Re: KTM 200 Duke

S1d, Nice explanation.
But one more thing, can you explain in picture what is dust seal and dust boot?

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Guys, What is the review on Pirelli Sport dragon as Front tyre for my Duke 200?
I made my mind to buy MRF Revz FC1 but i saw Pirelli, Price range between both is huge atleast.
Pirelli is H Rating and MRF is S Rating. Pass on your inputs. TIA.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

I have found the usd to be (for a lack of better words) more rigid, less twitching and better front end feel especially on braking hard. USD forks are usually beefier (i.e. thicker) and help with better stability. But say even when compared to a bike with beefier regular forks like the fz series or a P220, i've found the usd setup on the ktm much better when it comes to suspension feel, feedback and control.

The only down-side being it is a pain when the seals go bust, which happens say around once a year considering our dusty environment. You could minimize this by using a full fork gaitor (the rubber boot that goes over the forks) and periodically cleaning out the dust boot/dust & oil seal using the ktm fork doctor tool which again you have to insist at the svc, or get the tool yourself and do the cleaning periodically.


The plastic protectors on the front fork that came in later models do little to prevent the seal going bust. I am someone who has had them installed, but have had to replace the seals (right side once under warranty, and then recently both sides by paying for it.) twice in 3.5 yrs. A better option would be to install full fork gaitors.
We should first understand what causes the seal to leak, because it is not always a 'failed' (i.e. torn seal)
the fork system on the ktm's come with three 'seals':
- the dust boot which is what you see on the outside, which can be slid down with your hand , this was included in later models in India (i think late 2013 onwards). I don't think the EU export models get this bit.
- the dust seal, which sits under the dust boot
- the actual fork oil seal which sits behind the dust seal. There is a circlip that holds the oil seal in place (located between the dust seal and oil seal)

The a couple reasons why a leak occurs: The primary cause being trapped dust particles.
- trapped dust particles prevent the oil seal from sealing properly, this can be fixed by cleaning them out with the fork seal cleaning tool (or similar diy methods.. google it). A seal replacement might not be required.
- sometimes these dust particles might end up causing a tear in the oil seal, and in such a case no amount of cleaning will arrest the leak. A seal replacement is the only way out. so, at first you could try and clean them out to see if it fixes the issue before going in for replacement.
- Or the worse thing that can happen is a fork tube with scratches/pitting/rust.. this will end up tearing the seal, no matter how many times you keep replacing the seals. The way out is to replace the fork tubes.

So to minimize the chance of a fork oil leak, keep the fork tubes clean (preferably wipe with a wet cloth) and clean out the seals say once in three months, add a full fork gaitor or something like an additional diy neoprene fork protector from one Mr.Dhaval (search on youtube) And don't overfill oil in the forks, usually 440ml is sufficient (recommended in 450ml, but i've seen them dump in the entire 480ml)

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Will try what you have suggested and hope for the best. Is the mudguard of the 2017 model different than that of the 2015 model?

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----




You can use seal protector(incase it is not there in your model) which is available with new model. No modification required, just add those and you can use sleeves as well for extra protection.[/QUOTE]

Mine is a 2015 model. I don't think it has a seal protector. Will check and have it installed. Thanks!

Re: KTM 200 Duke


Yes, i have also received similar feedback on MRF rear tyre.
I'm going with MRF Revz FC1 front tyre.
Thanks you for all inputs.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----


You can use seal protector(incase it is not there in your model) which is available with new model. No modification required, just add those and you can use sleeves as well for extra protection.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

I have faced a couple of fork oil leaks on my 2012 model. What you can do is, buy the fork boots and newer oil seals from the SVC and install them on your bike. My older 2012 model did not have these new upgrades, but they can be easily fitted on the bike. Another suggestion would be using the new front mudguard which has a dust and muck deflector.

cheers!

Re: KTM 200 Duke

My duke is running with front (MRF 110/70R17 REVZ FC1 ) and rear (Michelin Pilot Street 150/60 R17), rear tire was changed one month back and few things I observed are:




>One of the main concern with rear MRF tire was it is prone to punchers due its soft compound rubber. Michelin is made of harder compound rubber thus more puncher resistant and provide more grip than stock MRF.


>Few of my friends said having Micheline/Pirelli as front tire will cause handle heaviness while riding. I still use stock MRF in front since I felt it is very light and you wont feel heaviness in handling.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

OT: what’s the advantages of having USD forks rather than having conventional forks?

