The Hayabusa is a "street" bike too. Anything that can be licensed is a "street" bike. I've ridden bikes with suspensions so floppy they were almost dangerous, and bikes with rock-hard suspensions. All were street-legal. The Duke is sort of a budget streetfighter, not a commuter. It is going to have a stiffer suspension than the typical Indian-market bike.

Regarding gear, any bike can kill you just as dead, not just the big sport bikes, and you can peel the skin off your palms on a city street just as easily as you can out on the open road. You can also crash just as easily scooting down to the corner store as you can carving up the twisties. It doesn't have to be a big sports bike. "Street riders" absolutely can be expected to wear full riding gear all the time. Helmet, jacket, gloves, and good shoes are a must. You don't have to wear a one-piece leather racing suit, but you shouldn't ignore safety just because you think it's inconvenient. As an example, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation requires, for all their classes, a certified helmet, jacket, sturdy shoes that cover the ankle bone, and gloves. This is the absolute minimum gear for riding. They then go on to recommend that if you plan to ride regularly, you should upgrade to an actual motorcycle-specific jacket (with armor) and motorcycle-specific footwear i.e. boots or motorcycle-specific riding shoes such as the ones Joe Rocket makes. Even when I'm riding my brother's little 170cc FZ-S, I always wear my helmet (buckled), but also my armored mesh jacket, armored riding gloves, and a pair of Gaerne boots which have an armored ankle joint.

Can anyone here help me with this ....

rims will be covered under insurance and you shud get atleast 90% of the cost thru insurance. (a friend of mine had his rim on the apache replaced by claiming insurance after a similar incident/accident )
talk to the pbk guys.

Hi Guys,
I did a small DIY over the weekend to try and sort out the vibes which seem to come in at higher RPM's ,it isnt the most elegant or the fool proof method but its doing rather well ,never has my bike felt this smooth at high speeds.
Since the side panels are directly connected to the frame ,they transmit a lot of vibes .I have put in a few rubber washers between the frame and the panels and then tightened the screws.

The other problematic area was the buzzy handle bar(since it has no handle bar weights) ,take out the clamp use a bit of (WAIT FOR IT) cycle tube rubber and do the cushioning ,make sure you cut the excess part out as it looks kinda ugly after you tighten the clamp back.Now the handle bar vibrates just a bit at around 8000 rpm and after that the vibes die completely.

Can anybody tell me what is the rear suspension setting supposed to be.?
I weigh 55 Kgs and siting alone on the baby duke I am cool with the bike and when I have a pillion sitting behind me weighing 50 i find the bike too low.. :O
And another thing
has anybody installed after market exhaust for a sporty sound or any K&N filter ?
how much would it cost for a good exhaust for a sports bike type of sound

Seems good. Even i have buzzy handle bars (its like vibes u get when u are bending a wooden plank and goes krrrr). Kindly post photos so we get an idea how to do that.

cost of good exhaust should be around 20k to 25k, you can even try getting stock exhaust modified but by a experienced technician as it can disturb optimized air flow pressure, back pressure etc leading to severe loss in engine performance but on the brighter side if executed well can be done in 3 4k thus still maintaining weight balance and looks while giving heavier sound, though i am not sure how easy it will be to do on Dukes silencer as it s unique design and shape may lead to unknown mods hindrances.
Mountain can surely shed light on it.


Also to all the members - i have been busy in recent past and thus read many posts recently and felt bad looking at the tug of words between many members, you all know what i am referring to.

As we all know in terms if biking our country is still in nascent stage thus as some one in the forum has pointed rightly out before that we have bikes from 97 , 100, 102, 105 110, 125, 130 etc etc cc,s each one claiming to offer serious performance gain over the other which is hilarious but kudos to over the top marketing which justifies falsified claims .

As well as even performance or premium bikes in our segment costing till 3.25 l read Ninja can not still beat family class premium sedans like honda accord or passat etc in 0 to 100 drag.

Also unfortunately if you have had a go on any sports bike then you will find the pickup of duke, cbr 250 lame.

Now the point is that Duke for its price is the best VFM i have seen in my 32 years and offers amazing pickup for its single cylinder mill.
So most of us who have had ridden all indian made bikes barring RD 350 will adore the pickup/ power of Duke but those who have ridden RD's or God forbid a proper sports bike will find it like a snail.

Now if someone has ridden a supersports or litre class please do not compare its pickup it to Duke and call it too slow as comparison will not hold true.

