Triumph's Speed Triple is MCN's long-standing king of the traditional naked litre-class bikes, free of traction control and rider modes. At the other end of the spectrum is Aprilia's Tuono V4R, which grabbed all the accolades with brutal power and myriad electronic rider aids. But now there's a new 'Beast' fighting for naked honours: KTM's 1290 Super Duke R.

We took all three to the south of France to find out.

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