Anyone made up his mind for the Orange day at Wadala? I might just turn up to soak it all in. Racing is out of question as I have no gears at the moment and I don't think I'd like renting them for racing.

PS : the last time I was at the svc I noticed something in the demo bike of the Vashi KTM which was parked there. It's shocker was perfectly alright. No paint chipping or anything. The exhaust was also very much Brassy in colour. I asked the engineer and he told that the first lot had no paint chipping issues. It only started when the vendor who manufactures the shockers altered the paint specifications after the first lot.
True the demo rides given are nowhere close to rear world rides, but the bike is used by the KTM vashi staff for their personal/work related commutes around town. Like going to the RTO /SVC and places. So no chipping at all surprised me.
May be if the vendor reverts to the old specs, the problem would vanish?

This is true. Because it's a new bike, Bajaj generally experiments with OEM supplier for the best price to quality/performance/reliability ratio. Eventually everything settles down. This applies to every bit of the bike.

FYI, my bike is from the first delivery lot and my monoshock paint is peeling. Probably, shock specs are different on the demo bikes.

Khat khat sound from the rear

Hi. probably true.
Btw I indicated the wrong screws in the picture which I posted. The screws are in a pair which sit further ahead towards the rear. will post a picture soon.
And hey I agree now that the fender does brush the rear mud guard. But the noise does lessen a lot after tightening the screws I am referring too.

So probably the sound is caused by a combination of these two factors.

Hello all.

Around a week back, when i signed up for xbhp forums, i had an almost exclusively negative review of the duke, which goes as follows (had it typed in notepad).

List of my grievances:
- Horrible turning circle (i feel some cars take less than that). I don't know why no one mentions this
- The chain started making weird rattling sounds in around 10 days of purchase.
- The performance isn't a gigantic leap over existing 200cc bikes as they have you believe on the internet. Not exactly thrilled.
- The ride is hard
- The stock handlebar grips are capable of peeling skin off your hands (very coarse/sharp)
- Fuel tank leakage issue. I haven't tested it myself but the khivraj motors representative told me that if i go over 9 liters, the fuel will spill over. And considering that some (conservative) people advice never to go under 3L for FI engine, it only gives you a 6 liters window to operate in. Combined with not so great fuel efficiency (i don't really care about this otherwise), it means very frequent visits to gas station. It gets annoying.
- The engine is HOT. 10-15 minutes of riding (at any speed) and engine gets quite toasty. Not a very good experience for my legs.

This review was written with 400km, 2 weeks of riding experience. KTM suggests break in period of 1000km under 7k rpm and I was (not so willingly) keeping myself to under 8k till i wrote the review, but after that, i got very annoyed and had a "**** it" moment (last weekend) and gave it the beans. That is the first time i felt that it wasn't a huge mistake to go with the Duke. The bike does get fun if you keep the revs sky high, so i'm now content with my decision.

PS : This is the first bike i have bought. I had aspirations for a CBR600RR and was more than half way done saving up for one. But from what i read on the internet about imports and HMSI's (lack of) plans for CBR600 in india, i heavy heartedly decided to hold on for a while and buy a transitional bike. So, in short, my relationship with the Duke started off on a sour note and i was just generally annoyed with it. But if one grabs it with the scruff of it's neck and manhandles it, it does get a bit rewarding and for that reason, i've come to like my Duke now, despite the flaws i listed above.

EVEN I agree to it .
the turning radius is too much
i wonder why is it so .

Are bhai, because the tank design limits it. Otherwise the handles would touch the tank. Now if you ask why KTM didn't give higher set handlebars then I won't be able to answer

My answer in bold

Winter season is coming, it will be quite useful at that time

Dont worry, things will get better after the first servicing.

You just can't have everything you want in one bike. Din't you like the cbr 250r? thats more like the cbr 600rr. or the ninja 250r. I feel they would suit your style and mentality better. Im glad your starting to like the duke. I had an uncle's cbr 600rr for about a week. I still like the duke cause its more fun considering the environments we live in. Happy riding

Sorry, but i don't think a cbr250r is anything like a cbr600rr. It's a vfr derivative more suited for touring. cbr600rr is a brutal track machine. I did try out the ninja 250, i like it better than the duke but didn't think 3.5L was worth for a stopgap bike (plus i'm not sure what sort of resale value i'd get after a year or so) and it's VERY HEAVY! So, i'm trying to have some fun with my duke now, will get kiiru's ECU map right after my first service, hopefully that will be enough till i fulfill my cbr600 dream.

0-100 acceleration. I didn't get carried away at all, actually. I only had done a test ride before i bought the duke, so i wasn't too familiar with the true performance anyways. I saw so many reviews with sky high praise that i was expecting a major performance boost over, say, a p220. It just isn't there (please don't point me to on paper stats here now)

You're absolutely right. But the hardness of the ride doesn't quite justify the handling on tap, i personally feel. Will try to play around with the suspension though and find a sweet spot though.

Not kidding, bro. Both my hands got rashes from it in 2 days of riding (without gloves). And it's not even like i have tender hands. I did get a pair of gloves of day 3 though. Completely fine now.


It was around 150-200km when it started. MAX.

Yup. That's why i said that i wasn't even happy (a bit pissed actually) when i made a decision to buy a bike that was not a cbr600rr. It was almost guaranteed that i was going to be disappointed.

I knew it beforehand, but the 4-5 liter buffer (both sides combined) pretty much cuts the tank capacity in half. And really, you have to be a mad fanboy to even defend this point.

Rest of the things i more or less covered above.

To make some of you fanboys happy, i'll say that the mass centralization works absolutely fabulously on the bike. It feels very poised in a straight-line, corners, braking, everything. That's something i appreciate very much. And i do like the rev happy nature of the engine.

Yea... wait till the 350,690,990 and 1290 come

You're right. Duke isn't the perfect learners bike. I have had a few track days though, so i think they will have to do as far as "preparing for the big bike" goes. 600rr isn't too heavy. It's just 5kg heavier than Ninja250. And when i said Ninja 250 is heavy, i obviously meant in relation to it's engine/power output. Duke has the perfect power:weight, which is one of the primary reasons i decided in favour of it.

Lesson learnt, i guess :P

Thanks for the link. I do take very keen interest in learning to ride better. I've been working upon it for 8 years now (since first day). I do realize that going to a 600cc supersport without learning proper etiquette will just be suicide.

cbr600 is 19 liters. And around half the mileage, give or take. So, yeah, similar frequency. But that is expected of big bikes, not of bikes like the duke

Anyways, i think discussing and comparing with a 600rr is completely beyond the point here. This thread is about the duke, so let's keep it at that.

reply in bold

Eh? It's plastered all over xbhp (and internet in general) that FI engine should never be used with less than 2-3 liter of fuel (different people say different things) to not screw with the fuel pump. And i do not know how technically correct it is but i don't want to be the one to test it out. And since i have a shell fuel pump on my daily route, i fill up as soon as i get under 4 bars of fuel. And the KTM dealer said never fill more than 9 liters (so, 1.5 buffer gone there). So, i'm not really exaggerating here. And please explain to me which part did i "show off" in? Plus you have no say if i'm exaggerating or not in MY REVIEW. My review means how "I" percieve it. If you think it's exaggerated or not is your business but don't present it as a fact, please.