Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Sounds like you need a bigger bike. For speed outbursts in those lonely (and road free) times of day only a bigger bike would help.
Have a look at a video by Motorbeam posted earlier, you can see how D390 accelerates quickly upto 140 kmh, and then it slows down.
If you're had enough of N250 then D390 won't give you a kick.

Wait for Street Triple or something similar that has good power.
N650 is good but might be a tad boring with its heavy weight and lower power.

At the end it's all about one question - what's your budget?

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review


Appreciate your response guys.

My bad i didnt explain it better, a couple of beers dont generally help to pen your thought process. Anyways, i had N250r for a good 2.5 years, didnt get bored of it in a literal sense but the thrill factor kind off sobered down. It was like a wife. Always there when i needed her, knew she'd be with me forever, no hassles, uncomplicated, everything that a guy would need. Was just too refined, wasnt as wild. D390 on the other hand is like a mistress, with a soul purpose to excite you, thrill you. Was lucky to get a longish test ride and all through it she kept telling me to ride her, harder. And she wasnt moaning, but screaming, damn !

I have ridden a few SBKs, from 848 to S1000rr to Diavel, unless you dont get to a particular powerband its just smooth and refined and sober and heavy. Too much uptapped power at our disposal and can only get a glimpse of her true beauty at a race track, but again closest track to me is 1200kms away !

Yes re-reading my post points all fingers to D390, yes i am inclined but couple of things hold me back and hence the confusion. Damn i know im being a pile on and apologize again for it. Ignore if you must

Cheers

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Buy the mistress... She's quite affordable in India atleast! You could sell it later if it still doesn't satisfy your cravings.

Btw, I know a guy who got the first 390 in Mumbai. He already has a Ducati streetfighter. He initially didn't like the bike for week and planned to sell it. One evening he took it out for a long spin, got acclimated to the power delivery and loved the nimble nature of the bike. He's now cancelled all plans to sell it for the next 1.5 years minimum.

The duke has plenty of punch and a character that jap bikes simply don't possess. The notorious madness is what differentiates a European bike. Get it!


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Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Not sure if its been shared here before..

KTM Duke 390 vs Yamaha RD350 Shootout | MotorBeam – Indian Car Bike News & Reviews

Some more timepass while we still wait for our 390s.

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

390 review by Overdrive....

Overdrive Review: 2013 KTM Duke 390 - YouTube

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

After the above first test ride, I got my hands on a longer 2nd ride today. The thing is absolutely brutal and I felt like I was testing/crossing my limits of control yet it stayed put and in control. This was probably the first time I was happy to see potholes on the road! I was like, now I can test how good the damping feels . I didn't feel the ride was any harder than my 135LS. The pulsar 135LS has one of the worst seats in the pulsar range.
But stopping at 2 signals gave it enough time to burn my hamstrings through my regular pair of Levis jeans. I felt the burn even after getting back home 20mins later. But I would say, compared to the last time when I rode the bike when it had 0kms on the odo, it is much cooler, so I'm guessing it will eventually get to a point where it will be bearable. Mind you, this is not the engine overheating, it's just that the heat from the rad and engine is falling directly on your hamstrings, which happens to be one of the most sensitive areas!

The crouch position for a 6' guy like me felt so natural and didn't feel forced. I was able to accelerate upto 133 from standstill within about approx 600Meters before traffic decided to play spoilsport.

Also, when I drove it out of the dealer, despite having a straight clean road, I curbed my enthusiasm and decided to see if I could just potter around in higher gears.. I was happily able to potter around at about 25Kmph in 4th gear before I told myself wtf and twisted my right hand.

And ofcourse I have hot news from the dealer!! When the dealer saw me.. he just said one word.. Finally!! Banjara Hills KTM has said that they have received an email from Bajaj confirming the first lot to be delivered to them between 10th-12th of this month. So guys, get your finances in order as these dates would probably mirror across all dealers give or take a couple of days.

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

And ofcourse I have hot news from the dealer!! When the dealer saw me.. he just said one word.. Finally!! Banjara Hills KTM has said that they have received an email from Bajaj confirming the first lot to be delivered to them between 10th-12th of this month. So guys, get your finances in order as these dates would probably mirror across all dealers give or take a couple of days.

Hi, did the dealer say anyhing on # of bikes to be deliverered? I am 6th on the list. Hope I get mine next week.
Thanks for the news.

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Hello there, following the thread since 15th Aug since I booked, any news from kanjulmarg KTM ???

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

It really depends upon the lot size which they receive..

I myself have booked the bike on 28th July @ KTM South Mumbai, at that time they had received 2 bikes for deliveries, which are now in the hands of their owners..

I think we would receive our bikes between mid Oct to Nov...

Lets just hope that the LOT size is healthy for each consignment..

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

I think he said "A true hundred and sixty two kilometres an hour"

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Booked mine last Saturday from KTM CP, Delhi.....only 66 bikes booked so far. That was surprising!

No test ride as their test bike didn't have any fuel.......was told to come any other day for that.
Have a lot of hopes on this one, considering i've never ever taken a ride on a duke 200 either.

Surprisingly they told me that the bike will be delivered within October. How can that be, when their
booking agreement says a minimum of 3 months waiting??

I have a little OT question guys.....I was told that I cant get the bike registered in Delhi without having a
local proof of residence (Lease agreement not excepted)......the sales girl was dumb enough to tell me
that I should get the bike on temp. registration and ride it all the way to jammu (Im from J&K) to get it registered and
then ride back .......The other more feasible option is to open a bank account in a nationalised bank
with the local address of Delhi......Is this really required guys?? Do I have any other option?

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Yes, you do need local address proof, and Lease agreement is not accepted.

Check my post #934 related to similar query:

But this reply was for a person who is a resident in that city. Your case is different since you living in a different city.

Instead of opening bank account, you can consider one option. You can take LIC policy which is accepted as address proof (of small amount/sum assured)
If you know somebody in Delhi, preferably a relative, you can call an LIC agent at that person's address. The agent will happily sell you the policy, and will accept any valid address you provide. But you might have to wait for a few days for the policy document to be issued.

Re: Duke 390: Long Term Ride Review

Does anybody have any idea about any Orange day in mid September in Delhi. The dealer says bike will get delivered after that???