This suggests that the SVC personnel are bigtime idiots.

This indeed shows that there are a lot of Duke owners who are facing the issue of shitty brake levers. Not at all acceptable.

Another thing is that the Pedals in the front and the rear are different sets. Not sure if they had some logic behind having it so.. however, if they were to have all 4 to be the same...then if one breaks we can replace with another from the rear... that would have been nice...

Most of us can live with it. That's why you don't see the thread flooded by this topic.

I think you're talking about the foot pegs. They don't break coz they can bend. They've got springs for bringing them back to position after scraping the pegs too. We're talking about the rear brake lever and gear shift lever that sometimes break after a fall on the bike.

it could be other way too.week back took a fall the same way you did but mine didnt broke so i didnt post like 'hey took a fall today and didnt broke a thing' .i might be lucky too.
@Extreme guy, dont you think you are just passing judgements on behalf of us based on some internet readings without actually knowing whats underneath an issue?for you things may be just binary(shit/great). But we live here in an analog world. please dont exaggregate things naming them shit-that shit-this .you may be living up to your online alias but you arent helping here.

@svigshankar: I bought the LS2 supra smoke black, airflow and comfort seems to be best among which I have tried, not aware much about SOl though they appear to be good enough!!
BTW I bought it from Ali bhai premji showroom in Mumbai for 4k!
Also will consider the two helmet suggestion as it does makes sense!!
Cheers!!

Theres no point living with it without uttering a word bro. Rubbish is rubbish and should be called so.

I was trying to say that it is too small of an issue and doesn't really need to be talked about. I wouldn't change my perception on the duke, just coz of a lever that breaks on impact. I'd rather have the lever break than have my fairings damaged, exhaust damaged, indicators broken, like most faired bikes.. I like my bike more than the ninjas or the cbrs or the r15s which honestly doesn't even come into the equation. If u have a duke you should know. If u don't i feel terribly sorry for you... And if you even think of comparing the duke with the ns, get the ns.. Most people who get the duke, want the duke and nothing else. I realised this when i first full throttled the Duke while on TD.. After that all these minor problems will make you feel like they're obstacles to get in bed with a horny European model

The footpegs are interchangable you just have to add the spring when you are interchanging the rear to the front. I've seen it being done and it does work.

Hi all fellow bikers, I'm Adheep, a software engineer working in South TamilNadu, Madurai.. I've been following xbhp for almost all the queries that I had regarding CBR250, Pulsar200ns and finally THE KTM Duke 200..

Thank you so much for your reviews, suggestions, precautions... I finally made it.. Yes got my new Orange Beast last month at Chennai. Have clocked around 760 kms and still my buddy is in run-in so waiting for the first service and registeration to get over (Temp reg to normal reg is taking so long in Madurai).

As far as the performance, I'm speechless.. Boy-o-boy a beast indeed, and the amount of popularity this mean machine brings you is just awesome... ( Saying this cos, I'm the 2nd one to own a Duke here in my place )
People try to stare at your ride, and fellow R15, P220, RTR's keep oggling at your ride's beauty... and people asking the million dollar question "What is the mileage that your getting???" does annoy you after answering about 20 people on a single day..

Have not yet crossed the 7500 rpm range, just to make sure the engine gets run-in properly, though my multifunctional cockpit says avg 45 kmpl, in real world I'm getting around 29-32 kmpl (checked by tank fill method).
Am not too much worried though, I'm happy that a 200 cc engine with 25bhp returning more than 25 kmpl...

Planning to do a detailed comparison road test on my Duke and my friend's CBR250.. Will post the review as soon as possible. I'm posting a teaser picture of my duke took on a small ride on Madurai-Chennai Highway... More photos are on the way..

I booked my Duke yesterday in Chennai, selected it between 10 other bikes. Dealer was very good and helpful, no complaints. I asked him to compare the bike to the bikes next door from his experience. He just shook his head with empty look and said "once you sit on the Duke and open the throttle any other bike feels... ordinary."
Delivery tomorrow late morning, we'll change the oil to Motul 3000 (I bought it from outside) straight away, and then I'll ride the bike for a 200km long run in to my place, change the oil and oil filter somewhere on the way after first 100km. I'll do the run in in fast mode, by the time I arrive run in will be almost finished. I'll try to check some GPS speed as well, I'm curious about the speedo error.

I went to Scooter Spares in GP road and asked the lady if she has any "orangy" helmet. She just smiled and said "ha, for Duke??", as if she heard this question many times already. Haha, looks like every Duke owner wants to paint the town orange!
The photo of that orange SOL posted above has perfect colours for Duke but I don't like the graphics on it, or on other helmets I saw.
Anyway, they didn't have anything orange so I bought the LS2 matte black helmet for 2.5k, it's the only one that looks classy, in my opinion. Tomorrow will go to Spartan ProGear and buy the Helios jacket as well.

