February at 3pm CET (9am in New York, 6am in California). The lucky winner of the reserve stake will have to pay his €2,500 (US$2,680) down payment against her MSRP of €42,500 (US$45,564). This is the price in Germany, so the final price depends on the market. Set your alarm and light a prayer candle. Again he probably won’t last 2 minutes.
