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Re: KTM 390 - The original Hooligan - Ownership Thread
Finally got the bike today evening after 4 months of waiting!
Had made the payment yesterday and insisted to get the delivery today since it was a very auspicious day (parents' instructions!).
Am riding it good and hard. Not babying it at all. Can hit 6th gear on only long open road.
Initial impressions after riding 40 km:
- Great acceleration, bike is fun from the word go.
- Super cool sound on startup and riding. Feels like you are riding something special.
- Temperature bar was high even at the time of delivery, since the showroom person had done the PDI. Felt the heat but it is not unbearable.
- Bike starts fine, just needs couple of seconds of pressing. It is not a soft-touch start like my ZMR, but can live with it.
- Bike stalled on few occasions while taking off on 1st gear. Not an issue. Needs getting used to the clutch.
- The clutch does not feel hard to me at all. Rode the bike to home in heavy traffic, and do not remember feeling any problems using the clutch.
- Did not feel any vibrations anywhere, yet(!).
- Did not hear any noise like chain hitting swingarm and the other common observations reported so far, yet(!).
- Front brake lever feels very light. Cannot feel the bite. Maybe it will (should!) improve with time.
- EDIT: The rear brake pedal is set very much towards the left (inside). So its not easy to apply the rear brake.
- This has happened a few times: when I shift up from 1st, it shown Neutral many times and I need to shift again to 2nd. I'm not shifting it soft, still it happens. Don't like it. It isn't shifting cleanly from 1st to 2nd.
- Other than the 1st-to-2nd shift problem, the gears feel smooth if I shift at the right RPMs, otherwise it gets clunky. But I guess this is the same with most bikes.
Bike is bloody good, but need to be careful because it tends to shoot forward as we gun the throttle!
Finally got the bike today evening after 4 months of waiting!
Had made the payment yesterday and insisted to get the delivery today since it was a very auspicious day (parents' instructions!).
Am riding it good and hard. Not babying it at all. Can hit 6th gear on only long open road.
Initial impressions after riding 40 km:
- Great acceleration, bike is fun from the word go.
- Super cool sound on startup and riding. Feels like you are riding something special.
- Temperature bar was high even at the time of delivery, since the showroom person had done the PDI. Felt the heat but it is not unbearable.
- Bike starts fine, just needs couple of seconds of pressing. It is not a soft-touch start like my ZMR, but can live with it.
- Bike stalled on few occasions while taking off on 1st gear. Not an issue. Needs getting used to the clutch.
- The clutch does not feel hard to me at all. Rode the bike to home in heavy traffic, and do not remember feeling any problems using the clutch.
- Did not feel any vibrations anywhere, yet(!).
- Did not hear any noise like chain hitting swingarm and the other common observations reported so far, yet(!).
- Front brake lever feels very light. Cannot feel the bite. Maybe it will (should!) improve with time.
- EDIT: The rear brake pedal is set very much towards the left (inside). So its not easy to apply the rear brake.
- This has happened a few times: when I shift up from 1st, it shown Neutral many times and I need to shift again to 2nd. I'm not shifting it soft, still it happens. Don't like it. It isn't shifting cleanly from 1st to 2nd.
- Other than the 1st-to-2nd shift problem, the gears feel smooth if I shift at the right RPMs, otherwise it gets clunky. But I guess this is the same with most bikes.
Bike is bloody good, but need to be careful because it tends to shoot forward as we gun the throttle!
Need to run about a hundred kms to get back the bite.
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