Haha, exactly!
All those minor problems and niggles seem completely unimportant comparing to experience you get when riding a Duke. Some people just can't understand that.

Its interesting how our user ids look almost identical !I am from Chennai too.Why not follow the owners recommended run in procedure? Sharing this for you and the other new Dukers

There are generally three different methods of breaking in a new bike:
1. Breaking it in gently, babying it. Easy does it.
2. Breaking it in Roughly, revving the heck out of it - ride it like you stole it philosophy.Duke is a real hooligan, Slam, bam, thank you ma'am.
3. Break-in as per the Manufacturers Manual recommendations.

I will go with the third method anyday.This is going to seem long and would require a lot of self control but I promise it will be worth it !

A. Allow the engine to idle for 3 minuets before starting to ride and after getting off the bike.
B. Strictly do not exceed 7500 RPM and do not run constantly at too low RPM either.
C. Ride with a varying RPM all the time while shifting the gears as and when required to allow the gear box to break-in.
D. Do not open full throttle.Accelerate and decelerate the speed gradually and in a uniform manner.
E. Do not take it for a long distance highway rides,at constant speed and attempt to clock the initial 1000Km over a weekend.A short 30 minuets ride and then allowing the bike to cool down would be great.
F. Use both the brakes and use them gently.Do not apply the brakes hard.
G. It will take 200 Km for the tires to break-in to provide optimum road grip.Drive with caution during those initial 200 KM as the tires will tend to be slippery and is perfectly normal with any new tire.
H. Fools might invite you for a race, dont fall for it.

Other reference:
http://www.ntnoa.org/enginebreakin.htm
http://www.lazymotorbike.eu/motorcycles/breakin/
http://mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
http://www.dansmc.com/engine_breakin.htm
http://www.powertotherider.com/index.php/articles/engine-break-in

No,This just shows that there are a lot off Duke haters(not Happy wht There Scouters) and that there comments are not wanted ....Sooh if u not Like my Dream Bike the Duke(goodes)just watch out at the scouter tread.........

Very nice and useful post, clear and concise. Thank you for posting it.

This is going to be my 6th bike run in, so I was experimenting with different run in methods already. Tried all 3 of mentioned methods actually, haha.
I did 5-6,000 rpm for first 1,000 km, then tried Motoman's method as well, and also something in between that gave me the best results - pretty much in line with everything you described above but pushing the rpms higher above 7,500 rpm (but not all the way to redline!), and that too just for short periods up to 5-10 sec, with opening and closing the throttle gradually. Basically, all this just to push the piston rings to cylinder walls more effectively. Varying the speed all the time and doing mostly engine decelerations, using brakes very little in initial 100-200 kms when most of run in happens. And often making breaks to cool down the engine. Because I push the rpms higher than 7,500 rpm the run in takes shorter than 1,000 km. Actually, 90% of engine break in happens in first 100 km IF you push the bike to higher rpms.

Duke's owner's manual is very shy on run in recommendations. It says only not to go over 7,500 rpm and not to open the throttle fully for first 1,000km. It would had been nice if they wrote more, for example to vary the rpms, not to lag the engine in higher gears and lower rpms and to actually push the engine periodically up to 7,500 rpms for shorter periods of time...

To all the dukes and duchesses

I see plenty of KTMs around where I work but they don't zip past others like you would imagine they would. And some actually get overtaken by splendors, and the el cheapo discovers etc. Is there a problem with it's acceleration at low speeds? or is it just the owner's driving styles.

PS: I have never seen a Ninja getting overtaken, not even by another Ninja!! So the doubt about the performance of this motorcycle!!

I'm going to disagree with you on a couple of points:

One, don't baby the brakes. I've posted a bedding-in procedure for brakes a couple of times already, but I'll do it again. Accelerate to about 50km/h, then using the front brake only, decelerate rapidly to 15-20km/h, then immediately accelerate back to 50. Repeat that procedure 10 times for the front brake (you may see slight smoke on the 9th or 10th time). Do not stop fully, keep moving so the rotor and pads don't overheat too much and develop a glaze. Once you've completed the 10 times on the front, do the back, and then repeat the whole front-back cycle again. After that, go for a 10-minute cruise where you stay off the brakes completely to let them cool down. Your brakes should then be fully bedded-in, and you can use them normally.

Second, regarding the tires, you can wash them using liquid dish soap (be sure to rinse thoroughly afterwards), and that will remove a lot of the slippery mold release from them. You can also sand them with sandpaper to help increase traction. Or combine the two, and use a pot scrubber/green scrubby pad (gently) with the dish soap. This method is particularly helpful for dealing with the edge of the tire tread, which is normally difficult to use in everyday riding, but is nevertheless needed in isolated circumstances (usually in fast sweeping turns where loss of traction would be catastrophic otherwise).