KTM RC8... They really should have done better ? or...

[weeksy]

Personally i think they're an amazing looking thing, but they fell foul for me of being in a class that at the time was just incredibly hard to be the best...

2008-10 was the time of the Big Bang R1, the superb GSXR1000, the Honda Fireblade of course and even the Ducati 1098.

I rode one 3-4 times, including an RC8R, but for me it just didn't live up to the hype i'd put within my mind on it and a day out with Crust back to back testing the RC8 at Premier Bikes and a 1098 down at Moto Rapido, settled the fate of the RC8 to be a bike i was destined to never buy.
I also did 1 session on one at Pembrey back a few years ago and didn't really find i gelled with it either..

But what a thing to look at.

But then you compare it to the 1098 and i still think the RC8 has a place, but it's so radically different compared to the competition isn't it.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The styling is very KTM

[Jody]

I recall watching the BSBs at Mallory about 10 years ago. The RC8 qualified OK but during the race he seemed to lose places every lap. IMO the bike just wasn't up to it !

[Mr Moofo]

There was time when they couldn't give them away ( I was seriously looking but didn't bite) - around about 2011/ 2012 ish.
Now the secondhand price is stupid - 8k upwards ....
for a 12 year old bike

Like a lot of KTM design - it is very cutting edge in an angular " we don't do curves" way ... but they have dated very quickly.

[Asian Boss]

I think they look great. I had a look on eBay and you can get an ok one for six grand it seems.

[Noggin]

I love it. Have always wanted one. But as Mr Moofo says, they are getting far too much for a second hand old bike (even if they were cheap I couldn't get one at the moment but at least I would be able to dream with the thought it was achievable!! LOL)

[Skub]

The sharpest looking arse ever!

I like them and I'd bet the niggles could be sorted if it was a keeper. One of the very few bikes you could pick out as a silhouette.

[scottyuk]

Rode one for an hour in 2012 in the Austrian Alps and it was just urging you on all the time. Thoroughly enjoyable. My overriding memory was the engine rather than the handling etc. Loved it. Didn't ever cross my mind to buy one as I wasn't looking for a big sports bike.

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In 2015 it was the bike my mate Biscuits wanted. Was all over it at the bike show ... but then ended up on an 1199 Tricolore. Something just didn't click.

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We do need more bikes with radical designs for sure.

[Pgm]

I put a deposit on one then went to ally pally or wherever it was to have a look, it was in the orange like weeksy has posted.
I thought it looked awful as it wasn’t painted and just orange plastic, phoned up and asked for my deposit back.
I did buy an Akrapovic le version a few years later but prefer too look at it than ride it.

[mangocrazy]

They did do better - it was called the RC8R...

I'd have one in a heartbeat if I knew it wouldn't mean a painful and expensive divorce...

[weeksy]

They did do better - it was called the RC8R...

I'd have one in a heartbeat if I knew it wouldn't mean a painful and expensive divorce...

Wasn't that much better, bit quicker yeah but not as much as I'd have liked.

[mangocrazy]

I thought the colour schemes were better, and they'd fixed a number of minor issues with the R. But they do represent the high point of the non-traction control era. This may be a good or a bad thing depending on your PoV. But I'm equally sure that both the RC8 and RC8R are way quicker than I will ever be/have ever been.

[weeksy]

I thought the colour schemes were better, and they'd fixed a number of minor issues with the R. But they do represent the high point of the non-traction control era. This may be a good or a bad thing depending on your PoV. But I'm equally sure that both the RC8 and RC8R are way quicker than I will ever be/have ever been.

Without doubt. It just didn't match up to the 1098 for me

[Noggin]

Am I weird that I prefer the KTM? I have a friend that tracks a 1098s (or r?) so I do appreciate the bike and have seen it in the flesh and well used! I've seen some RC8's, most notably when I upset one on TLGP that he wasn't ready for (I was on the 390 )

But in comparison to the RC8, the 1098's a bit, well, a bit 'blobby'

The RC8 has beautiful sleek, fine lines. Tis gawgus!!

[the_priest]

I rode Screwd's bike when he had it. 2012 RC8R I think. Brilliant engine, so smooth and tractable, just pulled the horizon closer at warp speeds, I could fit on it very comfortably even being the long chap I am. I'd have one if I thought I could afford servicing and my license... It is stylistically very challenging, but for me it was a lovely ride. Withing two minutes of riding it I was filtering happily in rush hour traffic on the North Circular and making "good progress", it just clicked. I had a few bits of open road where it stretched its legs and just scarpered off the line. But then I like the K1200R too, so I am special.

[Taipan]

I don't really like sportsbike styling but i think they look good, especially the tail unit. As Skub says a very recognisable bike and one even I can pick out!

[mangocrazy]

A friend who owned one and graduated to it from a VFR800 (!) reckons it was the most comfortable bike he'd ever ridden and would happily have ridden it to the south of France. And he's (ahem) 'generously proportioned'...

[Taipan]

A friend who owned one and graduated to it from a VFR800 (!) reckons it was the most comfortable bike he'd ever ridden and would happily have ridden it to the south of France. And he's (ahem) 'generously proportioned'...

ISTR Henry Cole remaking about the RC8s comfort.

[Mr Moofo]

I think they look great. I had a look on eBay and you can get an ok one for six grand it seems.

Not the “R”.
And when KTM fuelling is bad , it’s horrid

[Whysub]

I had an RC8 and an RC8R at the same time. Riding them back to back showed how different the two were in the handling. Set up properly, both were excellent. The engine was enough for me on the road, and plenty good enough (for me) on a track day.

As for comfort, the RC8 I rode to Slovakia via Austria one year, and down through the Balkans the following year. Luggage taken care of with a Ventura hoop and 50 litre bag. Despite the seat padding being extremely thin, its shape was perfect so 500 mile days were no issue.

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I sold them both in August 2020 when I moved, and got good prices for both. Looking at ones for sale now, I see that the prices have shot up.

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