Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Sure bro will post in some time today.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Completed exactly an year with the bike. ODO is ~10kms short of 7000kms.

Except for the front brake pad I have not replaced anything so far. Even this was unnecessary, done to prevent the screeching sound I had complained of.

Compared to the niggles people have reported, I have not faced too many. Except the squealing/screeching sound while applying front brake.

EDIT: Had the clutch gasket replaced under warranty when I noticed slight leakage sometime in July.

The infamous stalling problem wasn't there until about a month back. I experienced this for the first time when my colleague was riding pillion inside the office campus. 3-4 times in the next couple of days and once yesterday. What I have noticed is that, if I grab the clutch first (or suddenly) before slowing down adequately from high speeds this tends to happen. And once it happens, clutch throttle coordination goes for a toss since what is a natural reflection action becomes a rehearsed sequence and chances of erring again and it becomes a self-fulfilling circle. Thats my theory, don't know how much sense it makes. For atleast 1st 10-11 months I have not faced this problem so I am not going to try troubleshoot this one. "If it ain't broke...."

Graduating from an RX, the acceleration was indeed overwhelming initially but now I am bored of it and want more It is way too clinical and doesn't give me the "that rush" while accelerating. I check the rear view mirror to convince myself that I am indeed riding at a considerable speed compared to surrounding traffic. Somehow, on the saddle it just doesn't feel fast for me unlike my RX135 which thrilled me for the time I had it with me.

Where the bike doesn't fail to impress me is braking. Fantastic brakes!!! The lever feel, bite, progression, everything perfect and this is one thing I don't want to change. By the way, I use ONLY front brake. I can probably count on my finger tips the number of times I've used back brake.

Seat & ergonomics is comfortable. Though I find the saddle height to be somewhat tall in tricky situations like taking the bike out from an incline. I haven't had issues with rear foot peg positioning either.

For the 1st time in my life I am using both the LH & RH mirrors and they do an adequate job. Only grouse is they vibrate when at idle.

I rarely ride after sun-set but few times I did, I found the headlights to be very good. Reminder I used to ride a RX

Chain maintenance is a pain and I really don't understand the point of open chains! Absolutely inconvenient, counter intuitive and expensive.

I've visited almost all the KTM service centers including the newest one at Horamavu (closest to home) and found that Kasturba Road is better of the lot and Horamavu one is worst by a looong margin.

Haven't done any long rides so far (I know you are cursing me!) but in the next ~7 months I will have to do two highway rides/month. From the only highway ride I did so far (BLR-MYS) it should be comfortable.

Only thing I don't like about the bike is its engine braking. Though it makes the bike safer (you have to experience how it decelerates from 120(top speed I have done so far) to 70-80 in 6th gear) it is very tiresome in lower gears and in city traffic. Low speeds is another painful area. I never really am able to ride smoothly at 20kmph. These are the only two reasons why I would change the bike in future (God willing a Bonneville) because comfort is becoming a priority for me more than anything else.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Are you guys having any particular type of tyre wear? My duke has done 9000kms, the front is holding real good, but the rear tyre wear pattern is strange. The right side of the middle part is completely worn off. Left side of the middle part still has some grip left and the extreme left and right corners still have good grips. Now you might say that i might not corner the bike enough. Trust me, most of the journey's i've done is through twisty smooth tarmacs like coorg, munnar, chickmagalur etc. I like revving the bike a lot, in the sense, the moment it comes below 80km/h i down shift to 4th mostly and the kind of roads i travel i ride in 3rd or 4th. I always feel the rear tyre moving when i downshift when i enter a corner. NOw i read somewhere that this creates lot of friction and leads to tyre wear. Could this be my case??

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

your rears will always wear faster than your front, if you are unable to find treads deep enough, I suggest that you change tires ASAP. Metz are very soft compound and the average life will be around 10k, especially considering the Indian road conditions. The front may last longer, but keep an eye on the treads on the front one too. You can know whether a tire has any life left just by looking at the treads, and I believe there will be wear indicators as well on the tires.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

For my 200, I had bought a new one for 600 total. Including the undertail plastic and the tail light shaped plastic.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

It was something like ₹200 each for the mud guard and the under tray if I remember.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Cannot agree more
The console shows 100+ speeds, the traffic is considerably slower but you just dont feel you are going that fast. This is the marvel of the bike!!

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

The uneven wear on the right side of the bike is because we have left hand drive in India.
http://www.tyredamage.com/content/view/3/4/

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

[MENTION=65118]timuseravan[/MENTION] Let me get this right, so you are saying that since we have left hand drive, the distance in taking a left corner is lesser than taking the right corner. Am'i right? It's an interesting logic. Now comes the hard part...to shell out the dough for Metzelers...

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

What he means is that the roads have a slight slope from the center towards the sides. Therefore, riding on the left sides causes the right side portion of the tyres to wear more.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

[MENTION=62570]THE46FAN[/MENTION], [MENTION=13120]SDS17[/MENTION], Both these explanations contribute to the uneven wear.

