Super Naked Comparison Test | Which Is The KING?

Well, we're here for another three-way, a three-way motorcycle test of probably three of the top-of-the-line naked sports bikes. So, we've got here my own 1390 Super Duke. Now, it's a little bit unfair because this has got a full system on it and a bit of a map, so we've got to take that into consideration. But these are 188 horsepower standard, 145 newton meters of torque, so the most powerful bike on test here. We've also, to my right, got the BMW S1000R. Now, this isn't the M version, this is the base S1000R, so this doesn't have the shift cam. 170 horsepower, 114 newton meters of torque, but this thing only weighs 199 kilos, so it's nice and light, and obviously based on the S1000RR. And last, but by no means least, we have the Triumph 1200 Speed Triple. Now, this was updated for 2026. It's now got adjustable wheelie control, lots of other gadgets, Ohlins EC3, easy for you to say. Suspension, fully kitted, this bike. This is 17,800 pounds, 180 horsepower, about 130 newton meters of torque, so all of these bikes are absolute beasts, but which ones are best? What ones do things better than others? That's the questions we're going to answer, so set yourself down, make yourself comfortable, and Chopsy, where's your hat? So, here are the bikes. Now, I've got to say, the Super Duke is my own bike, so it's not standard, as you can see. It's got an exhaust, it's got a map, few extra carbon bits on it, so bear that in mind, that sounds better than a stock one. The Speed RS, completely stock. Obviously, the BMW, completely stock. We've got Adam, and we've got Womble, who are also going to be along, and we'll get all of our opinions on which one we think is best out of the three. So, I'll start on the Super Duke, as it is my bike. So, Super Duke, 188 horsepower is standard, 145 newton meters of torque, so it's the most powerful bike here. Obviously, mine's been mapped, so it's probably got a little bit more, slightly better throttle response, but we get a good idea of what it feels like. This is not the Evo, this is the standard R with manually adjustable suspension. It's the only bike here which doesn't have electronic suspension, the other two do. But I love a Super Duke, I love the riding position. You've got a little bit of weight over the front, the pegs are sort of back a little bit, but it's quite a comfortable position. Quite a high seat on it, but you do load up the front wheel a little bit, which I really like on a naked bike. So, yeah, I find the Super Duke really quite a comfortable machine to ride. Just enough weight on the wrists, just take a little bit off your arse, and because you are counted forward a little bit, when you do get on the motorway and stuff, you're leaning into the wind, which really helps, much better than being bolt upright for the motorway speeds. But yeah, she's an absolute beast. Beast by name, beast by nature, this one. What's your first impressions of the Triumph, Adam? Very similar. I feel very perched up on this. I feel very high up on it. But it's similar, still feels a bit more weight over the front, not quite as much as the RX with the clip-ons. Peg position seems quite high on this compared to the Super Duke. Well, my Super Duke, I haven't ridden yours for a while. What's the ride like? Because that's the only bike here which has got the Ohlins EC3 suspension, which is a really nice setup. This just feels very comfortable, actually. I mean, these roads are quite bumpy from memory when we came round last. It seems to be soaking them up quite nicely. Once we pick the pace up a bit later on up the hill climb, maybe, we'll see what it does. But so far, first impressions, it actually feels rather comfortable. What about the S1000R, Dave? It's the first time you've ridden one of those, I think, isn't it? Yes, and we've saved the best till last. Now, this is smooth. It's so refined. You can tell this has been around for a little while. Do you know what I mean? They've got everything right. The quick shifter. Oh, my God, that's beautiful. It's like velvet. And the handling is so light, you can just throw it around. Yeah, it's actually the lightest bike here, by, I think, a couple of kilos. The handling on the Super Duke is lovely. It's manual suspension, as I said, but I think that WP setup, they've got it, they've got it just right on this bike. You've got great support. Now, even being a 20 stone rider, I've made no changes to the suspension and it feels absolutely wonderful. Well, I think we may as well have a swap, guys. I think I'm desperate to try the other two because this is my own bike, so I'm very familiar with this. So we'll pull over, we'll have a little bit of a swap ski and do everything to the others. Look at those beauties. So I'll go on the BMW now. This one has got a few extras. It's got the billet pack, it's