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**deva_hunk** · 12-08-2011, 03:31 AM

Good review.

Good heads-up for the KTM 200.

I liked the way the features were described.

Having known about the duke, lets wait for the auto expo to know more about the upcoming launch from other players.

**xxbomb** · 12-08-2011, 03:48 AM

Originally posted by princesirohi View Post

Nice review, great effort ...

BUT

it looked more like an advertisement or online launch of KTM200 rather than a review with all praise and everything.

when i first saw the performance figures i too was quite impressed...only to know the figures were given by Bajaj(the company producing the product) and not from the xbhp team..

. . .

Anyways..will wait for the ride to hit the streets.

. . the overall package looks good for city usage.

Also..could we include Ninja-Chacha into the future comparisons please?.

**Ulti Racer** · 12-08-2011, 04:45 AM

really duke of preesent indian bike scenario

This is my first post on the forum.i would definitely rate the review as 4.9/5 because one n only fact that u didn't test it on road. your review is really mind blowing and yeah even an advertiser may not put all the points of bike like this.the figures u mentioned are astonishing for 200.Are you sure these can be achieved by normal fuel.Even though you answered it by state of tune i am not sure the compression ratio can take this(some techie may throw more light on this). I am really waiting for launch and on road reviews.

**tibby** · 12-08-2011, 04:55 AM

Great detailed review guys! One of the finest ever. Kudos to Sunny, MG & Sunil.

As usual, amazing clicks.

Also, I'm glad that this review was made available online, unlike that of the R15 v2.0 for which one had to wait to buy the magazine. Someone like me who was out of country missed out on reading the review as I obviosuly couldn't source the magazine outside India!

Originally posted by Sunny View Post

But this does not mean other motorcycles in the market are not good. We must give FULL credit to CBR250R for starting the game and taking it to a whole new level.

I beg to disagree here! I would give it to Yamaha India for turning around the market & their own fortunes with the introduction of quality products like the R15 & FZ16. The Indian biking scene has changed positively since the introduction of these in 2008.

**shv18** · 12-08-2011, 05:27 AM

Sunny and MG Nailed it.. i have to admit all the figures are really impressive.. now all we have to wait for is the price... If Bajaj hits a sweet spot on this one it is a runaway success for sure... CBR has a tough competitor without a doubt!!

Cheers

**roshan3440** · 12-08-2011, 05:42 AM

Nice review and pics like always ... Next I guess will be "the first impression" with real performance figure and a real shootout between the Biggies ! All special in their way but "just to have some fun "... Lets have one of those...

Pricing is critical for Bajaj-KTM. Too close to CBR aint good to be honest as a fully faired sports-bike always somehow has an advantage over a naked one... especially in India, Also things can work either ways becoz its INDIA again

, so gotta wait and see ....

@Sunny - About you going to office on this bike - I guess it suits perfectly becoz your's is "THE XBhp office"

and not an MNC where one has to go in formals with a laptop and what not ... Not that people wont like to ride this mean orange hooliganistic machine to office

.. It will look insane good and bad .

**velociraptor13** · 12-08-2011, 08:37 AM

"APPLAUSE" "APPLAUSE" a wonderful review.The bike fits my bill perfectly.If the bike fits in my budjet,am any day ready to sell of my 220 for the duke

.

MG · 12-08-2011, 08:52 AM

Originally posted by Shubz View Post

Was there any mention made about the way the Duke sounds?

Didn'y get. What exactly is your question?

Originally posted by RascalAngel View Post

^why are these small.cliking on them opens a new tab

Review is huge and hence few of the pictures are posted as thumbnails

Originally posted by Vin-D View Post

Would this bike suit people over 6 feet and are "generously" built?

Yes I'm 5'11'' and it suits me completely

Originally posted by Vin-D View Post

Should I change my Royal Enfield Classic 500 Chrome(Which Has Twice the Torque and more bhP) booking to this?

Both the bikes are poles apart. Have a look at KTM200 and then decide. Don't take any decision in a hurry

Originally posted by Shubz View Post

Is this a subtle hint that it could be priced very closely to the CBR? say 1.55L?

No

Originally posted by bprags View Post

I am still kinda dissappointed with the 0 -100 kmph figures, I expected them to be in the 8.xx range. The power to weight ratio and the short gearing should have helped it acheive that. I would take the CBR 0 to 100 kmph with a pinch of salt, that is the slowest 0 to 100 kmph I have read for the CBR across all reviews and this figure has come from Bajaj

.

From what I hear and understand it was doing better timing earlier but the Indian regulation and emission norm killed it.

**HarishK** · 12-08-2011, 08:59 AM

Originally posted by Ulti Racer View Post

This is my first post on the forum.i would definitely rate the review as 4.9/5 because one n only fact that u didn't test it on road. your review is really mind blowing and yeah even an advertiser may not put all the points of bike like this.the figures u mentioned are astonishing for 200.Are you sure these can be achieved by normal fuel.Even though you answered it by state of tune i am not sure the compression ratio can take this(some techie may throw more light on this). I am really waiting for launch and on road reviews.

Cam has more bearing on what static compression you can run.
Dynamic Compression ratio not static CR is what determines if it will knock or not on what octane.

For any DCR there is an Octane rating in which it can run and usually in SBKs with high DCR, will either have a Engine Knocking sensor or Cut-off will be induced by the ECU if the Fuel (Octane rating) is insufficient to complete the ignition on time. (Ignition-timing)

Refer the below attachment for a better idea. Again the below graph is pure theory and practically there are may more aspects that matter a lot.

