Re: KTM 200 Duke

I totally agree on the being safe part.
But is 80 is the new legal limit? Source of this information.?
From what I have seen (as recently as two weeks ago) speed limits vary between sections of the highway.. I have seen them to be as low as 20kmph(at small village crossroads) to a max of 120kmph on some sections. 80 and 100 are the most common limits across most of the NH's. This was my observation across highways down south (AP, TS, TN, KA, KL)

And btw guys, yesterday there was really heavy rainfall in hyderabad and I decided to go for a spin in the rain. I was stuck in the traffic and rain for close to an hour and had to ride thru 2ft of water across a few sections of the road. Enjoyed it throughly (except for a scary instance where gushing water almost swept me away when I tried riding against the flow of water)
Later in the night I noticed that the indicator light on the console was blinking faintly even though the indicators were not activated. Headed to the svc thus morning and they removed the left switchgear, cleaned it up/sanded the contacts and put it back together. And viola, it was back to normal.

I also noticed that these guys now have a diagnostic tool which is much smaller (compared to the Grey one) and it was a Bosch unit (green colored). It had a regular odb2 port and they used a convertor cable to connect it to the ktm which has a 4 port diagnosis port. I had it connected and was going thru it's options and the readouts it gave.. Nice list of info clearly displayed(live data of rpm, temp, ignition timing etc..) . It seemed to be programmed specifically for Bajaj since it had options to chose the bike (Bajaj, ktm) and also specific sub model(Duke, 200,rc etc) and also the year(2012,2013...)
One specific thing that caught my eye was the odo reading displayed on the tool. The odo on my bike was showing 24500 approx, while the tool was only showing 23600 approx.. On asking them why, they couldn't give a proper explanation other than saying it was the reading from ecu(which is true). I assume this was due to a 3-4% error on the speedo while the ecu was getting a more True reading (just my assumption.. Since I have noticed in the past that the odo was showing around 3% more km compared to gps/Google maps)

The diag tool looked identical to this one

Re: KTM 200 Duke

What oil renewal interval do you guys stick to?

I have come across some posts (other bike threads) wherein users suggest to change the oil every 3000-4000kms irrespective of oil type (mineral, synthetic etc) and the manufacturer recommended interval.

The KTM manual says every 7500kms. My odo is around 3800 so have ridden 3000kms on present oil after first service @800kms.

One good thing is that with the sight glass we can monitor the oil health and decide if the time has come for replacement or not. My oil is still red in colour.

So what oil replacement interval to follow?

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Motul used in ktm is supposed to last for 8-10k easily. Still stick to change at every service as ur bike is still in warranty.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

If you use a good quality fully synthetic oil of the recommended grade, you can mostly keep it till 7500km (again depends on how the bike is ridden). But remember, the service interval is 7500km or 4 months (whichever earlier) and not many people cover 7500km in 4 months all the time. The cases i've observed cover a max of 5-6k km with most doing around 4k km. So change oil at every service even if you've covered less than 7500km.
If you want to be extra cautious and don't mind spending the money, you can change oil every 4000km approx.
The service interval on my ktm is 5000km (2014 duke 200), I use motul 20w50(or 10w50, depending on whats available) and it easily lasts 5k km.. and only twice have I covered 5k in the 4 month service interval.. so most of my service/oil changes happen at around 4k km.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Hey guys,

I have been using 20W40/ 15W40 Semi-Synth from Shell and other manufacturers and IMHO, for commuting/ light riding purposes, this grade works best for the 200 engine. I've used the thicker Motul oils too but they just make shifting notchy.
Thinner semi-synth or fully-synth oil circulates better within the clutch plates thereby improves the clutch especially in our bumper to bumper traffic scenarios and at the same time it keeps the engine within safe limits.
I had a query has anyone tried to improve the damping on the front forks of the 200/ 390? I feel my front USD forks have become soft.

Cheers

Re: KTM 200 Duke

the w40 would be ok for light riding purposes, but the w50 has never caused any gear shifting notchiness in my 25k km so far.
Don't mess with the mechanicals of the fork. How old is your bike ? If you want to improve the damping marginally stiffer, change the fork oil. You could use the one supplied by bajaj. there are two fork oil's that these guys use.. one is the 'ktm' branded one (supposed to be a 5W oil) and the other 'bajaj' branded (made by HP and is a 10W weight iirc). The bajaj oil is around 50rs for 150ml while the 'ktm' one costs almost twice as much. I am using the bajaj fork oil in one fork while the other fork is on the oil that came from factory (happened to change it during a fork oil seal replacement.. and i wasn't aware of the two oil until later on). In the coming week, i am planning to replace the oil in both fork with the bajaj or ktm one (whichever is available).

