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Up Close And Personal With A Naked KTM RC16

By David Emmett |

Normally, MotoGP teams keep garage doors firmly shut when the fairings of their bikes need to be removed, unless forced to do otherwise. For example, the teams have to keep their garage doors open throughout a MotoGP session, for as long as the pit lane is open. The factories used to slide large screens in front of the bikes to get around this, but Dorna and IRTA have banned this, allowing screens only to be used for bikes which have been crashed.

If a factory team wants to take the fairings off their bike, they have to use sheets and covers to hide the bikes innards from prying eyes, rather than screens. An injunction not all factories stick to: some will still put up screens, consequences be damned.

So it is very rare to get a shot of a bike with its fairing off. MotoMatters.com contributors Niki Kovács and Cormac Ryan Meenan have both managed on occasion to get a snap of a fully undressed bike. But in Austria, Cormac managed to get a selection of shots of the KTM RC16 without its fairing on, from both sides. Here's what the bike looks like, with some comments on what we can see.

10
2023
MotoGP
Spielberg, Austria
KTM
Brad Binder
Jack Miller
CormacGP
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Comments

I was surprised to see a half-link in the chain (not sure what it's really called). Just past 12:00 on the rear sprocket in the first, left-hand side photo. I would have thought that would be a literal weak link in the system.

Also, less safety wire than I would have expected.

 

 

I've noticed this in a couple of other detail shots of the KTMs: on the suspension linkage, there is a bolt or shaft that you can see on the second photo (left side) that is just below the shift linkage, roughly 60% of the way back from the front end of the black shift link shaft. It appears to have a socket for a wrench in the end, but it's not the expected hex or even Torx - it's a square socket. There's another shaft with a similar end treatment just to the front of the toe guard/shark fin that's attached to the foot peg mount. I've wondered why they went with the square shape, rather than one of the more common choices.

They're the fastest off the line, and appear to have 2 cables going into the dark casting where the clutch actuator would be located????