I.e. you can naturally compare it with similar CC bike with similar single cylinder config, that's the reason i was impressed with performance of Duke as it beats CBr 250r as well as Ninja 250r in 0 to 60 drag and Cbr 250r in 0 to 100, leave alone r15 like cornering ability.

At the same time if some has experience like Mountain who even without owning the bike has been able to help many members with his knowledge and experience and has always given correct info we should also refrain from harsh comments.I know almost all of us are passionate Duke owners and care lot more then about Duke then most other owners do for their bike that is the kind of love and respect duke instills in its owner but we should also take things sportingly and look at brighter picture.

Like as a Automotive Designer and tester i also feel that amount of testing undergone in the bike for Indian conditions was far less then optimal as well as the Quality control/ checks done at Ancillary / vendor level which has lead to problems like USD seals , Monoshock paint chipping, chain issue.

All this clearly indicate that while Duke is superbly engineered product it was not tested for Indian road/ weather Conditions in a comprehensive manner.

Good thing is bajaj is solving issues fast but the flip side of coin is the amount of time wasted for guys like me who have a monday to saturday job to do and its difficult to manage time in between regular services to spare for this issues.

Note - I do not mean to direct post towards anyone nor do i mean to offend anyone, I simply mean to communicate that its a forum and untill and unless someones comment is baseless or wrong we should not resort to harsh comments.

If you look at my initial posts you may find my initial test ride review of Ktm Duke harsh but i all honesty that's how test ridden Dukes were when i tested them judging them in same manner as i used to judge vehicles at ARAI, while at thridt test ride the Duke was vastly Improved, which means baja made some assembly line changes as well as staff was better trained to service Duke etc etc.

If only old school launch method of rigorous On road testing at different terrains and road condition were followed not some simulations then the problems with Seal, rear shock, engine cut off at lower rpm, fender hitting etc would have been detected long time back and lead Bajaj improve its standing a reliable Bike maker i.e. in same ballpark as yamaha or previous hero Honda is in.

I thought Hayabusa was a trademark example of a sports tourer. I highly doubt anyone could call it a street bike (by which i mean, a bike for city streets). It's huge, weighs as much as the moon and (as far as i've read from reviews) hard to manouvre. And agreed, the duke was always going to be harder that our run of the mill commuters but i would have prefered it to be a bit softer than it is right now. Matter of personal taste, i guess.

IMO, the safety hierarchy for city rides goes something like this :
Helmet (mandatory) > Shoes (mandatory) > Jacket (scenario specific mandatory) > Gloves (optional) > knee/elbow pads (scenario specific optional)

Again, this is just my personal code and i don't cite this as a universal rule. I am wearing gloves these days out of necessity, but i have always found gloves to reduce the tactile feedback and be more of a hazard than a safety feature. Of course things change when you take superbikes or race tracks into consideration, when the risk is far too great to ride without full purpose built gear. Similarly for longer highway rides on our little bikes, it makes total sense to wear full gear. But without gloves is still the prefered way for me on the streets, while commuting. It just gives me a better tactile sensation of the handlebars and levers and feels just feels a bit more secure.

Ok, if not the Hayabusa (though many reviews have called it an excellent city bike), then the Ducati Monster 900. The point being that even "city" bikes like the Duke don't have to have mushy suspensions. More likely, Indian riders have been conditioned to think all "city" bikes have mushy suspensions only because the manufacturers here can't be bothered (or lack the external competition pressure) to build properly-suspended bikes.

As for safety gear, you really ought to revise your hierarchy. From a safety perspective, the Helmet-Jacket-Gloves-Shoes set *is* pretty much a universal rule. Just wait until your knuckles (or your chest) get tagged by a flying rock thrown from the tire of the tipper truck in front of you. Also, the risk of injury from crashing is far higher on city streets than it is on a purpose-built track with wide runoff areas and impact-absorbing crash barriers, even when taking the speed differences into account. And, the only area where gloves reduce "feel" is in operating the switch gear, and because of that motorcycle-specific gloves are usually built so the material on the underside of the fingers is a bit thinner than the rest of the palm. There shouldn't be (and in my experience there isn't/hasn't been) any "tactile" feedback in operating a motorcycle that you would need to experience that gloves would erase. You will get better grip of the throttle, especially when your hand gets sweaty, the gloves provide some insulation from vibration (and the increased diameter of the glove plus the bar means better bloodflow in your fingers), and there's less risk of damage if you're knocked off the bike. The only hazard is: in my case, I have to be a bit careful since my hands are quite large, and on smaller bikes, my "heavy" gloves are sometimes bulky enough to interfere with the front brake lever (which is one of several reasons I rarely wear my "heavy" gloves here, and instead wear my "light" ones).