I too am nearing the 9K mark but the tyres seem good for another 2-3k.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

I guess nobody's riding a D390 anymore coz this thread is becoming inactive gradually. Have to search from the bottom of ownership experiences. Anyhow am here to present my short solo ride report.
Had been to Ramanagara(which is on the way to Goa) from Dharwad. Total distance covered-140kms. Time taken-2 hours+additional 30mins break. The roads are tailor made for duke consisting of well laid out straights and curves. Only hindrance is, the domestic animals, crossing the road in a haphazard manner. :banghead: Duke was once again, flawless. Cornering on this bike is a bliss, was contantly hovering around 90kmph even in the curves and the nature of the motor just doesn't let u know at what speed u are in unless u look at the speedo. While on the way I encountered a bunch of kids who were driving recklessly on a karizma, hyosung gt250 and an apache. They were attempting to overtake me and sensing the way they were driving, I slowed down n let them pass. On moving ahead they showed a thumbs down, I just smiled within my helmet, thinking, been there done that. They might have felt happy overtaking me and I was happy that they passed by safely. They had stopped by at a tea shop ahead and even I stopped to have a smoke. They were curious to know as to 'why I let them pass by' even though I had a D390. I just smiled and told them that am here to enjoy my ride in a safe and responsible manner and not to boost my ego, and for that, the guy who showed me thumbs down apologised for being foolish. I advised them to ride safe and I started rolling again. On my way back, I encountered a group of bulleteers with TN registration and also they were being accompanied by a black XUV 500 or Xylo, am not sure. Any xbhpians in that group, who were coming back from Goa via Dharwad?? Overtook them and waved at them for which they reciprocated by flashing their headlights. I must say that they were maintaining a good speed of around 80-90kmph. Again I stopped by to have a smoke and they passed by me waving, I showed them a 'V' sign. It was good to see them riding in a group to symphonic beats. I also saw a black Harley. An Innova, with Govt of Karnataka registration, was continously tailing me. I let him pass as it was bothering me, then again he slowed down and I overtook him. Then again he was tailing me and flashing headlights, I let him go, I don't know what's wrong with these drivers coz again he slowed down on an empty stretch :banghead:. The road was straight with initial decline an then sloping incline and I was fed up of his antics and for once I decided to smoke him (evil mind ). Came beside him and both of us gunned our respective rides. Both of us were at 90 I guess when I joined him. Went together till about we reached 110 n after that it was duke all the way. Apart from these the ride was uneventful.
Coming to the performance of the bike, I felt like something was holding her back. Coz all these days she was breathing with k&n, only yesterday I put her back on stock. She was more eager to accelerate when she was with k&n, may be in gear acceleration has reduced a bit after getting her back to stock filter and also the engine note is not as deep as it was. The brakes are just phenomenal in this bike, saved me when a buffalo swerved to the right from left all of a sudden. These metzelers just don't give up on u, no matter how hard or how late u brake. And if we release the clutch when on loose gravel, there is a subtle hint of wheel spin before it regains its composure, may be we can attribute it to the immense torque the rear wheel has to handle. She holds her line in the curves beautifully urging u to push her still, I scraped my pegs twice. She leans in even before my arms and body respond to that command from my brain to lean her in, it's as though as if she is wired to my brain directly. This is one thing which am yet to come to terms with. Anyhow these are my observations on today's ride. I must say this finally, D390 is an arrow in the straights and a breeze in the curves. It won't disappoint u, worth it. :thumbup:
Kindly excuse and bear with my chaotic writing.
Cheers to Sunday :beer:

Sent from my GT-I9500 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

[MENTION=72712]sharathchandra[/MENTION] bro. That was an intense reading experience. I can't imagine how exciting it must have been in real life.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Thanks alot for your encouraging words bro. This is what the biking clubs are made of, brotherhood.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

Or is it that everyone is too busy riding hence no time to post.

On that note, am back from a 4 day ride that is bangalore > valparai>munnar>bangalore. Have done many single day rides (around 200-400kms), but this was my first multi-day ride on the 390.

Rode with another friend who was on a Pulsar 220 to valparai, where we were joined by 4 more friends who were on southern india ride from bombay - 3 bullets and one Stunner. 390 is quite a capable tourer/ mile muncher, especially on good roads. i was skeptical about its ergonomics - no real issues with upper body but the rear set pegs took its toll by the end of the day. I was not comfortable as knees started aching and had to take frequent breaks. The hard suspension and seat was not as bad as i had expected, reason being the good roads. On bad roads, i guess that could be an issue.

on day 1, my fuel sensor stopped working so had to keep a mental check on the tank range. I had fabricated a metal luggage carrier plate, mounted at the grab rail position, and used a cramster stallion saddle bag. Did not have any issue with the luggage and everything was intact at the end of the ride. The chain started making some sort of rythemic noise, so had to loosen it a bit and lube it mid way. after that, it was better with occasional slap sound.

All in all an enjoyable ride on the duke. For me, what works in favour of the bike for touring is speed, braking, handling, less fatigue resulting from wind and vibration (compared to my other ride-C5). it generates great confidence on highways and especially on ghats. What did not work for me was foot rest position, small tank combined with busted fuel level sensor, hard suspension and seat on the bad stretches, and chain noise. Also, rim cracking fear was prevalent whenever i was around a pot hole.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Owners Reviews and Experiences

That's one helluva eventful ride. And without the fuel sensor it's like playing a handicap Duke is a mile muncher but the hindrance being small tank range.:banghead: Even I felt the rear set footpegs a drawback in terms of comfort. Knee ache and ankle sores is common to all touring dukers I guess. Even I had to keep my eyes wide open for awkward potholes. But it compensates with speed, handling and revv happy stress free motor when compared to my previous ride, Enfield Electra. I have never been to Valparai, but have heard and seen some scenic photos from fellow riders and cyclists. Kindly post some photos of your ride. Also a pic of your fabricated luggage carrier would be really helpful.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using xBhp Connect mobile app