Re: KTM 200 Duke

The suspension oil seal on the right front fork is leaking oil again. Since the Duke has upside downs the oil leaks out much faster and deposits itself on the front tyre and the rim. This is the third time in three years this has happened and it may have happened more if I had been using the bike more frequently on Mumbai's marble like roads. Please note the sarcasm. Any permanent fix to this? I ride sedately and do my best to avoid big and small pot holes as much as I can.

This is mildly irritating since it means the bike is off the road for the whole day.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

After extensively using the mrf and the michelin, this is my experience.
Grip wise there isn't much of a difference. The michelin is more puncture proof, and that is it's biggest advantage and very useful for someone who tours regularly.
For the front, the mrf is an excellent choice.. no point going to the michelin IMO. I rode for almost 29k km on the stock mrf with nil punctures. Replaced it recently with the mrf again. The rear mrf had 5 punctures in a year/14k km and lots of surface nicks. The michelin has only had one puncture in 18k km and also seems to wear a lot lesser than mrf.
btw, the front mrf is the revz Fc1 110/70 r17.
Bottom line, the mrf revz c1 and fc1 (rear and front respectively) are an excellent choice and also much cheaper than the michelin (which are expensive since they are imports).. the sore point of the rear mrf (atleast the older model i.e. revz c) being it is more puncture prone due to it's softer compound vs michelin.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Definitely wouldn't recommend riding with the current condition of the clutch cable. The strands are frayed, meaning, they can snap anytime, especially in stop and go traffic where clutch usage is high. I'd recommend you replace your clutch cable before carrying on with any planned rides.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Do not ride

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Hi everyone.

Clutch suddenly felt very loose.

Please advice. Should I be riding like this? It's Sunday and I can't get a new clutch cable before Monday. But I need to ride.

Any help would be much appreciated

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Guys, need some suggestions of new front tyre for my D200.

I have fitted Michelin pilot street radial rear tyre recently. So planning to fit MRF Revz c1 110/70 17 as front tyre.

1.How is MRF Revz as front tyre?
2.If not, which is better option? (Budget wise MRF suits better, but still have one eye on Michelin pilot street as front.)
My D200 clocked around 26K so i think it is better to change my front tyre.

Please share your reviews. TIA

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Just got back from a scorching 1400km round trip to Goa !
The baby D performed flawlessly

Short summary: My friends wanted to do a long ride on their bikes, and so decided to ride to Goa.. but first they wanted to come to Hyderabad instead of heading to Goa directly from Chennai !

9 guys, 6 bikes, 1 Toyota qualis
Shravan: Fz25
Uday FZ15
Ali: P220
Chandru: P180
Ananth: Bullet Electra old model CI (not the uce)
Yours truly: D200
Mani, Krishnaprasad,Amit (In the car) With Amit and Mani taking turns on the bullet/Fz250 for a few 100km.
Some of these guys are also 4x4 enthu's with Ali being a keen off-roader and one of the best jeep mechanics in Chennai.

My friends rode down from Chennai to Hyderabad on a friday (april 6) and Saturday was a rest day for them. The qualis had a flat tire and also ran out of fuel when they were on their way from Hyderabad. This car was lying unused for a couple of years and was recently taken out, serviced and put back on the road. Due to the tire age and sitting unused the tire had given up and they had to replace two of the tires (one was replaced at ongole on the way to Hyderabad & the other in Hyderabad). The qualis served as the luggage carrier and helped some riders get rest by exchanging rides.

Hyd - Goa: Route: Hyd--Raichur--Bagalkot--Belgaum--Goa(Baga beach). Plan was to reach Goa the same day, which i knew was impossible (in my experience the more the no. of riders the more the delay)

Sunday Early morning, all our bags loaded in to the qualis we set off at around 3am.
Once we hit the Bangalore highway got caught in a thunderstorm by 345am, we rode thru it for 5 min before stopping over at a petrol bunk. It was dark and rainy and most of the riders had never ridden long distance (>300km) on a bike. So in the interest of safety I made everyone halt over. It was a long 2hr halt before the rain reduced and the sun was out.
So, we decided to move ahead in the light rain.. and rode ahead for 50km before stopping over at a dhaba for breakfast and change over to dry clothes.
Proceeded on towards raichur.. (with some of our wet tshirts and underwear left out to dry on the windows of the qualis). The roads after getting off the bangalore highway all the way till bagalkot were riddled with tons of speed breakers and left me wondering if they laid roads inbetween speed breakers or vice versa !! Definitely a back breaker for two wheeler riders.