Oh, and the jacket shouldn't be an "option" either. It's the "helmet" for the rest of your upper body. The only "option" I agree with on your list is kneepads. While knees are the third-most injured body part in a motorcycle crash, I figure that if I've come off my bike badly enough on a public road that my knees are going to get banged up, then they're the least of my worries.

Anyway, back to Dukes.

2700 KMS Report

Its been three months since i got my KTM Duke delivered, I've completed 2700 kms. For more than 70% of the time I've been riding the duke on Highway's (Where the duke suits the most). It feels planted on the roads-inspiring confidence to rev it harder Ride and handling on highways are too good.

Have completed 700 KMS trip to my home town. Had a great experience.
For the entire trip it returned a mileage of 35 KM/L (Average speed 62 km/h) including 70 kms riding on hill's. After the trip i noticed that the exhaust color has changed from Gold to Purple.

So from my experience below are the things i could say about the KTM Duke 200 :

+Ves
1) Build Quality
2) Pickup - New age RX100
3) Top notch Braking
4) Highway ride quality and Cornering
5) Loads of Features - if you engage you gear with the side stand down the engine shuts off
6) Unique Exhaust note
7) Capable of Touring

-Ves
1) Hard Seats - Not suitable for Long rides (have to break at least an hour once)
2) Ride quality on Bad roads
3) Weak Horn - Hope Bajaj-KTM comes up with a powerful one

Issues Faced so far : Except for the coolant leak (Due to coolant overflow - actually not an issue) rest all are fine.


On the whole Duke is at its best on the Highway's and hilly terrain's(Twisties).

Duke taking rest after a long drive - My favorite location

ok guys i am reading so many news about the raceline stickers officially launched in India. But when i went to khivraj svc here in bangalore, they said they don't have any! can any one help me where can i find the KTM stickers in Bangalore? If not from KTM then some other high quality decals for the KTM??
thanks in advance.!!

Lots of good tips on this thread.

I guess I need to slow down during the break in period as I am over 300 kms in just 3 days!

Yeah I am one of those

New to xBHP and will be hanging around to learn more about "better biking"!

Race Dynamics Programmable ECU now for Duke

OT guys,

but couldn't resist posting!

While i was fooling around on FB. Race Dynamics is now testing their new ECU both RC and RR units on track for KTM Duke 200. Now if i have heard the rumours correctly, the extreme tune can generate a lot of power, remove the rev limiter and offer programmable maps and also provide different settings to select from(the RC model). I believe Race Concepts is also jointly developing power up kits for the same. And expected power bump for the extreme tune along with RC kits is around 30+ BHP.

Race Dynamic's Page: Race Dynamics | Facebook

Please do verify the bhp claim and don't come after me later

BTW tried my hands on the Duke 200 once again, it is indeed a HOOLIGAN!! wish i could have somehow mounted this engine on my FZ!!

Cheers,

thanks mate

Basically you can take it to highway or for long ride from Day one. You jsut need to keep these Rules in mind and follow them strictly

1- Idle Engine at least for 45 seconds for the first start of the Day - Engine Temp bar should show 2 bars or more, At first start for initial 400 meters or so do not accelerate hard!

2- Do not ever let engine reach high temp zone for best break in i.e. top three seperate bars, so take a break when engine is about to reach that zone, also when it is about to reach that zone do not just swithc off the engine a it will naturally stop radiator fan and will actually cause temp to rise more hence just let it idle for 4- 5 mins and then cut off the engine.

3- drive with varying Rpms and try to use all gears nd both the brakes, i.e. not at a constant speed either for this reason highway was mto eb avoided as generally you maintain a constant speed on highway but you are not supposed to ( actually with practice you can maintain almost constant speed while varying rpms thus meeting the goal of varying rpm while maintaining constant speed ) well initially try not to cross 6k rpms for initial 500 kms and then you can let it reach till 7.5k till 1000kms, now this is controversial topic and everybody has different theory so i will advice read a bit more and adopt what suits you best .

4- make sure you do not do any engine mods during run in. make sure Tyre pressure is correct and do not lean too much initially.