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Did something stupid today, had an early morning meeting and dint wanted to rely on trains knowing their conditions as its raining really hard in mumbai since 3 days. So took my bike from Thane to Lower Parel expecting water logging at the regular places. With a blank mind it took my D200 below the hindmata flyover and i regretted it immediately after corssing the flyover entry. There was water upto at least 2 feet in the center most section of that patch. Luckily the duke crossed it like a charm and i managed it easily bet 2nd & 3rd gear. Though i have been thru such conditions on P135 and the memory of last year gave me chills coz if the bike stopped, there was no way i could make it to the other side without water being drained out completely and even more, the thought of water getting into engine.I could literally feel the water above the exhaust and at the exhaust level as the sound was stuttering and shallow kind of respectively. But happy to say the bike managed to impress me in my foolish decisions too. Will still get it checked just in case there is any water issue anywhere or sensors affected. But after crossing that 2 feet deep water patch i could easily ride for 5-6kms.What is overwhelming is that the bike manages such stuff like a boss IMO.

Re: KTM 200 Duke


It's very simple, though there are experiences and examples where folks replace oil at different intervals. I am sure you are under warranty and if you would like to keep your warranty intact, get the oil changed even if it's run a few thousand kays less from SVC. After the free service, 3 to 3.5k kms is the right interval to change the engine oil. Well, of course not every cup of tea suits every one. Some change at 3k, 8k and respectively. Sooner the better for the engine, especially any bike that doubles up as a every day commuter as opposed to a weekend bike.

Go by the book, during the warranty period, after that, it's all yours.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM 200 Duke

I've crossed similar knee deep stretches a few times, with no issues at all.. just keep in 1st (or 2nd) with rpm around 6-7k km and it will sail thru with no fuss.
Like a boss.. definitely yes.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Well the bike is an every day commuter for me, except when I go on out of state work trips (not on bike).

So 4000kms interval seems ideal for me I guess.

But what if the oil colour after 4k kms remains close to the the newish red colour? Replace or wait for oil colour to change to blackish (which I guess indicates that oil is beginning to deteriorate).

Did you notice the oil colour at 4k kms?

EDIT: Oil colour when seen through sight glass.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Yep. I use the motul 7100 fully synthetic oil which is Red in color. At 4k km, it still appears red (obviously not as red as when new). A bit of discoloration is ok, and remember this bike is equipped with an oil filter, so it's better off than some smaller capacity bikes that run without an oil filter.
This is oil is good enough to push till 7k km.. and can definitely be used for at-least 5k without any worries on the D200 as long as its used in the city and highway.
Trash it around on a track and you might have to replace the oil earlier.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Oil color is and always will be a parody. What seems clean and colorful on the sight glass would be black and goop when drained. Maintain a fixed interval, in your case, as you've said 4k and change oil irrespective of color.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM 200 Duke

Just got back from service a couple of hours ago. The bike had run only 3600km in the past 4 months.
The bike had done 24800km and is almost going to be 2years.
Changed the coolant (after flushing it once with water) to motul motocool expert. A one litre bottle is sufficient for the D200. There was a little (around 100ml) remaining and am keeping it for top ups.
Apart from that it was just a regular 'change all filter' and engine oil. I noticed that now they have a service 'kit' (costs 466rs) which comes in a box of its own and contains the oil,air and fuel filter.
I was lucky to be able to buy the motul 7100 20w50 for Rs.589 (on amazon) and save around 420rs on 2 litres. The motul motocool expert cost me 389rs on amazon, while the mrp was Rs.425.
The drained coolant did not show signs of contamination and maybe could have been good for another 5k km/4months, and the drained engine oil(which had seen 3600rs) was still Red in color(of-course not like new).
And it looks like these guys filled a bit extra engine oil, going to have some removed this evening.
I was contemplating changing the brake and fork fluids as well, but since there were no issues related to these, will probably get them changed at next service.

Re: KTM 200 Duke

So I rode around in normal traffic earlier this evening, and I did not find any change w.r.t the coolant temp or the fan kicking in. The motul motocool expert seems to be just as good as the stock coolant that was in there for almost two years. I was hoping maybe it would draw heat away better i.e. maybe see one bar less on the gauge or the fan cutting off quicker..
The motul motocool expert appeared and felt more 'watery' compared to the stock coolant and the motul inugel expert(which is one of the recommended by ktm) and one annoyance is that it's color (light yellow) makes it difficult to spot the level in the reservoir (and yeh am getting old)

Re: KTM 200 Duke

You can't spot the color, well, you indeed are getting old. Motocool Expert once in the bike, from its can -- though in its can it looks bright yellow,once into the bike's reservoir it appears more or less like plain water. So, yes, you gotta wiggle the motorcycle to check the level, but you'll get used to it.

Just make sure you've bled it properly and make sure the level is between the high and low.

Cheers!
VJ