KTM 790 RC and 490 RC confirmed: MotoGP moves into the middleweight class

• For the first time, KTM’s leadership names two further RC models specifically
• The new range targets the middleweight and small-capacity classes
• KTM stays in MotoGP until 2031, with the street business accounting for half of revenue

For almost two decades KTM had little to offer in the field of fully faired sports bikes. The brand returned to that segment last year with the 990 RC R, followed in early 2026 by the track-only 990 RC R Track. Now it is becoming clear that it will not stop at a single model. In a conversation on the sidelines of the Czech Grand Prix, Gottfried Neumeister, head of KTM AG since 2023, confirmed that the range will be extended downwards.

Which new RC models has KTM announced?

KTM is planning a 790 RC and a 490 RC. Both models are intended to sit below the 990 RC R and turn the RC line into a sports bike family in its own right.

Speaking to motorsport journalist Adam Wheeler, Neumeister put it without any hedging: “the 990 was first and we’ll have a 790 and a 490. He points to other manufacturers that have long been present in the middleweight and smaller capacity classes, and describes that segment as growing.

KTM is therefore moving into an area where a good deal has happened recently. Aprilia serves it with the RS 457, BMW is rebuilding its entry-level class around twin-cylinder engines together with an Indian partner, and other group brands are working on comparable platforms. That is exactly the gap the announcement from Mattighofen is aiming at.

Where will the engine of the 790 RC come from?

The 790 RC is likely to use the twin from the 790 Duke. KTM has not confirmed this so far, but the model designation strongly suggests it.

The LC8c parallel twin with 799 cubic centimetres is built in China, where the 790 Duke and the 790 Adventure are also produced in full. A suitable engine is therefore available, as is the manufacturing structure behind it. For the 790 RC, KTM would mainly have to develop the frame, the bodywork and the setup, but not a new engine.

What is known about the 490 RC?

The 490 RC is set to become the entry-level model of the RC range and, according to media reports, is being developed together with CFMoto. Technically it is said to be based on the CFMoto 450SR S.

Prototypes have already been spotted. Reports suggest the 490 RC takes over the parallel twin of its Chinese sister largely unchanged, with just under 47 hp (around 35 kW) and just under 40 Nm (about 29 lb-ft). The CFMoto weighs 179 kg (395 lbs) ready to ride, and the difference on the KTM is said to be small. One striking detail is the single-sided swingarm, which is rare in this class.

The differences are said to lie above all in the chassis and the electronics. Where CFMoto uses Showa components, KTM is expected to fit parts from WP, along with its own suspension and engine management settings. The design is also said to be distinct and to take its visual cues from the 990 RC R. RC lettering was already visible on one of the spotted prototypes, which usually points to a late stage of development.

The collaboration has a history. CFMoto has been manufacturing for KTM in China for years and holds a 2 percent stake in parent company Pierer Mobility. In the summer of 2023, a partnership on product strategy and development was agreed alongside the production cooperation. Earlier attempts at a small twin-cylinder class had failed before that: an LC8c reduced to around 450 cc was abandoned because the effort would have been too great, and a 790 Duke scaled down to roughly 650 cc never arrived either.

The 990 RC R as the benchmark for the range

The 990 RC R is the technical and stylistic template for everything that is to follow in the RC range. Its LC8c parallel twin with 947 cubic centimetres produces 127.84 hp (94 kW) and delivers 103 Nm (76 lb-ft) according to the manufacturer.

It also has a chrome-molybdenum steel frame in which the engine is a stressed member, a WP Apex fork and a WP Apex linkage shock. With a full tank it weighs 195 kg (430 lbs), without fuel 184 kg (406 lbs). Seat height is 845 mm and the wheelbase measures 1,481 mm. Neumeister points out with visible pride that the 990 RC R performed well in comparison tests in the specialist press. For him that is proof that the MotoGP effort is now also paying off visibly in the street range.

Why is KTM staying in MotoGP?

Because the street business now accounts for half of KTM’s revenue and the brand wants to demonstrate its expertise there at the highest level. Leaving the premier class was on the table at one point.

Together with motorsport director Pit Beirer and with backing from the board of Bajaj Mobility AG, Neumeister has signed a new five-year contract. KTM is therefore locked in until 2031 as one of five manufacturers in MotoGP, alongside Ducati, Aprilia, Yamaha and Honda. Neumeister describes the offroad business as stable over many years, but without strong growth. The street segment has therefore become the important field, and there the company does not want to prove itself in smaller national championships but right at the top.

The figures behind it are considerable. Around 150 employees work on the MotoGP project at KTM, and four of the 22 bikes in the field come from Mattighofen. The series itself drew almost three million spectators at the circuits in 2025, has close to 40 million followers on Facebook and Instagram and generates around 430 million euros (just under 500 million US dollars) in revenue. MotoGP has belonged to Liberty Media since mid-2025, and at least two of the eleven premier-class teams have found investors or been taken over since then.

What does the crisis have to do with the model offensive?

The difficult phase of the past two years has tied both areas together: without the completed restructuring, neither the MotoGP extension nor the expansion of the RC range would have been likely.

Neumeister speaks openly about how rumours of a withdrawal and of the sale of parts of the race team unsettled the workforce. At the Dakar everything was blocked at times, he says, with employees paying for fuel out of their own pockets without knowing whether they would get the money back or keep their jobs. The fact that the five-year commitment came about without a partial sale of the race team is, in his view, a signal to specialists and engineers. On business performance he says sales in the first quarter more than doubled and the second quarter is going well too.

When will the 790 RC and the 490 RC arrive?

KTM has not named a date. For neither the 790 RC nor the 490 RC is there any official information so far on market launch, price or technical data.

For the 490 RC the timing is considered particularly hard to judge, because development was delayed by the insolvency phase. It is also conceivable that it will initially, or even exclusively, be offered in China. Given the growing importance of this class in Europe, however, that is seen as rather unlikely.

The expansion coincides with a larger upheaval. In 2027 MotoGP switches from 1,000 to 850 cubic centimetres, along with changes to aerodynamics and ride-height devices. By its own account, KTM was among the first manufacturers to test the 850 engine. Up to the summer of 2026 the brand also held the series top speed record at 364.2 km/h. The cards will be reshuffled in 2027, Neumeister says, and it is precisely in this phase that the RC range is to gain its breadth.

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