**glider99** · 12-08-2011, 09:42 AM

For who is this bike suitable for?

If I am over 40 and have a farm house and a big bike and am well settled?

This must be change for you then, the monetary kind. On a serious note, as a second bike which you can take to any terrain across the country while looking good and going fairly fast, this one fits the bill. And you will not find it a problem sharing with your counterparts in the west that you ride a small KTM, and not a desi sounding something…

Just make sure you are not too fat though.

dear xBhp team and fellow riders,

this is my first post here, the review was so outstanding that i thought i need to join now.

i am 45 years old german, riding bikes since more then 25 years, and i have been living the last 11 years in india. i have watched the indian bike market eagerly since long, and now finally a bike has come which for me goes into the right direction. the prefect one for me should be a 350 duke.

i can't really follow, why in my age i should get a high cc bike in india.
i have a friend in germany who runs a very successful showroom for italian bikes. last time i visited germany in may i drove a ducati multistrada s and a monster. they are really nice bikes and i really enjoyed riding them full stretched out, but of course you need the roads and traffic conditions to enjoy them.
luckily in germany we have certain sections of highway were there are no speed limits, and on the other hand we also get this small winding roads with turns after turns. some of them are so popular with bikers, that on weekends they are closed for bikers.

please don't feel offended, i love riding bikes in india, but i think it is always nice if you can ride your bike flat out. this is just what is the fun part for me, to rev your engine in the max torque area and to get the max power out of it. with a 200 or even 350 cc bike this should not be an issue. with a 1200 cc bike which can do 250 km/h this is close to suicide in my eyes. there could be always someone who is not expecting you to be that fast and comes into your way, even if you are "only" doing past 140km/h.
of course i can understand that is nice to own such kind of high cc bikes even here, but can we really make full use of what they have been build for?
i doubt it.

anyway, this i just my perception, and of course anybody is free to own and ride big bikes here. i just thought i need to share my views since i am past “40” and for me this kind of bike (duke 200 or even better 350) is not a second bike, but will be my first bike choice.

**ken cool** · 12-08-2011, 09:43 AM

Super review. Good quality photographs. Excellent processing.

And the review is really good to make people buy the product which looks and feels excellent from the review. I mean, if I have the money, I would certainly buy the product reading this.

The graph with the torque and power figures does not make clear sense with the RPM missing!

The bike looks great! Is it the first trellis frame bike to be made and sold here?

@Sunny/MG: you guys said that there is engine parts sharing with the 125. I think that you also mentionned crank in this context. I wonder if the 125 crank would be able to take the load of the 200 over lets say 20 000 kms of hard riding. I am sure KTM has looked into this. But, just a thought.

Excellent read and very informative too I must say.

Thanks to the MG/Sunny team to bring this up!

Originally posted by MG View Post

From what I hear and understand it was doing better timing earlier but the Indian regulation and emission norm killed it.

That is often the case. But then I am glad that a good regulation and emission norms are in place in this country.

**gyan** · 12-08-2011, 09:51 AM

Awesome Review ..... Geatly Backed Up with High Rev Pics .....
It coudn't had been done better ......

But seems like some ppl didn't liked the comparsion part .... It should have been exclusive ORANGEEEE n only ORANGEEEE

Your experience was with KTM 200 n should have been limted to KTM only ..... Maybe some time latter ppl would have done more interesting exclusive HEAD ON REPORTS OF INDIAN MADE PERFORMANCE BIKES .....

At last " DO WE BELIEVE RIVIAL ? " ..............

**aargee** · 12-08-2011, 10:02 AM

Originally posted by Sunny View Post

If I was going to buy a CBR250 or a Ninja 250 or any bike around the 1 lakh mark?

Look, I don’t want to spoil my relations with other manufacturers here, you know…So take the hint pls!

Lol!!! Sunny, you're getting better & better

One more thing that I noticed is that, the entire internet says CBR 250R could do 0-100 in 8.3 seconds & if I'm not wrong, Ninja 250R around 7.5 seconds. I'm not sure how 10.5 is in the graph; since I haven't verified this personally myself, I'm not vouching on this, but just brought up this point as it struck my mind.

Nevertheless, this is "THE BEST" online review for KTM 200 that can be found as of day...probably on the internet world

Your hard work is very clearly evident. Congrats.

**sharingan** · 12-08-2011, 10:13 AM

Saree guard attached to the swingarm = more unsprung weight!

@sunny
The link on the home page still directs to KTM Duke 200: Review out on xBhp very soon!!!!
It would be sad if anyone missed this review

Originally posted by ken cool View Post

@Sunny/MG: you guys said that there is engine parts sharing with the 125. I think that you also mentionned crank in this context. I wonder if the 125 crank would be able to take the load of the 200 over lets say 20 000 kms of hard riding. I am sure KTM has looked into this. But, just a thought.

The crank is different too.

**Sunny** · 12-08-2011, 10:16 AM

I have added this advisory, it was there in the bylines as well but i guess lot of people missed it for the graphs:

PLEASE NOTE: We forgot to add this initially but all the graphs and figures you see below are taken from Bajaj presentations given at the preview. They were redrawn partly from rough sketches and partly from memory. Hence there could be some errors, so please do not eat us up for that,w eare going our best! We would urge people to post more reliable info on figures from a reliable publication here and we will update the figures accordingly.

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KTM Duke 200 Review: xBhp's detailed ride report

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