What should be the correct tyre pressure for the duke. Rear tyre slipped a couple of times in the hills today, so worried just a bit.

Even I experience some skids these days now that the roads are a bit slippery. Correct pressure is 25.5 front and 29/32.5(with/without pillion).

Anyone experimented with a tyre change yet?

Anyone experimented with a tyre change yet?[/QUOTE]
I am looking to change my tyres to dual purpose ones, any suggestions by anyone

whats the price of fuel cap sticker of duke i want to use it on my p220 as both the caps are same, i enquired in bsk autoservice but it was not available
Also please mention the alloy sticker price

It's 25 front and 28.5/32 rear. I am waiting for some Michelin, but seems Michelin isn't available in those sizes. BTW till now not much to complain about tires from my side.

I am not sure whether you'll get any option for that sized tires. You can google a little and check. If you find something do tell us.

You can check performance racing store for online buy. Also you can directly call Motul India and check whether they can arrange something for you.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the result. Please post your experience and the handling once changed. And not to forget the pics please.

I would have tried the same if I had the duke, or maybe with a rear offroad tyre

About the tyre pressure

How can any one practically keep changing tyre pressure when pillion sits on the bike. It is like if the pillion sits - then take the bike to the nearest petrol station and change the tyre pressure and as soon as the pillion gets down, remove the excess air

Rather, keep an average tyre pressure between the two i.e. ~30

Lack of grip

I did feel lack of grip on the road after the first splash of rains. But I guess that happens with everyone when the rains strike first.

guys..is it just me who feels that duke looks better with the tyre-hugger sans the sari-guard,especially from the rear..??..it makes the bike look biggish..

First Service done

Did the first service at Auto Service. They had Motul 7100 for the replacement and I gave a go ahead for it. They also added a fuel additive (3M) to the petrol to clean up (?).

I don't see much difference in the ride - bike was already performing good except for the false neutral / hard to go to neutral issue. The neutral issue continues. I had cleaned and lubricated the chain about 200Kms before. It was redone as part of the service. Apart from oil change, I'm not sure what else was done. Missed out on discussing further with the service guys due to time crunch.

RPM isn't reset from 5K mark. I'm not really worried about it - but wondering if any other activity like remapping is missed out during the service.

My bad. Correct pressure is the one mentioned by @anupam_on_wheels and listed on the chain cover of course

Yesterday, I was freaking out on the bike stability even at moderate speeds. The rear seemed like skidding all the time. I could clearly feel sideways movements of the bike and the tendency not to follow a straight line while comming to a halt on application of front brakes.
The roads were perfectly dry. No hint of rain throughout the day.
I was riding with a pillion and squeezing through traffic was very difficult due to the small but perceptible sideway sways of the bike.
Wonder what could be the problem.I started to get this 'unstable' feeling right after I had inflated the tyres at a petrol pump with apparently the 'correct' pressures.
Now it may be that I had mentioned incorrect pressures to the attendant or the air gauze was faulty.Or may be the wheel alignment problem?(damn this issue has swamped my mind like a swarm of crickets swamp a crop) or perhaps some bolts are loose and the chassis is not intact, which is very unlikely though.
But whatever it may be, it was very unnerving and confidence sapping ride back to home yesterday.

PS id never before had such a feeling. I hope it's not only in my head

Most likely it is incorrect tire pressure. Fuel bunks almost never calibrate their air pumps so I always carry my own air pressure gauge which is reliable and helps in maintaining correct tire pressure.

I doubt wheel alignment issue on your bike but do check the swingarm alignment markings and adjust as specified in the manual.

Check your suspension setting. If the rear spring isn't properly set for a pillion, the suspension isn't going to be able to cope with the extra weight properly. Since this is closer to a real performance bike than pretty much everything else in the Indian market, it's going to actually be sensitive to suspension settings (such as they are). If the spring isn't properly set for the extra weight, the rear suspension in particular is going to make the bike feel very unstable. This is magnified by the fact that the Duke is very lightweight. The bike on its own weighs only slightly more than a human. Adding a pillion effectively doubles the curb weight of the machine, a significant percentage increase of the total weight even accounting for the rider.