got carbon mudguards, front and rear, little fly screens, a little extra. So it's got a few of the little premium extra bits, the Aquacan on it. But, yeah, I've not ridden one of these in a little while, actually. It doesn't have the shift cam on the S1000R. It's only the M1000R has the shift cam, so no shift cam. God, that's good, that one, doesn't it? What one do you think looks best, then? No, I won't be offended if you don't like the look of that one. How can you say what one do you think looks best, walking straight over to yours? So what one do you think looks best, guys? I don't want to bias your opinion, you know. This one or one of them. One of them ones, yeah. The S1000R, now they've changed the headlight to like a twin headlight. Does look better, doesn't it, than the single headlight it used to have. I like that update. But I think the Triumph is really good as well. But they all look very nice. I like black bikes, so I'm kind of edging towards a BMW. I think a new can on the Triumph would set that off. Because it exposed that rear wheel as well. Yeah, true. Yeah, single-sided swinging arms, of course, on these two. Conventional on the Beamer. Ooh, right, come on then, let's do it. The S1000R is actually the only bike here based on the sports bike. The other two are sort of dedicated nakeds. Where's the on button? Can't even find the on button, there it is. Oof. Have you two got that out of your system yet? And I'll start the real one. There you go. Yeah, the clutch is a little bit snatchy on the BMW, isn't it? It suddenly bites. I see what you mean about that quick shifter. It's lovely, isn't it? Beautiful, isn't it? BMW's straight-four engines with that quick shifter system just work so well on the BMWs. It's almost a system you could use 99% of the time. It's really, really good. Yeah, riding position, it's definitely, the seat to feet angle is less. Your feet feel a bit higher up. But I think the seat height is also a little bit lower on the S1000R. You've got massive, you've got flat bars on this bike and the weight on the wrist feels very similar to the Super Duke, actually. Despite this looking like it's got a really flat bar, there's a similar weight on your wrist. Not too much, but just enough to put a bit of load on the front wheel. Oh, it does fall in nicely. It's very smooth. Just a lovely little pop as you change gear with the quick shifter. I like that a lot. Very plush on the suspension. We're in dynamic mode, which is a slightly, sort of more sporty mode. So you put it in dynamic and it firms the suspension up a little bit, but it's lovely. It's not overly firm. You can just feel a nice bit of response through it. I think it's 170 horsepower and 114 newton meters of torque. So it's got the least amount of torque for any of the bikes here. But one thing, what straight fours do so well is the slow speed stuff is so easy on them. So 30 miles an hour in fifth gear, it is so easy to ride on a straight four. It's so smooth at lower speeds where something on like the Super Duke, it's a little bit lumpy when you're trying to go slowly on it. Especially with all these new 20 mile an hour speed limits which are coming out. It's like, is that first gear, is that second gear? It makes it a bit more tricky. I think this road is melting as well. So, yeah, yeah. Look at it. Got to be a little bit careful. A little bit sticky looking that time out there. What's your first impressions of the speed then, Robbo, before your camera falls off? Yeah, first of all, you are a lot higher. You are a lot higher. But the seat is like a cushion, proper nice seat. I think you've got the most amount of padding in the seat out of the three on the Triumph. A Triumph normally do that. You normally get a decent amount of, a decent seat on a Triumph, which I like. What do you think to the Super Duke, Adam? It's interesting riding the 1390 actually, compared to the 1290. They do feel very similar, but it's more comfortable than the Triumph, certainly. The pegs don't feel quite so high. This is very familiar to me, this sort of position. And you do feel more like you're in the bike a little bit as opposed to sitting on top of the Triumph. Oh my God, that noise, hang on. Sorry. I'm just getting caught up in the cacophony of banging and popping. A little bit flat at the bottom on the S1000R. The M is much more immediate on the throttle at the bottom end, because of the shift cam. But it's still got a decent amount of, so you do have to rev it a bit more. That's the thing with straight fours. I mean, I said they're very compliant low down, but if you want to access the majority of the performance, it is right at the top of the rev range, which is not always what you want on a road bike, unless you like going to jail and getting lots of speeding fines. I take that back. That does move, doesn't it? It does