@rjswaroop2004 and others in chennai
visit the Royal enfield showroom in virugambakkam they have a good collection of riding gears. They stock cramster and rjays riding gears. To my knowledge DSG is not available in chennai.

^^Please visit the cramster website for the contact details. I picked up my gloves there, I just love it

Sorry guys, a lot of it might be repeat telecast, but I can't help it

Got my Toranado (read Duke 200) yesterday at 6PM. 9AM today odo reads 200+ Km A mix of city,highway and some twisties. I and Tornado went for an induction ride today, just to get to know each other. Here are some of my first impressions.

Acceleration: Exciting. Nothing ground breaking yet as I have not hit the real power band of this little monster if I may use that word.

Roll on acceleration: In the 6th cog Tornado can pull effortlessly from 35Kmph and does so pretty quickly. No lag at all. That too in slightly upward slopes.

Console: Handy for sure. I am yet to discover all the functions, but things like gear indicator, stand indicator, running mileage and so on can certainly help.

Handling: This word has been used a zillion times already - flickable. I would like to say it's outstanding. Perfect for city riding when combined with that upright sitting posture.

Seats: Hard :P Well this could be of concern if you want to munch some serious miles, otherwise you can ignore this. That said, this won't stop anyone from riding long distances. I myself did 75Km non stop including 25Km of city dash. Absolutely fine for me.

Brakes: Phenomenal. They just bite, both front and rear. You need to practise using only front or just tapping the rear brake lever instead of standing on the lever to avoid skidding the rear away. As a matter of fact, front is so good that, it can pretty much manage to build all the braking force if the need be. But I will stick to 80:20.

Now Tornado's likes and dislikes.

Loops honey, loops

Yes, loops of tarmac. This bike loves twisties. Of course I didn't try to push the limits today (Let the those Revz tires break-in first!), but I could easily manage 60ish speeds almost throughout the Nandi hill climb. And mind you, I'm no master of twisties. It's Tornado who eats tarmac loops for breakfast.

Bad roads, real bad roads:

Nope! Tornado doesn't seem to like these. This is one area where I am a little disappointed with Tornado. He handles well on bad roads too, but suspension is a little too stiff is what I felt. Bumpy roads will break the riders back quickly. I like my RTR better in this department

So finally what is Duke 200?

A city/street bike?

Absolutely yes. That is how it is portrayed by KTM, and the bike stands true to the claims.

A tourer?

Yes and no. Hard seat and small brake/gear lever can have some negative effects. The levers need to be reached by twisting the ankle a little inwards, which causes minor discomfort in a long run. This might just be a matter of time before you get used to the bike. But the roll on acceleration and upright position should make Tornado a good tool for cruising at 100ish speeds.

All these points are biased first impressions only and can change in the future as miles start ticking. Don't take this review as a reference for your buying decisions :P

Ah thanks would check that... Also there is one near chrompet would visit that RE showroom as its on my way to office

Hmm that seems to b promising and well what do you know the retailer for cramster in chennai is also at viruhambakam - never knew that our gud ol viru had such good auto stores

Sri Velavan Motors
#45, Arcot Road,
Virugambakkam, Chennai - 92
Ph: 044-45034000/5/6

Btw are they the same shop... Re and cramster

No problem bro. I don't think the RE in chrompet stocks cramster gears, but do update us regarding that.
Yes You got it, its the same showroom. Its in the first floor. They have a good collection of gloves, jacket, shoes and other accessories.

I will add some points from my side. (800 KM done)

Rear tyre has less grip while bracking.

She is only street bike. Not a tourer.

Should not ride pillion on long drive, too much jerk at rear seat on bad road.

0 to 100 unbeatable, but she should be driven below 100 KMPH, after that lot of vibration will enter from bike to your body.

I am finding false nutral between 2nd and 3rd gear.

Console has lot of information. but sometime reflects a lot.

whoa! clogged, what happens then?
engine heats like a cooker and shuts down ??

duke owners!
I saw the bike radiator has a fan, I would like to know if we need to take any special care during washing the bike.
btw do all liquid cooled bike engines have a fan ?

projectile

No it wasnt that bad. The radiator fan starts only when bike heats to its near max limit. If, for some reason radiator fan doesnt run properly that time, the bike will feel total loss of power with a strange revving noise. As long as the bike doesnt get too heated up, the radiator fan is not needed at all and the clogging wont affect anything.

The fan starts only after the bike reaches a certain temperature limit?? I doubt, mostly the fan is on till the engine is on. This helps in keeping the radiator in controlled temperature, which in turn will help to keep the engine under controlled operating temperature.

Also, incase the fan stops running and the bike is running, there are chances of getting the bike engine getting seized.

My knowledge as far as i know about this. Correct me if i am wrong.

duke owners!
I saw the bike radiator has a fan, I would like to know if we need to take any special care during washing the bike.
btw do all liquid cooled bike engines have a fan ?

projectile

^^And if possible get a radiator guard.

@Inder: Sorry for joining the party late, congrats for your new machine. Has this replaced the ZMA or sharing space with it?

I think Lappu has also got the delivery of his KAtoom today.

Is it available in India? Does it disrupt the air flow?

Ya, Lappu got his bike yesterday evening...it was all over FB

No idea, but it's being an international product I am pretty sure something will be available pretty soon. Somebody on another forum got one made for his CBR 250R. You need to search WWW a bit for this. These are designed in a manner to allow required flow of air to the radiator.