Hey guys i finally got the delivery of my KTM 200 ....

A few things I had noticed were a small knick on the rhs engine cover where you put the engine oil in and a small speck where a piece of the swingarm had chipped which looked like it had been banged somewhere...

Congrats Duke! oops Dude!

The chipped swingarm! Blasphemous! You should not have taken delivery of it even! Get the swing arm changed. They cannot give you a damaged bike and talk of delivery perils etc.

Why were you avoiding potholes? should've tried going over them - you wouldn't have felt much anyway!

Now on my way to office, i set the console to show me the FE. At the start it was showing around 19kmpl. Thick traffic. but the FE figures kept creeping up. Was kind of stable at 38-42.

Refilled at Shell near RT nagar - and then steady ride despite traffic as it was flowing and the FE climbed to almost 57 kmpl and by the time I reached the parking lot of my office it was showing this -- >

[ATTACH]55438[/ATTACH]

Yeah hehe I was going to turn down the delivery but then they said they would write the damages on the delivery chalan and then I could claim it under warranty with the 1st service...how far that's true will remain to be seen but I'm taking pictures too just for proof's sake!!! as far as the chipped swing arm goes...its very miniscule :-D it would happen during the course of riding anyway looking at our marvelous roads in Mumbai!

Where are all the dukettes in Bangalore..? have yet to see one on road.

so tell me what is the real mileage of duke ? because thought of getting it selling my twister ?

hi,
so, this is my 1st post in x-bhp

paint the town orange!!!

Good going dude! yours is perhaps the highest clocked Duke on xbhp. Now I cant wait for the run in to complete, I noticed this too that the rear tire tends to skid away if you accelerate and the bike is too lean.

Be it a chip or a scratch - You simply cannot accept a damaged piece. You are not picking a clock from the roadside for you to live with it! If they have given their word, then wait until first service. For all I know, KTM owners will not be treated with disdain! You sure would get the replacement!

hi,
so, this is my 1st post in x-bhp
jumping straight to it, i write this review after riding the Duke for 970km.. (got excited and did 700+ in 6days )...
my brother @ahmadnaik, gave the first impressions we had, and i shall do my best at doing the rest

i wont bother describing the looks, the above posts are testimonials to that :P and the comments you get riding this around border on hilarious BIG ATTENTION SEEKER....

i hav been riding an fz till now, so wen i got astride the duke, i was REALLY happy to see they have maintained a riding posture that's just as comfy...it is a lil taller, but that just aids its ability to flick around and chng direction..
coming to the seats, i have to admit, they are a bit hard and not as cushiony as i wouldve liked... footpegs are swept back like in the cbr250...handlebars are in true streetnaked fashion, giving lovely control on the riding... the rearview mirrors, look great, but provided limited view behind unfortunately... the rear seat is THE most uncomfy ive come across (but who cares? im not sitting behind, im riding this beauty )...its really small and if your the kind who likes his girlfriend "into" him from behind, then this is your bike, look no further... i noticed the handgrips to provide good grip, but really harsh on the skin... im used to riding with gloves, but if u dont, ur gonna need to start or ull soon get blisters....

RIDING IMPRESSIONS:

BEFORE 800km:
as soon as it came, we decided to take it easy and jus ride around town getting a feel of the bike.... the engine revs REALLY fast, though the light clutch is a big advntg for use in city traffic.... the brakes are PHENOMENAL.... they really take some getting used to... youll find urself braking waaayyyy too soon, and suddenly realize "abey signal toh bahut door hai" and then ull need to accelerate again...happened with me sooo many times till i got used to braking late .....
PS: those used to fz brakin need to bear in mind this is a disc rear brake too, so if u brake real hard, it will lock up unlike the fz...tke care of that

well i stay in south mumbai, and i used to take it out evry night after 11pm onto the eastern as well as western express highways....
the engine is VERY VERY peppy but smooth.... like people have mentioned before, the 1st and 2nd gears are really small, so u need to shift soon or it will decellerate jerkily.... i neva crossd the 55000rpm limit....
the tires, evn though being thicker than the fz and cbr, have a smaller profile....this enables it to lean in sharply and very fast....cornering has suddenly become sooooo much easier!!!
tires i noticed provide good grip depending on the road.... on those really smooth roads, they tend to slide out, but definitely MUCH better than the Apache RTR i owned...
the suspension is not as soft as the fz, but i think that will get better with time.
the bike gets smoother with use, cause my friend's duke doesnt feel as smmoth as mine
i rode up to panvel a few times, and it really is not uncomfy for long distances.