handle, geez. Yeah, it's very, it's quite planted, but it really, yeah, it goes on to the tight side of the tyre, it handles. This is very nice, this. It's a firmer ride than the Triumph. I said the seat, as Dave said, the seat is definitely harder on this, but it's got a real sports edge, this. What does it feel like compared to the KTM on the first go? It feels quite similar. It's a bit more vibey. There are a little bit buzzy on the bars on the S1000R. There's a little bit of buzz to it, and through the actual bike itself, you can feel it a little bit. Pegs are higher, rear feels a bit lower, but it feels very similar, actually, to the Super Duke. Very similar. Even despite being a straight four, it's not too wide. It's still quite a thin bike, between your legs, and it's nice to sort of grip around the tank. Yeah, the Ergos are really nice on it. Brakes are good, maybe not quite as much bite as the Super Duke and the Triumph, or the Stylemans, but still more than you'd ever need. Yeah, the rear is not, it's quite soft, the rear brake. You have to really stamp on that. That blipper. Yeah, it's sensational, the quickshifter on this. Sensational. It's like velvet. Finding neutral can be a bit of a challenge. I think that's the new Disney film, isn't it? Finding Neutral. Oh, God, key's locked. Let's put all your keys in a bowl, see who's going home with what. Oh, it's literally, yeah, it's literally. Get on there. We're gonna lose that in a minute. There's an image. Mm, I quite like that. Once I got going on it, I quite like that. We'll swap back in a minute, don't you worry. We've got plenty of time on it. It's much more upright, the front end on this, isn't it? Your seat, you're sat in the bike a bit more. The tank's really high around your waist and the bars are higher. And the seat is much more padded. How do I turn this on? See you later. Clutch is proper snatchy on there, isn't it? Bloody hell. This is a monster, whoa. Yeah, the suspension does feel a lot softer on this, but you've got full control through the menu to firm things up front and rear. So I think I might have a little bit of a play with that, actually. This is the Ohlins EC3 system. So yeah, let's up the front firmness. Up the rear firmness. Up the brake support. Up the acceleration support. Let's just up everything. Then cornering support. Initial acceleration support. Cruise support. So, I mean, you've got so many, so much flexibility with the suspension. But let's see if it actually makes any difference. Wow, the gearbox is incredibly smooth. The quickshifter on there, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Wow, I thought the Triumph was good. Oh, ho, ho, ho. Wow, this is incredibly light. Quickshifter's also very nice on this. Yeah, the front brakes are much, much nicer, actually, much sharper than those Stylemas. And even though I firmed everything up, everything still feels very plush. It's nowhere near as firm as the S1000R or the Super Duke, for that matter, I don't think. I think Triumph are just trying to make sure they don't make the same mistake as they made when the 1200 came out, when it was all a bit too, a bit too firm. A little bit more cram than the Super Duke, maybe. There's still plenty of room in the seat. I can move right back in the seat without getting anything digging in the back of my arse. Yeah, it just feels really planted in the corners. Little bit of suspension dive. You know, and I've just increased the braking support, but it's a little bit of weight transfer. It is a little bit softer, I think, than the other two. This thing's on a different level, isn't it? Jesus. I'm always a bit critical of the Triumph electronics, and this now has like a wheelie control option where you can choose how much wheelie you want, you know, the low, medium, high. There's four different levels of height adjustment on the wheelie. I don't think you can turn off traction, and we can't separate wheelie and traction, though, but at least you've got adjustable height wheelie control. Get out of the way, squirrel. I want this one. The rear brake's got a bit more speed. Yeah, this is nice. Sounds absolutely incredible. And I think with a triple engine, you get the best of both. You get a brilliant quick shifter. You get that initial pickup, that initial drive. I think this is 180 horsepower, and I think 130-ish new meters of torque, so more than the BMW. And you can feel it, the way it picks up at the lower rev range, so you don't have to thrash it to sort of access the performance, which I really like for a road bike. Oh, yes. Hey, the sound of it. Oh, this turns. This turns on the six foot, doesn't it? Oh, my God. Well, I think you summed it up when we did the Weymouth run. It's like a theater, isn't it? It is. Come on. Whoa. Sounds like someone's shooting at me from the front. What more do you think to my Super Duke, then? Don't