[QUOTE=Rohan200ns;838437]r15 was a technical magic in 2008 and it never had so many issues ..[/QUOTE

buy the duke only if you understand what its meant for..its just for having pure fun..
if u love it for what it is then buy it...else dont go for it..its a very focused bike..cheers..

R15 was a great launch in India & is still running good. It was launched in 2008 and is a fared version of V-Ixion launched in 2007 Indonesia, the engine was again a re bored Yamaha T135 launched back in 2005. R15 from yamaha was all new for India but not for the rest of the world!
But yes when it comes to reliability Japs comes first with their highly efficient yet mildly tuned engine and years of hard earned experience.

R15 was a 'path breaker' in India when it launched but after that it's Duke!

hi once again
look we all are understanding what you are going through.duke is a great product.so is pulsar.i have ridden both.ktm is having issues but they are being taken care of nicely.many people dont even have any issues, me being one of them.ktm is providing a really really good post buyng experience-from regular customer meets,planned rides(after monsoon), good support for customers.
think straight and be through with you decision.look you may not be able to justify decisions taken from your heart, but they are best ones in your life.

[QUOTE=vjnow;838478]i got to know its FUN character as soon as i took a test ride of it .. i came back so amazed that i wanted to buy it on that day itself .. its insane acceleration and exhaust note struck me totally .. i would hve bought it by now if i had not read this thread ..

ktm svc is around 30kms away from my house .. even the most minor issue with the bike will ruin my day in the process of getting it rectified at the svc ..heart still says duke ,, even after getting to know all its problems .... one doubt ,, everybody saying that the engine heat is good enough to create discomfort during traffic rides ,, what if the petrol tank above it ends up catching fire ..??

Rahul, its absolutely fine to join the group as long as you are a biker at heart

Rohan, even i had the same confusions before going for duke as it was just 3 months into the launch and i had booked it.
If you read the cbr250r thread, which i had followed for a full year, there are pages full of posts which give how much owners have faced problems with that bike. I test rode the cbr250r as i was a prospective owner, but did not go for it because of budget constraints and not because of issues faced.

Similarly i could have bought R15 but again i did not want a faired bike so R15 was out of my wish list. I could have gone for FZ, but i wanted disc brakes on both wheels, FI fuel system, powerful headlights, "not so common bike", so went for duke. I had read about the problems, which each product bound to have.

Even for me, KTM service is more than double the distance from home than honda or yamaha.

A year into the launch, and duke would surely mature into a world class product. There are infinite things that we look in a product before we make a decision, what i mentioned above are a few of them .

Its your take how you look at things, we can only guide you. Hope this helps.

This is the most ridiculous statement i have ever read. Use your sense dude, do you think it can happen ?

! This cannot happen technically as well . If petrol would burn just because of engine temperature, there wont be any requirement of spark plug in the engine.
Just FYI to all - My bike had a leakage at the bottom of the fuel tank and the petrol had come down to the level of engine head. But fortunately, it had evaporated till then, leaving behind the reddish traces. So, as a matter of fact, my bike did not catch fire

[QUOTE=Rohan200ns;838545]
Lucky you, im 200km away from SVC. Those are not deal braking issues. Let me explain you.. one by one.

1. Gear shift problems & Flase neutrals : I havent seen that on my duke.. either bajaj sorted that issue on the new lots or its that tiny shift lever people need to get used to.

2. Engine heat issues: It not like you gonna blow your engine and your bike catch on fire. You only observe it when fan starts spinning.and the heat is not like frying your legs its just warm .In mine i can see fan comes to life only in bumper to bumper traffic. Say if you cruise at 30kmph fan dont even have to run, the wind blast is enough to cool the engine.

3.Coolant leak & loosing level: this must have been happened to guys who filled it to the max when engine is hot so it dint have room to expand .
And yes coolant level varies .In my case when engine is hot it reaches max ,when cold it stays middle ,btw its just thermal expansion not leaking.

