2026 KTM 790 Duke Spied Testing With Updated Design

It’s no secret that KTM is working on an update for the 790 Duke. The images of what appeared to be the close production spec bike testing in Europe surfaced online, revealing a lot about what to expect from the updated middleweight street naked.

The most significant changes to the 2026 KTM 790 Duke are visual. The updated model adopts the new headlight design, which is similar to the 990 Duke and 1390 Super Duke R, and uses a central LED headlight with the DRLs on either side. Although it shares similar design cues, it is not the same unit as either of the bigger Dukes. The fuel tank and tank shrouds also appear sharper than before.

Another notable change is that bike features an all-new subframe. While the images in type-approval documents only reveal the left-hand side of the bike, earlier spy shots from Europe also showed that the upcoming 790 Duke gets a completely redesigned exhaust.

The significant mechanical changes are not expected; the updated bike features WP brake callipers in place of KTM-badged J.Juan units from the previous generation. Whether accompanying hardware, such as the discs and ABS components, will be revised as well remains to be seen. On the other hand, the WP suspension and main steel trellis frame appear to be carried over from the existing model.

The 799cc parallel-twin engine also appears unchanged, which means to peak output figures should remain in the 95 hp and 87 Nm of torque region.