It isn’t street legal, but the stripped-out, hopped-up KTM  1190 RC8R Track sure makes us wish it was. With sharp, angular styling, the RC8 sure looks good but the first superbike from Austria hasn’t really been able to keep up with its competition from Germany, Italy and Japan.

Now, while KTM aren’t really doing anything much about taking the RC8 to a level where it can compete with the likes of the S1000RR, RSV4 Factory or the 2011 ZX-10R, they’re making it easier for punters to go racing with this bike. The RC8R Track, which doesn’t come with headlamps, turn-indicators and other street paraphernalia, gets a new white/orange paintjob, Akrapovic EVO 4 exhaust, new fuel-injection mapping, Dunlop slicks, Brembo monobloc brake callipers, uprated WP suspension components with more adjustability and adjustable subframe, handlebars and footpegs. Oh, and to remind you that this is the racing-only version, it also has a thinner seat.

The KTM 1190 RC8R Track was unveiled recently at the INTERMOT motorcycle show in Cologne, in Germany, by KTM factory racers Martin Bauer and Stefan Nebel, who won the Manufacturers Title in the German Superbike championship (IDM) this year, on their 1190 RC8R machines. For aspiring racers who want a ready-to-race 180bhp V-twin-engined superbike, the RC8R Track could represent good value at about €17,000.