Kiska is a strange place. All immaculate angles, grey interiors: a cradle of productivity. Around the two floors a wealth of young people radiate intelligence and creativity. This is not only the hub of aestheticism and functionality behind the KTM and Husqvarna brands but also count a number of other clients from Adidas to Zeiss on their roster of innovation and consultancy. On the ground floor and behind dark walls lies the principal design department and clay modelling bay where motorcycles unlikely to make the elevated plinths at the EICMA motorcycle show for another few years – or also versions of bikes that might never make it to production – are crafted.

We enter after a ‘cover-up’ exercise by the size where large screens tantalisingly obscure some authentic glimpse of what might come to pass. Craig Dent welcomes us over to his design zone; busy, surprisingly cramped and with all the whirring minds of his staff grouped together in a hive of invention.

Kiska is distinctly multi-national. It’s a pool of motorcycle aficionados and design experts (maybe even visionaries) that have undoubtedly had a hand in establishing KTM as the biggest bike manufacturer in Europe and with sales figures primed to hit 200,000 in what could be another record breaking year for the firm an hour up the road in Mattighofen/Munderfing. Dent’s piece de la resistance could be the Super Duke 1290 ‘The Beast’ as it was coined and undoubtedly the most delectable and deceptive naked bike in the entire segment. We produced an in-depth look at Dent’s effort with The Beast and how KTM have made such an impact in the ‘naked’ for the company’s Unbound magazine. See the article here:

But there was also a bigger story. How did a north Londoner arrive to helm such an influential collective in the depths of Austria and how does the relationship work with KTM in order for the ideas to make their way from clay to plastic to production. Dent, fluent in German, a father of two, soon to be three, and clearly enamoured with racing and motorcycling generally is good company and an erudite talker…

Where did the biking obsession come from?

My Dad was a wannabe biker. So we always had magazines lying around at home. We used to go to the Ally Pally bike shows [the now defunct Road Racing and Superbike show at Alexandra Palace in the UK’s capital] back then in the early ‘90s. I remember sitting on the 1993 ‘tiger’ Fireblade with the ‘bullet holes’ on the front to balance out the air pressure. A super cool thing and that got me hooked. I think my Dad went and bought a Ducati Monster and then I was ‘in it’. From the beginning I just sketched and drew pictures of bikes, cars, buses, trains, whatever. It was either that or playing with Matchbox cars!

So drawing become a bit more serious at some point…?

Yeah, things get serious and you go to school and learn about maths, science, geography and history. I was doing alright [in those subjects] but it was definitely design, technology and art that were more interesting for me and where I had some more flair I guess. In today’s society it was a case of ‘well, what are you going to do with those skills? Where are you going to go?’ and I let myself be influenced that attitude and was thinking ‘hmm, physics and maths is what I should be studying’ and went all the way through A levels doing that with art on the side to basically keep me happy. When my results came in and they were not as good as I hoped it was a kick up the backside to dedicate myself to the things I was good at. At which point my parents said: “go and study design”. I felt like a failure already until they forced me to go to an interview at Coventry University to study transportation design. I didn’t think it would work out as I as my maths and physics results weren’t that hot. All I wanted to do was draw and ride mountain bikes and that was it. However they put all my [sketch] work together and sent it off to ‘Cov’ and two weeks later I had the interview. The university said there were thousands of applicants for the course every year for just eighty places…and then a few weeks later they offered me a slot. It was then that I figured out what I was drawing and doing could be something quite cool and serious [as a career].

What did you find at University?

That was in 2000 and it was a highly competitive, testosterone-filled environment of guys that just wanted to design cars. It was super-clear for me right at the beginning that I wouldn’t do that because I didn’t ‘get’ it. I love those types of cars but my question as ‘what are you going to do with that?’ There were already enough car companies out there and I believed there were already a lot of people wanting to do that kind of design. I tried to absorb as much as the glamour and passion of the car side and do my own take on it for bikes. Looking at the internet back then you did not find much other than Glynn Kerr and a couple of other people who had chucked up some sketches. Although the legends of motorcycle design were doing their thing at the time, there were no real surprises. For me it wasn’t enough. So I decided to focus on it and see where I could go. Three years later I landed an internship with BMW in Munich. This was absolutely fantastic…even if I knew from the outset that I did not want to work at BMW! I knew the experience I could get there would be second to none. I had the legendary Edgar Heinrich – now the lead designer again at BMW – as my mentor and within a couple of months it all made sense to me and I knew it was what I wanted to do.

Was it easy to maintain the bike interest through Uni?

Yeah, we were always at Brands Hatch or Silverstone for BSB or World Superbikes. It was the Neil Hodgson era on his orange Ducati.

So also people like Mackenzie and Hislop…

Exactly. And that was everything at the weekends. Again my Dad’s enthusiasm for motorsport helped. I think it was Autocar magazine on the car side and Bike magazine on the bike side and they were always lying around at home.

Going back a bit where did the compulsion to sketch and draw come from?

It was my own thing. I remember as a kid – especially after going to shows – coming home and being super-inspired and excited and you started drawing things. Looking back on them today you just think ‘well, bikes on the market at the time were much cooler!’ For me it was so precious, somehow. I remember putting sellotape over the top of my sketches so that they would be preserved! I have no idea where they are now. There was something special about that ‘creation’. Although I had so much respect for the market and the products they were creating it just felt like there was so much opportunity there. Yes, Suzuki was white-and-blue and Hondas were red-white-blue and the Kawasakis were green but they were all very similar somehow. Back then the car industry had a bit of everything going on (whereas now it is in a small corridor and has become a little vague to me) and I thought ‘we must be able to do something similar on the bike side’.

If you had focussed on art and design and not the mathematical or scientific side would it still be possible to be where you are today?

Probably not. It was a blessing in disguise.

To read the rest of the article simply click HERE and go straight to the new issue of OTOR