Had been to SVC today morning....
1. Oil Seal was damaged/cut, it has been replaced now and rode some 30 kms ,its fine till now. SV guy did some clutch setting and gears have become smooth. But now i am getting false neutrals when shifting from 1st to 2nd gear... when shifting from 1 to 2, indicator doesn't show neutral when the bike actually is in neutral and not in 2nd gear

2. This was a serious issue, the issue was with the front wheel axle play and ball bearing and stuff, they changed my entire wheel along with tyre from a brand new NS. Now this issue is solved.

3. For this issue i dint have time as i was getting late for office, would bring this to notice again during 1st service which should be next weekend...

For these issues Manager has taken pics and would be sending it to Bajaj.

Some more observations by me :

1. As said above, false neutrals

2. Can feel mild vibrations at front foot pegs and hadle as well... any other owners felt the same?

3. Front suspension is quite hard, u can feel even mild uneven surfaces on roads, and unfortunately most roads in pune are repaired in patches and are uneven and may be i am used to the suspension of Karizma and this being quite hard so this issue...any other owners?

4. In bumper to bumper traffic engine gets heated up and you can feel the heat...but not much though as reported by Duke owners...

almost all the duke owners here have got their dukes from first batch .. my friend has bought it recently so he has no problems to report .. i really feel that ktm have sorted out the issues at the assemly line for further batches ..

I hope and wish what you are saying is true. The situation however is pretty dicey yet and we are yet to have clarity on this. Thus, it won't be entirely wrong saying that it will be a bit of a gamble going for duke given the current situation.
Pulsar 200NS will be right choice. More so considering Bajaj's experience and track record with the Pulsar family.

Mild vibrations at footprgs and handle bars for me too
Front suspension oil seals were faulty ,got it replaced.
Softened the rear suspension,now ride is more comfy

The suspension is set at 2nd softest setting from factory and that is a very comfortable setting for day to day riding and some decent cornering. Have you gone for the softest one? That will definitely effect the handling characteristic by some margin. Personally I prefer the 3rd one for day to day spirited riding.


The suspension is definitely harder than Karizma but it serves its purpose in terms of its handling prowess which very few bike has.

Dear Ashutosh,
Which bike between the two (Duke & 200 ns) do you own?
In either of the case, can you share your set of issues/ problems?

None . However I have been keeping an eye on the reviews that are coming from the people who own the first lot of duke as well as that of Pulsar. Out of those, Pulsar sure scores over the Duke. As I said before, if one has to buy a bike manufactured in India, then its better to go for the tried and tested one rather than the one that has not so great initial reviews (not less than 30% of the people who bought Duke are complaining about one thing or the other in the first few weeks).

i dont know the on road price at karnatka , u can contact bajaj dealer there for bookings etc. and i advice u to book as soon as possible to get the delivery early.

cool @himanshpahwa hope to see u same day riding , where do u live ?? did u got the user manual ? , i didn't get it

Though you dont own either of these bikes, you still believe that Pulsar 200 NS is tried and tested while Duke is not? I thought Pulsar 200 ns is a totally different beast from its predecessors. And I am sure this perception (if I can call it) has been made out of so many user reviews you read (like you said "no less than 30%"). Dont you think your statements & claims are premature as Pulsar 200 Ns has just come to the market & most of them are still in Run In?
Let me ask another question, Since Bajaj manufactures both these bikes, why is it that (according to you) the quality of duke is not upto the level of Pulsar 200 ns? May be possible that either Bajaj is intentionally tweaking with the quality of KTM parts or the design of KTM is not good enough for Indian Conditions?

I dont mind much if you dont believe my words. Time shall tell . The reason I say pulsar will score more is that Bajaj has been manufacturing pulsar series of bikes since long and they have a good hand on it. KTM, on the the other hand is new to them. It wont be wrong if we call it Bajaj Duke and not KTM duke. Use a pulsar 200NS for an year and at the same time use a Duke 200 for an year, and you will see the difference.

Yes, it could be possible, as you mentioned, that Duke may not be best for Indian conditions and/or Bajaj may be manufacturing it differently than the original KTM duke.

I wanted an international sort of a bike and hence I went for Ninja 250 R (my ex bike). Now, if I want to go for an Indian bike in a lakh range, I will try a Pulsar 200ns or a Yamaha 250 cc bike (if by any chance Yamaha gets into manufacturing one).

i have come across some duke's with broken footpeg holder,so when i had a close look at that ,felt that footpeg holder is too thin and bit weak compared to zma nd old pulsars...this is the weak point in duke AFAIK when quality is concerned...
P.S im a big fan of DUKE

! Dude, Tell me from your stats that how much parts are common between the old pulsar & the new pulsar?
Also tell me now that how many parts are common between KTM Duke & New Pulsar 200 NS?
Bajaj can only have a good hand if the design & parts are common with the previous versions!
Wishing you good luck with your predictions (one year down the line)

Whatever you say, but you cannot say that Pulsar, no matter how new the machine it is, is after all an upgrade. It has been the flagship product of Bajaj and it cannot take any chances with it. Regardless of what is common and what is not, Pulsar 200NS is a descendent of pulsar familiy. Duke is a new venture.

Most importantly, you are obvioulsy biased because you currently own a Duke. So, you will continue to advocate it no end (as if you manufactured it yourself :P ). On the other hand, I own none of these bikes, so my opinion, needless to state, is unbiased.

I will be happy if the duke comes out good after an year. It is not my wishful thinking that the Duke should come out inferior after an year. Still, I feel it wont be as up to the desired mark.

Ashutosh,
It looks like you dont have any stats/ data to support your arguments. Just putting statements only makes perceptions.
Yes you said it. Its your opinion which you need to understand is made up of reviews on this forum . Yes, I am advocating because I own it & I am 100% sure that I know more about this bike than you for Pulsar 200 ns & Duke combined.
Hmmmm, May be, I dont know the future. Neither do you .
Anyways, nothing against you or anyone. But all of us need to understand the BullWhip effect (Yes I am from manufacturing industry ) and the Chinese Whispers!

guys, what's the topspeed of Pulsar 200 NS? is it faster than cbr 150 FI or P220 dtsi?