would love to hear your thoughts between the super duke...and the Duc!
I bought a new 06 Super Duke before my current S4RS. At only 2500KM or so on the odometer, I had an unfortunate accident on the KTM after the gearbox locked up while in 4th gear. Not while changing gear, perhaps half throttle, not mid corner, nothing out of the ordinary!!!
The resulting sliding and bounding down the road led to the bike being replaced. KTM didn't want to listen to my concerns about the failure. I sent them photos of the straight section of road, with a 30 foot long tire mark prior to me coming off the bike. As the insurance company had paid for the bike to be removed from the scene, KTM saw it as an insurance (rather than warranty) matter.
I pushed the insurance company to see if they would send the bike back to KTM, but they seemed to just want to py the claim and be done with it. I offered to go and strip the bike to found the exact cause of the transmission failure, only to be told that interfering with the bike now could lead to the insurance claim being knocked back...
Having said that, I am over the moon with the way the S4RS makes me feel when I ride it. It's quicker accelerating, sounds better, looks better (IMO), less wind buffeting for my 6' frame.
I think the KTM out of the box had better initial turn-in than my tweaked S4RS, was a bit cheaper to buy initially, a bit cheaper on servicing, slightly more comfortable riding position (but only if you really thought hard about the differences), similar awesome front brake feel, but the rear brakes on the KTM felt wooden. The KTM could accelerate away from the apex faster without pushing the front end out. On a twisty road, I'd say I could ride quicker on the KTM.
Both great bikes, but I wouldn't even consider another KTM until I could be sure that the transmission wouldn't let me down. Bouncing down the road at 75mph is not something I want to repeat anytime soon.
