i will never take it to any local mechanic ,, not even for punctures ...i will always fill up at shell as it is near to my house .. i will always maintain 1 bar above the E mark .. i always fill up for 500rs .
thx mate .. every bike behaves differently when ridden at low revs .. since duke is a short stroke and fi bike ,, it starts jerking below 2000rpm .. my fz used to smoothly die out without giving any feeling of stalling ( that was fz characteristic ) ..
we are not supposed to ride duke below 2000rpm .. i learnt very quickly after it jerked for the first time .. i always keep it above 3000rpm .. stalling in duke is rider error ( as far as i know till now ) .. this is my third bike so i dont have any problems in traffic .. the bike feels light and seems to be perfect for me ..more pics will come soon .. busy riding now ..

thx mate..
i have just removed the saree guard .. i have left the tyre hugger untouched ..
gear shifts are superb .. downshifts very quickly even from 6th to 1st with proper clicks ..i want the gear lever to be placed a little lower ..upshifts are equally quick and crisp..
duke is pretty damn quick and fast even from 3000-6000rpm .. i have never rode it with fuel efficiency in mind ..if i ride any faster , it will be termed RASH RIDING here .. i have got the vehicle number but i have still left the number plate empty .. i will get the number stickered next week .. i tried adjusting the mirrors but i was unable to find the perfect angle .. i can mostly see only my arms and shoulders occupying 60% of the mirror area..i have always taken off the mirrors on all my previous bikes ,, i think i will take it off this time as well.. i will put it back on during a highway ride ..

Lol
Reminds me of the time i used to get 47 kmpl during my run in period... Haven't been able to control opening the throttle since then and it now hovers around the 33-35 kmpl mark..
Ride safe.. Happy riding..

Mirrors need some adjustment.. They are fine once to adjust the position. Minimal handlebar vibes help immensely in safely using them.

47 kmpl .. those were the days when one was very patient, calm and composed... I got 47kmpl the first time I checked ... Gone are those days, these days constant revving and spurts of speed result in a mileage of 38 - 42kmpl... I think I'll try to maintain it around 50kmph below 5k RPM for one tank full and check the mileage .. hope God gives me that much patience

I still sometimes ride slow during night rides when I have all the time in the world.. still get 49-50 kmpl

leisure riding also can be fun sometimes, especially when a bus full of beautiful college girls is going next to you

This is one of the worst things you can do, and goes against two of the core tenets of this website (promoting safety and shaping the motorcycling experience). The vast majority of serious rider errors I see here in India are committed by riders who removed their mirrors thinking it would either look cool or they were getting in the way/didn't work, and most of those errors are directly related to the lack of mirrors. They do work; all bike mirrors work.

The trick is that you should have them adjusted to show as much of what's next to you as possible, rather than what's behind you. If you do that, you'll find that you can still see pretty much everything behind you at the inner edge of the mirror, as well as a lot of the lane next to you in the middle and outer portions, so you won't change lanes into the side of someone's vehicle without knowing (as two separate riders sans mirrors have already done to me). Also, you do know the mirror stalks are adjustable too, right? Not just the mirror itself? Also, you do know to compensate for any remaining inadequacy by looking over your shoulder before moving for any maneuver that you would use a mirror for? Like pulling away from the side of the road, changing lanes, etc?

handle bar grip is like holding a pineapple..

i think the best mileage is achieved at 70kmph in 6th gear..

girls just dont stop staring at duke .. i once parked my duke at a hotel and came in to have lunch ,, observed college girls change their topic of discussion to DUKE DUKE DUKE .. they even started clicking pics ..

yes ,, you are right .. i used to turn around to look behind .. but i got used to that ..one more reason to take off the mirrors is that ,, the bike cover which i have bought doesnt fit with mirrors on ...

Got used to that??? I'm sorry that just doesn't work that way.. would you turn your head to look back when you are travelling at 130+ kmph? I think you know how much distance the bike would have traveled in that 2 seconds you need to turn back. And especially on Indian roads the risks are just too high. Do the right thing, keep the mirrors on.. Adjust it to get the the best view and You'll get used it..


I tried doing that a week back.. Managed to ride sanely for about 50kms before the "Itch" got too much..

hey congrats on your purchase bro, i've been to deewan's service station at okhla, i must say it is amazingly huge, they even have a dyno run but that doesnt show torque or bhp, ktm's are serviced on the 1st floor, mr. ranjan is service rep. over there and he is is very helpful and courteous and a good listener as well.Experience was way too better that i had at kirti nagar svc on my 1st service

What's your mileage mantra ??

Rohan, i guess 70kmpl must be the console reading, which is different from real world reading. Maybe newer lot of Dukes are more fuel efficient .

Guys how do u manage such high mileage, i tried riding between 55-60 and babying it during run-in and got 36-38, and after run-in with few bursts of high revving, still i get the same average. Even highway riding does not change much - goes up to 40kmpl max.

I really don't care about the mileage.. If I did I would've been on a Platina or Passion thread (If they exist)

sometimes when I am in a mood to ride slowly during night times, I get some pretty decent numbers.. of mileage and views

I've been riding for 13 years or so and I always found it difficult without a RVM. Some guys fiddled with my Duke and the RVM was loose. It would change it's position during my 12km ride home due to the cross wind. I had to pull over, tighten it and then continue on my way.

Everytime I encounter a guy without RVM riding ahead of me, I take extra pre-caution while overtaking him. I don't think any bike will look COOL without a RVM. If you feel RVM's doesn't help you, then please stop changing lanes when you are on the road. Just maintain a single lane and ride at a constant speed.

So what about idle speed? is that also supposed to kept above 2000 rpm?

Actually, yes, every single time I changed lanes on US interstate highways, at about 130km/h. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation teaches this as the correct method before changing lanes: check mirror, glance over shoulder and begin lane change. When pulling away from a stop at the side of the road, same drill: check mirror, look over shoulder, then begin pulling out onto the road (use additional mirror checks to estimate approach speed of any oncoming traffic as you accelerate).

Point being, you need *both* to ride safely. Never remove the mirrors from your bike, and always look before you go.

You are right @mountain. Even more so in case of the duke. The mirrors don't give you good coverage of the road, especially the blind spots to either sides just behind the rider. So even after checking the mirrors it may so happen that the rider misses a bike which was just about to overtake it resulting in a crash. So a very quick glance over the shoulders is rather required.
And btw I find looking at the mirror and back at the road a bit taxing many times, forget having no mirrors and trying to look back for oncoming traffic. phew