Don't go for synthetic yet. Not even at 1st service, give engine enough time to be broken in. Best to switch to synthetic is after 1500 km. Of course, if you baby your bike it'll take even longer, so don't be humble with your throttle. :-) Vary it, push the revs all the way up just below redline for a few seconds with proper load, and never ever lug the engine, lugging hurts the new engine more than redlining it.
It's a rev happy racing engine, so just go for it. Engine can't be broken in with pushing it max only to 5-6000 rpm as some do, it needs some stress every now and then, but it should only be for short time during run in.

Fully mineral oil is the best for running in. Engine can not be broken in with synthetic oil, valves will just glaze the surface of cylinder, and same will happen if you keep the revs at low rpm during first 1000 km.
Motul 3100 is probably the best option, it's fully mineral. I'd suggest to change to it now, and then again at 1st service at 1000 km, and then after 1500-2000 km you're good to switch to fully synthetic.

I used Motul 3100 for running in, changed to it literally in the showroom upon delivery of my bike. Bajaj oil is semi synthetic, although it's mostly mineral with very low proportion of synthetic. It's OK, but it's not really the best kind of oil, and fully mineral is definitely better.

Later, after 1500 km or so I switched to fully synthetic Motul 7100, but as some here have mentioned, I find the engine gets a bit hotter with it. It's good, it's just that it runs a bit hotter. But that's Duke, it's hot! (pun intended)

Some people report 300V running cooler than 7100, and that's what I'll be using from my next oil change.

I don't know about others but I can feel quite a big difference between premium and normal petrol.
Engine is noticeably jerkier at low revs with normal petrol than with premium, which is quite smooth.

Yes, the Duke had a remap problem which caused the jerks and they were all rectified by the guys for free. But if it jerks frequently after the remap, as though it is about to get stalled get your fuel checked, perhaps low quality fuel is also a culprit when it come to FI fed engines.

Cheers!
VJ

Has anyone tried the leovince cobra exhaust yet?

Watch "KTM Duke 200 Leovince Cobra Exhaust" on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZCfy...e_gdata_player

The fuel indicator on my bike is becoming loonier by the day! After the first free service, it would show different readings (a notch lower or higher, suddenly) only occasionally. Now, with some 700kms more on the reading, the indicator has become increasingly erratic. One moment it would show 4 bars and if I were to stop and start again, even within 1km, it would display 3 or 2 bars. Yesterday it went down from 3 bars to 'low feul warning' within 20kms! Did some quick checks and didn't spot any fuel leaks. Has anyone else faced this issue? Any suggestions? (This glitch apart, the bike has been doing fairly awesome!)

LOL. I guess every duke will have this problem after some time. The fuel indicator is a big 'dhokebaaj' and you need to keep a tab on the fuel consumption yourself. It's never overoptimistic though. In my case it always pessimistic and would start flashing the low fuel warning in a jiffy with decent amount of fuel remaining.
I ahve learnt to stop worrying and carry on knowing that the bike would not stall anytime soon.

Adding to what you mentioned I have noticed mine show 0kms and still run for a good 20kms and not show any sings of stalling. This is something that sure needs some pondering by the ktm engineering team.
Anyways mine is now 710kms old closing in on the first free service with the coolant already touching the min level (engine running hot during run in is understandable), however what bothers me is even if it gets over in lets say 2k kms post first service, its still something you will always have to keep an eye on which will not be easy for me atleast (having graduated form a worry free zma)

Well, I've been kinda ignoring the indicator as well. My only worry is about the bike stalling due to this (but Manj's note adds some confidence!).

It has never happened to this day to me. And I keep mentioning in this forum that you have a good 3-3.5 litres left in your tank when the indicator touches the low fuel mark. Even after the bars disappear, you have a good 40-50 kms left IMO. Reason being I ahve never been able to fill more than Rs 700-750(90% of the times only Rs 600-650) worth of fuel till date after countless instances of the indicator showing(0 KMS fuel left). There was only this one time where I was able to squeeze in fuel worth more than 800.
KTM guys decided to have an early low fuel warning to keep the fuel pump safe I think. But I do agree that the indicator needs to be more accurate. It is too prone to misbehaviour after a shake up, a fall etc etc

I dont like the low capacity 10.5l tank.

I did some tests, and if I go to the petrol pump when the reserve indicator reaches 0 km left I can on average fill 8.5 l till the full tank. Means 2 L of petrol left...
I'm guessing these 2 L is some kind of a safe zone for the FI pump, which shouldn't get dry.

Well, it's all relative. Ride Ninja 650 in a city and you'll see it can get MUCH hotter than Duke.
It doesn't mean Duke is too hot, it's simply that Duke's "normal" operating temperature is hotter than most other 150-200 cc bikes.
Mine has always showed 1-2 bars below the hot zone (fan kicks in 1 bar below the hot zone), and it just can't go lower than that unless it's a really cool weather and I go fast.

But I wonder if some coolants give better cooling than the stock one... It'd be probably a good idea to switch to a better coolant, especially in hot months.

Guys here may remember the issue I am facing with the radiator not working properly. The temp doesn't come down even after the fan has run for 5-10 minutes when the bike is stationary. The fan just about keeps the temp one bar less than the max possible in normal zone.
But for the past few days the temp routinely touches the max level(not one bar less) of Normal zone and I am afraid if something is not done, it will soon spill over to H temp zone(something that's not happened ever till date). So I'll be giving the bike to the svc and after they have done their bit(I think a raditor change is the only option or may be circulation is not good).
And I'll tell get Engine Ice this time. Will definitely help in keeping the bike cooler

This is why the fuel "COCK" really comes in handy. Almost as most Pulsar guys know, even though the fuel gauge warning starts to go off at 3 bars, there is still 4-5 liters worth of fuel left. And it's almost another story after the reserve light hits, and after the bike actually reaches the reserve through the main "fuel cock". Initially I was skeptical and trusted the gauge, and mind you the gauge is accurate say 75 to 85%. But you can clock well over 150 kms with the red coming on in a Pulsar.

The reason I reckon with the Duke's fuel gauge issue is to prevent the fuel pumps from going kaput, as it is really an expensive proposition to deal with. Being a few liters on hand always comes in handy than running dry, and ruining your pumps.

That is strange. Either the radiator is clogged or the coolant isn't circulating or the coolant (water) pump isn't working properly. I really wonder if it's radiator that's at fault, as they are just fins which are designed to store coolant and get it cooled. But do keep us posted.

Cheers!
VJ

Try Switching to fuel with higher octane level (SPEED,..). If it doesn't solve the problem i guess you will have to get your Engine CU checked and probably get your transient fueling and ignition timing parameters re-checked. Its nothing to do with Engine oil since the bike is only 450 kms old assuming that you have used bajaj 20w50..

This is really strange. Do you feel the engine getting heated up? Incase, the engine heats up and the temperature is on the higher side, there are chances that your engine might seize. Better get it checked for clogged radiator, functioning of coolant pump.

Also, incase you don't feel the heat of the engine, there are chances that the temperature gauge might be faulty.

Cheerz!!