4. Fork oil leak: Not in my case after having a 30km of Nut cracking ride on non existent roads.

5.Chain slapping sound: if you clean/tighten your chain every 500km, you will forget its chain-driven. And i dint face it after the first 800kms. and its not like its gonna ruin your day.

6.Loose nuts and Bolts : Not in my case.



The only issues i have ,moisture seeping in console, 2 indicator lamps . and suspension spring paint peeling off issue. For that im getting replacement.

Cheers,

I tried to find the procedure but it guess it is very much behind. Can you please post the procedure again.


[QUOTE=vidy;838615]Replies (& one question) in bold.

I finally finished 1000km on my Duke. Took me almost 2 months. Now to begin opening her up .

Issues faced so far:

1. Chattering noise from the front fork, initially thought to be from the cone area but then traced to within the front fork itself. This is a difficult noise to spot/pinpoint and was only apparent when the bike was ridden on gravelly roads.

Solution:
Both front fork legs were replaced entirely, even though this is a known issue and entails a 10 minute replacement of two small tubes within each fork.
Cost: nil (these cost ~Rs. 16,000)

2. Coolant reservoir cap not screwing on correctly:

Solution:
Gasket on the cap replaced.
Cost: nil

I cannot say this has been a niggle free ownership experience so far, but I am more than happy with Bajaj's proactive approach.

To RohanNS:
Sure, there are some issues, but there are solutions to these issues and a manufacturer commitment and a service backup that is commendable.

Most initial issues you have been reading about here have been addressed at the assembly line itself - and if you ensure you take delivery of a Duke manufactured in the recent past, you're not likely to experience them.

Issues like discolouration of the exhaust pipe and paint peeling from the rear shocker spring are non-issues. As has been pointed out several times, heat discolouration is to be expected because of the heat.

As for the rear springs, there is nothing in the world that can be done to prevent damage caused to the paint. It will get chipped when mud/sand rubs against the springs when they are compressed and make contact with each other. At best, extra effort must be put in to keep these areas clean of grit and even that will only delay the inevitable. Look at the springs of other bikes and you will see paint damage on them as well. This is only more apparent on the Duke because of the white springs and the clear view of them.

My suggestion to you is to avoid buying this bike at this time if you lack the patience to follow up and have these problems addressed. However, with a little perseverance, you will enjoy riding a machine that is pure fun with the power and features to match. IMHO, the Duke is far ahead of anything else available in the market today or even on the horizon, in the under 2L price bracket.

If you continue to feel buying pangs (understandably!) I suggest you attend the next KTM customer meet at your dealer and have some of your doubts addressed by the folks at Bajaj to help you make a decision.

devil_rider

@devil_rider

Sent a mail to KTM info with a pic,Received a call that i will get replacement once the stock arrives,his name is chandra shekhar.he told that for goa & karnataka he is the KTM representative.

Please find the last posts made by me, I was ranting all over this thread about this.

i know it sounded silly but the way dukers described the engine heat made me think that way .. i have not personally experienced its heat .. the test ride was over in 5mins where i didnt feel any heat .. i will be able to analyze its heat if some duker could show his duke to me ( by then he would ve obviously run the engine for a fair amount of time ) ...
[QUOTE=vidy;838615]i am not worried about any of these issues ... just wanna know if there is any change in the performance after engine heats up as some people have reported earlier in the initial stages of this thread ..
up ..

@ nirvan - how do i get to know that the duke being delivered to me is from the lastest batch ? .. is your duke from the first batch ??

After getting the first service i road from Bangalore to Hassan (my place) . I thrashed it ,hit the rev limiter most of the times.

it sounded,felt,pulled the same in its entire rev. range ,

still got doubt, talk to farhan (KTM, indiranagar) . I think he will be happy to give you special test drive , moreover its test drive vehicle so you can guess its condition,

And can i have the link saying the change in performance ?

[QUOTE=Rohan200ns;838545]I've had the Duke for about 3 months and 3500kms done... am yet to have any of the issues that people have mentioned here... Bikes or any mechanical thing will have issues.. not that it's universal.. if you treat / ride it right everything will be fine..