AFTER 800km:
well my dealer said that its pretty ok to "let it rip" now and that the 1000km was jus a precautionary...
the biggest advantg this bike has over the cbr is da ability to ride around without pain for ur everyday commutes, AND go crazy wen u wanna.... the cbr riding posture is really straineous for me in traffic man...
SO... i take it out at night, and decide to see finally what this Duke is capable of..whether the xbhp review was true....
and MAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!....i just have one advice...if u decide to let it rev beyond 7000rpm, U BETTER BE AWAKE!!!.... this bike pulls like a bullet!!!! i ride a frnd's cbr250 alot, but the feel of accelerating like this on a streetnaked bike is just different!!!! im pathetically light for my age (19yrs, 48kgs) so i was jus hanging on for dear life!! i had taken a frnd along, and i have scratch marks on my shoulders thanks to that!!!
you knw, we always read in reviews about "bouncing off the redline".... that day i finally understood what that means, cause the rev ACTUALLY "bounces" off the 10.500rpm limit.... u need to have a really fast foot to shift through the 1st three gears cuz that rev limit cums too fast! .... suddenly ur past 80kmph, den 100kmph and that very distant signal is right in your face..... then brake hard and dose magical Bybre's do their job perfectly!!!!
some people have been complainin abou the exhaust note... well let it rev and THEN see!!! you'll go mad!!!
now everytime i approach a turn, even if its at 40kmph, in my mind i start goin "and valentino rossi approaching turn 43...."

oh, for those of ull hu use engine braking/downshifting, u need to be aware that downshifting is fine for the higher gears (3,4,5,6)...but if u downshift to 2nd or 1st, please be very careful, cause da speed reduction is soo much ur tires tend to slide....

the torque on this is jus amazing.... u CANT let it rip while ur turning, cause i did and once again, the tires started sliding!!! wish we had traction control on this

if ur that 1st bike at the signal, and u decide u wanna show ppl what this is capable of, wheelies are NO prob at all... im personally against stunts cuz i find dem way too dangerous, but this will lift without u makin an effort also!! infact, evn when u shift to 2nd it lifts the front tire!!




FUEL ECONOMY;
i personallly hate this question (its a good bike man, jus ride it!!) but if the onboard computer is to be believed, i got such astonishing results that i HAVE to make a mention....how u ride it affects ur milage BIG TIME...
for those who want REAL figures, a full tank lasts 350km or so (not including the reserve) riding in both ways, really hard and real smooth....
when u ride real hard, shiftin at 7500rpm+, it shows a milage of 28-30kmpl....
riding around in the city, using jus the 1st 3 gears, it shows 30-33kmpl....
it gets better on the highways wen u stick to the 4th and 5th gears, showin 42-46kmpl, which is shocking...thats enfield territory!!
BUT the real shock came on my panvel trips where i managed to stay in the 5th and 6th gears for long periods, showed me 50-54kmpl, at one stretch even showing 59kmpl .....

below is an image for those doubting it


FINAL VERDICT:
this bike is like a muscle car... LOTS of power, and no electronic aids to help u.... the only thing saving u is ur own personal riding skill...in the hands of the rong people, this bike is downright dangerous, but in the hands of the right, there is no bike in the indian market that can provide this much fun at this price... i have invested in gloves and an Rjays GP2 helmet, and will buy a jacket soon too...u need it

safe riding guys
paint the town orange!!!

Now that members have got the delivery of their Dukes, would like to know a couple of things....

In short I think KTM is a mix of 220 (power and torque) and FZ (Ergonomics and flickability). Please let me know if I am wrong.

I dont ride a Duke. But having read alotta ownership reviews, I can well say its a mix of the power of not 220 but the Cbr250 and the flickability of not an fz but a Splendor.