It does make the bike look a bit stuffed/better.

Without those - the bike looks strangely empty-ish with a gigantor gap between the tyre and the pillion seat

Setting suspension "sag"

This is borrowed from Racetech's site, and is their primer on setting rear suspension sag:

REAR END
Step 1: Extend the suspension completely by getting the wheel off the ground. It helps to have a few friends around. On bikes with sidestands the bike can usually be carefully rocked up on the stand to unload the suspension. Most race stands will not work because the suspension will still be loaded by resting on the swingarm rather than the wheel. Measure the distance from the axle vertically to some point on the chassis (metric figures are easiest and more precise; Figure 1). Mark this reference point because you'll need to refer to it again. This measurement is L1. If the measurement is not exactly vertical the sag numbers will be inaccurate (too low).
Step 2: Take the bike off the stand and put the rider on board in riding position. Have a third person balance the bike from the front. If accuracy is important to you, you must take friction of the linkage into account. This is where our procedure is different: We take two additional measurements. First, push down on the rear end about 25mm (1") and let it extend very slowly.
Where it stops, measure the distance between the axle and the mark on chassis again. If there were no drag in the linkage the bike would come up a little further. It's important that you do not bounce! This measurement is L2.
Step 3: Have your assistant lift up on the rear of the bike about 25mm and let it down very slowly. Where it stops, measure it. If there were no drag it would drop a little further. Remember, don't bounce! This measurement it L3.
Step 4: The spring sag is in the middle of these two measurements. In fact, if there were no drag in the linkage, L2 and L3 would be the same. To get the actual sag figure you find the midpoint by averaging the two numbers and subtracting them from the fully extended measurement L1: static spring sag = L1 -[(L2 + L3) / 2].
Step 5: Adjust the preload with whatever method applies to your bike. Spring collars are common, and some benefit from the use of special tools. In a pinch you can use a blunt chisel to unlock the collars and turn the main adjusting collar. If you have too much sag you need more preload; if you have too little sag you need less preload. For road race bikes, rear sag is typically 25 to 30mm. Street riders usually use 30 to 35mm. Bikes set up for the track are compromise when ridden on the street. The firmer settings commonly used on the tract are generally not recommended (or desirable) for road work.


Note that there are two measurements in this process. Also, not discussed here is unladen sag, or the amount the suspension settles under just the weight of the bike with no rider. You should take note of that amount as well, because if there is a really large difference between that number and the sag with the rider aboard, you might need stiffer springs, something KTM doesn't yet provide for. If you have to really crank up the rear spring to get your sag correct with rider, then be aware that you may notice handling issues since the front and rear springs are calibrated for a rider of a certain weight, and the fronts are not easily adjustable. If you are in that situation, it is possible to put preload spacers in the front fork to compensate, but you'd need the shop's cooperation and some help from KTM not to void your warranty.

This is important for me in particular, because I'm very likely in that position. I am a heavy guy, at about 100kg, and I am certain the stock spring rates for the Duke are aimed at the average Indian guy who weighs probably 60kg. If I end up getting this bike, as seems likely in the next couple of months (as an interim until I'm ready to drop the cash on the bigger bike I eventually plan on), I'm going to have to see what my options are for this issue.

Note as well that if you plan a fair amount of 2-up riding, you should probably set your sag to the lower end of that scale (20-25mm, instead of 30-35mm) to account for the added weight of the passenger. You'll still have more sag than you want when riding 2-up, but at least it won't be as bad as if your suspension is set soft for even a single rider. If you ride 2-up a lot, then set the suspension with both people on board. It'll be stiff when riding alone, but that's not as dangerous as riding with a passenger on a too-soft suspension.

^^ are there any pics along with this or do I have a problem with the browser/pc?