Had a few short breaks and one long lunch break and it was already evening by the time we reached bagalkot, so we decided to ride till belgaum and stop over at belgaum for the night (reached belgaum by 8pm). After a night of decent food, a beer and good rest, we had our delicious breakfast at the hotel (Hotel Pai) itself and set off to Goa around 10am.
Chorla Ghats enroute was probably the best part of the route! Enjoyed every km of it, I even stopped, turned around, went back and rode back thru a section of it !
We had a couple of incidents with the riders, with one of them crashing on a gravel path/road construction becuase another idiot on the road came across and bumped in to him, and the other on the ghat section the fz15 guy went off the road trying to avoid an oncoming vehicle and ended up locking his front tire, skidded and fell. Luckily they weren't hurt with the jacket/basic knee guards taking the bruising, the fz had a broken front brake lever that was replaced at the next town.

After we crossed the ghats some of us got separated and everyone had their maps on their phones and location sharing on whatsapp.. One note here is to try and avoid the 'bike' option on google maps, it seems a little iffy and you might end up lost like i did in the small villages/country side of Goa. So after a bit of rerouting and roaming around we all reached our destination and checked in to the hotel (booked via oyo).
A note about the accommodation, we weren't really given what we paid for.. the place was called Seby guest house. They had put up a 1 ton a/c (namesake a/c room, considering the hot and humid weather it wasn't sufficient tonnage) for a huge room and it wasn't sufficient cooling and the staff weren't helpful either.. stay away from this place or for that matter most oyo's i believe are similar especially the cheaper ones. No proper parking for two wheeler and nil parking for cars (had to park the car two streets away) A lot of 'guest houses/home stay' seem to have tied up with oyo, and also 'expanded' by a floor or so with metal sheet roofing! I was warned by a friend but still went ahead with oyo! Should have preferred accommodation away from the tourist hubs of baga/calangute.

In Goa we all had a good time, some guys got scammed as well !

The return journey.. on Thursday, 19th April.
Everybody except me (going to Hyderabad) had to return to Chennai.. we started at 530am, after around 90km and crossing the chorla ghats, we split up at a place called Jamboti after loading my backpack on my bike (tied down on the rear seat using bungee cords). avoid this type of loading if your backpack is huge, since it makes getting on and off the bike a hassle especially if you are on the heavier side like me. I also used the spartan hermes thigh bag, but it was easier to use when i attached it to my handlebar and it carried some cash (quick access while refueling), my second mobile, bike papers, a napkin, extra balaclava and a plastic cover. I always prefer to keep my wallet and keys on me (in my pant pocket).

The other party stopped over at Bangalore for the night, and rode back to Chennai the next day.

I on the other hand rode to belgaum-bagalkot, and just before entering bagalkot took a different route since i did not want to go thru the tons of speed breakers on the raichur route. So I rode via kalaburagi-humnabad-hyderabad.. this stretch was mostly good but deserted stretches of state/NH. With a few short 10 minute breaks along the way to stretch myself out and keep hydrated (with water/ors and some juice.. did not have any solid food) due to the scorching weather, I reached Hyderabad outskirts by 6.15pm, and another 1 hour to get home in the peak city traffic.

The bikes performed with no issues and in my case the D200 returned a good overall FE of 38kmpl.. no bust fork seals, punctures, overheating or any sort of breakdown. No drop in oil (running shell advance ultra 15w50) or coolant (motul motocool expert) levels.
I only wish the D200 had an exhaust like the present 250/390, i felt this new exhaust makes the bike feel more 'refined' & less noisy which I felt is more 'calming' on the rider when you are riding hours together. I rode the FZ25 for a few km, and it had good spread of torque but definitely felt the need for a 6th gear on highway cruising. The gearbox felt a little 'tight' but with some rev matching I got used to it..though not as slick as the ktm gearbox. The headlight on the fz25 wasn't very good.. worse in the rain, had to rely on aux lamps. I wonder why manufactuer's when they decide to plonk in led's don't put in a powerful bulb that has good throw. The fz25 offers overall good vfm but the spare parts cost on the fz25 seem pricier than the ktm's (one set of brake pads around 1200rs) but without the complexities of a liquid cooling, usd forks it should be more 'reliable' and is definitely more refined, similar performance (minus the frantic two stroke character of the d200) than the D200.

Front Fender Number Plate Bracket for bike ?

Does anyone knows where to get these Front Fender Number Plate Bracket in Bangalore?