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**spiralbrain** · 02-26-2012, 08:53 PM

KTM Duke 200 Ownership Thread

I thought I would start this thread as I received my bike today. The hardest part till now has been getting my hands on one. I first got hold of the this bike for a test ride on the 31st of Jan when I had to wait for over 2hrs outside the CP KTM showroom in Delhi. As the bike was brought into the showroom I was quick to ask for a test ride as I managed to convince the manager that I was willing to book one. The manager quickly agreed however on one condition that the bike would not be allowed on the road as it had no paperwork. The guard was to accompany me as a pillion. As soon as we drove off I felt the guard falling backwards, the acceleration was the first thing that impressed. Riding through the by-lanes of CP(I dont know if it was legal). the bike attracted a lot of attention as nobody had seen it in flesh. I was stopped at times by people who wanted to ask if the bike felt good. I am sure the big grin on my face gave them the answer. I returned the day after to make a booking...

...26days later I walked into the showroom to take the delivery. The moment I got my hands on the bike I have not stopped grinning. The long ride home on a Sunday was great, this is one of the rides that stays with you forever. As I turned towards Gurudwara Bangla Sahib from the outer CP circle, I was followed by a Dominos delivery guy. His grin was as big as mine and the first question he asked was the cost. I replied 'one thirty', he said bura nahi hai and drove off.

The riding experience has so far been great, i've ridden it 45 kilometers now. I honestly do not feel like getting off it, have skipped lunch in all the excitement. The best part I feel is that the bike is very well balanced. I've tried some ducking through traffic manoeuvres and I must say it feels very solid on the road. It is designed in a way that the riding position makes you feel safe. What I have not done till now is try to cross 50kph as I want the engine to run-in perfectly. The bike however feels differently, it wants to be reved and wants to be driven in the upper bands. What I can not get used to is 6 gears! as I am an old biker and have been away from bikes since 2004 I get to the upper gears too quickly. Thank god it has a gear meter of I would have struggled finding the gear I was riding in.

One thing I struggle to do is get the bike into neutral quickly. As i downshift, getting into first gear is easy but getting the bike into neutral requires a gentle up shift otherwise the bike gets into second quickly. Maybe I am not used to any other bike other than the good old RX100 and I have missed on the generation of bikes between that era.

The views are entirely mine and I have little or no experience with bikes in the past. I've ridden the RX 100 for over 7yrs after which I left the country. In between iv'e ridden a Pulsar(earlier gen owned by Sunny, the man himself) A Bullet on a few occasions. That's about it. Never been even a pillion on the Karizmas or FZ's so I am someone who has migrated from two strokes, I feel this bike has a punch, it is stable, hi-tech(the best feature) and very well made. I can not stop looking at the aluminium swing-arm, honestly that is one of the most well engineered part of this bike. Most modern high end bikes still rely on welded channels to create the swingarm.

A big thank you to my good old Friend Sunny as he inspires most of us to keep on riding...

Here are a few photos:

**SKSy_Biker** · 02-27-2012, 10:56 AM

KTM Duke 200 Ownership / experience thread approved

Let the good times roll

**Ivin** · 02-27-2012, 10:59 AM

Congrats on the bike man... Ride safe....

**Rajesh Mudaliar** · 02-27-2012, 11:07 AM

Congrats man.... enjoy your ride

**raghu123** · 02-27-2012, 11:18 AM

hey nice ride ... be safe ,wear a super cool helmet for safety and looks
every one wants to know about the FE as its fluctuatuing a lot between 25 to 35
well what is the FE now ? do tell the fe after the first service ...

**The Celebrity** · 02-27-2012, 11:23 AM

Congrats mate... Ride Safe.. Looking forwarded to a detailed ownership exp coming up soon... Kerala will be getting it's 1st KTM delivered on the 29th and it's going to an xBhpian...

**vineshp** · 02-27-2012, 11:29 AM

@spiralbrain: first KTM 200 on xBhp! wow..congrats!

Originally posted by The Celebrity View Post

Kerala will be getting it's 1st KTM delivered on the 29th and it's going to an xBhpian...

..and I guess he is a 'celebrity'

**whizzkid_ram** · 02-27-2012, 11:40 AM

Congos man. Ride safe & long!

**kariznin** · 02-27-2012, 12:02 PM

Hey! Congrats.. Enjoy your ride.. Ride safe...!

P.S: Are you the same guy whom I met at KTM service centre in Kirti Nagar yesterday ? We had a small discussion about the ride gear ???

**maraque** · 02-27-2012, 12:03 PM

Congratulations. A brilliant choice for a second bike.

**shane#1** · 02-27-2012, 12:08 PM

Congratulations @spiralbrain!!

Have the showroom given information about the powerparts? Especially the hands guards and the side protectors?

**bprags** · 02-27-2012, 12:08 PM

The bike looks so gorgeous, congrats buddy. Nice small write up, waiting to hear more and more from you.

**jd666** · 02-27-2012, 12:12 PM

Congrats.. I came real close to booking this one.. but then decided to wait for something else. This is a great city bike for sure.. awesome grunt and oodles of torque..

**w4rrior** · 02-27-2012, 12:25 PM

Congos man! I've been waiting for this thread. Please do write up more about the performance and FE after the run-in period.

Immaculate piece of fluidity	54.84%	51 votes
Royal Rumbler	24.73%	23 votes
Biking epilogue	16.13%	15 votes
Biggest Indian Failure	4.30%	4 votes

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