hold back. Right, I know where my money's going. This thing is on rails. The engine's beautiful. It's just a massive supermoto, and it does exactly what you want it to do, doesn't it? It's like, oh. It's not just because it's got the exhaust and it sounds more involving. You think it actually does feel... Yeah, you can feel the monster inside the engine, can't you? You can feel it wanting to push you. It's the first bike I've got on, and it's made me smile straight away. Yeah, it does do that. It does do that. What do you think to the BMW, Adam? I really like this, actually. I felt a little bit easier on this than I did on the other two, actually. Felt like I could push this a little bit harder. It's probably due to the fact that it's a straight four, and you're very much used to straight four sort of power delivery as well, aren't you? I mean, I'm only probably, what, seven, eight months into riding and experiencing new stuff, so it's a very sort of familiar place to be for me on a straight four. But the Super Duke is just, it's like an event, isn't it? You just get on it, and you hold on, and it just, you can keep it, stick it in a gear, and it'll do everything you want. It'll go up, it'll go down, it'll go faster. You just, you know. Yeah, it reminds me of a funfair ride where you jump on, and the bloke running it goes, scream if you want to go faster. It's literally, it is, isn't it? It's just like, wow. Okay, come alongside, let's do a little roll-on. Let's do a little roll-on. To do a third gear, well, second gear. Do second gear at 30. It might be a bit lively that day, because I think I've got the wheelie control off, so just bear that in mind. Come on. Are you ready? I'm ready. Three, two, one, go. Yeah, I think that was you a bit tentative that day, but I caught you, but I'm not surprised, because I've got the wheelie control off. Let's see if we can change the mode on it. Yeah, the Triumph does feel, it's quite neutral, the Triumph. Very stable feeling, not flighty in any way. I think the KTM feels a bit more flighty. Same with the BMW. I think that feels quite stable as well. It feels quite safe, I think, the BMW, like it's got your back. Yes, yes. The KTM feels a little bit like it could be a bit unpredictable if you're not careful. Yeah, I think that's fair comment, actually. And I think probably the Triumph's in the middle somewhere between the two. It has got that drive, the Triumph, for the triple configuration. I do really like the triple engine, the way it makes the power. It's like the best of both. It's like you've got some of the grunt of a V-twin, but then some of the top end of a straight-four. So it is a very, very nice engine configuration. And this thing in here has been developed and developed and developed over the years, of course, until we've reached this point. Let's have another little swap over so we can get the flavour. I've lost the Triumph, I'd like to find neutral. I know it can be tricky. There we go. Too bad. God, the biting point is literally a gnat's cock hair away from just letting go of the grip, isn't it? It's like, wait, we're off again. The Triumph is a little bit sort of snatched to it as well. I mean, I like a bit of snatch as much as an X-man. Yeah, the riding position is not really a great deal in it, is there, from the feel of it. They all feel similar. So the Triumph, you feel that you're in the bike a bit more, maybe. The KTM, it's quite a firm ride. Obviously, it's not electronic. And it's set as it comes, this, which I think is just set up for sport riding. I think the BMW is a little bit firmer, isn't it? Yeah, definitely more sport set up. There's not too many vibes on the KTM because it is a massive V-twin. You know, you can feel a little bit through the bars, tiny bit through the bike, but not, there's nothing in which to ever worry you. It's not quite as obtrusive as the S1000R, which I never found too much of a problem, but you can notice it's a little bit more buzzy. The Triumph is pretty smooth as well, isn't it? That's probably the smoothest. Oh, absolutely. You can definitely feel a buzz on the bars on this. Well, that was a rather pleasant afternoon of thrashing around on, well, perhaps three of the most, the best naked bikes you can possibly buy, by a few exceptions which were missing, which maybe we'll test later, like the Streetfighter V4 here. So, big question is, I mean, I'll go first because obviously I had this choice of which bike to buy and I bought the Super Duke. So, there's no surprise that my favourite out of the two is the Super Duke. If I had to pick a runner up, I think it'd be the Triumph because I really like the comfort with this. The seat's so comfortable. It's a bit more relaxed. You can probably do a little bit more with it, a bit easier, but it's not to say the BMW's bad or anything like that. They're all so close, aren't they? They're all so beautiful. But first of all, as Womble's got the microphone, what do you think then, Dave? Which one out of the three, they're all similar prices anyway, so even cost isn't really a consideration because they're all very similar price. Which one surprised you the most and which one would you have? Well, it surprised me, I'll be honest. It's the Triumph. Yeah? It's comfortable. And once you open it, it's like two different bikes. You can go around town and it's just comfortable. You're not rushing around. As soon as you open that throttle, woof. It's got some go, hasn't it? It's got some go and you can throw it about. Yeah. It's so well balanced. I think it does instill quite a lot of confidence, doesn't it? It's very stable. It just sort of falls into the corners quite predictably. Is it the best looking bike? That's debatable. I don't know. I think all of these are a bit weird, aren't they? They've all got their own sort of styling quirks. The BMW looks much better. Well, yeah, exactly. The BMW definitely looks an improvement with the later headlights they've put on it now, but they're all a little bit out there, aren't they? From the looks. To a ride, you like the Triumph? That one's lovely, but that's hooligan. You're not going down to the shops just for a gentle ride. Yeah, no, no. Where this, you could take to work. You can go out on a Sunday. You could go away on it. Yeah. You're going Triumph? Triumph. Yeah, fair play. Adam, I thought you flatly stood behind the BMW. Is that a? There might be a bit of a shock. I own, as you probably know, I own a Super Duke and I love it. Yeah. What one would you have? Yeah, I own a Super Duke. Thanks to you. Don't blame me. Thanks for that. Everything that Dave said 100% about the Triumph, it's probably the best all-rounder, I think, out of the three of them. This took me a bit by surprise. I didn't quite know what to expect by this, but I really got on with this and I really enjoyed it. The quick shift is so smooth. I like the power delivery of it. It's light. It's nimble. It's everything. And I think we were kind of hinting what I would probably choose out of the three of them, but actually I'm going to stick with the Super Duke. So Super Duke. So that surprised you, because initially I was. Yeah, I thought you were going to go Triumph. Sorry, Dave. What's your second choice? So for Super Duke first, what's your number two? Second choice, I think it would probably be the BMW. Yeah, okay. Physical size for me, this fits me better than the Triumph. I felt a bit cramped on that. Really? This I feel a little bit more comfortable on. I love, as Dave said before, the theatre of the Super Duke, the way it is, the engineering of it, the fact that it's just a brute, and it's a talking point. I think it's an event when you ride the Super Duke. Yeah, exactly. It's a bit like my old H2 I used to have. It's a lot of theatre. It's an event. You're taking the Super Duke out. It's a bit unpredictable. You never quite know if you're going to come back with a big grin on your face, or your trouser's full, or both. I don't know. It depends. So, yeah, love them all, but I think I'm going to stick with the Super Duke. Fair enough. What's your third choice, Dave? If you take the RS, what would be your... Let me give him a mic. Let's give him the motorbike back. Come over here, Dave. I'll say again. Hello. We didn't ask what your second choice was. What's your number two? My number two would be the KTM. Would it? Number two, the KTM. Yeah, 100%. Which is weird, because when I first looked at them, I was BMW. But that just makes you grin, doesn't it? It does make you grin. But, I mean, it's not standard, this, as I've been saying. It's been mapped, so it's going to be elevated a little bit on the craziness. The bike rides, though, it's completely different to these two. Yeah. That's on its own, it's very super motory, handles brilliantly. Where these are more, throw it into the corner, that's aggressive, isn't it? Yeah. These two, I think, are probably more like each other, aren't they? Where they're different, but they're probably more similar in line than the Super Duke. Yeah, exactly. The Super Duke feels very different to either of those, doesn't it? Whereas these two feel quite similar overall. But yeah, there we go. So, a little bit of super naked action for you. So, if you enjoyed the video, don't forget to subscribe, like, all that stuff. And hype, these days, we've got to remember to hype. We'll be back with more comparisons soon. We're going to be trying to do a bit of a cruiser test. So, we've got some Harley's coming for a bit of a cruiser test. What else have we got planned? We've got all sorts planned. And the only way you're going to see it is if you subscribe. So, don't forget to subscribe, and we will see you on the next one. Cheers, guys.