Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

If you are going to be selling the RC200 and buying a used RC390 it will be a loss for you considering you have only ridden 6000 kilometers. I suggest you stick with the RC200.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hey y'all
I own a rc200 as of now which has done 6000kms and at this point I feel the need for an upgrade. I'm in the market for a used RC 390 (bs3 model) because i prefer what that bike has to give over the newer ones. So my question is, is it a worthy upgrade? Or should I just stick with the RC 200? This is gonna be my 2nd bike with the RC 200 being the bike I learned to ride a motorcycle on. Also what changes can I expect as compared to the RC 200 (with exclusion of power ofc) and what are the things I need to check before picking one up in the used market?

Cheers.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

lright ladies and gentlemen , please advise-:

i want an ecu remap with air filter (bmc) andi want to make a free flow on stock exhaust. which means i just need to make a bend pipe .

1. can i remove anything from stock muffler to reduce weight?
2. is powertronic worth it ? does it actually give you value?
3. i need front fork adjustable cartridges any good suggesions??
4. i want a rearset adjustable footpegs suggestions?
5. please also suggest any good ecu remaps for pure performance and smoother engine besides powertronics, whatever happend to kirrus where did it go?

whats my option if i want to do a track day and i live in mumbai is chennai the only option??

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

It's all good now, i don't want to jinx it by testing it!

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It's an Amaron VRLA. Yup no good reason to buy 'em online.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hope you replaced it with VRLA dry battery, maximum shelf life of a battery is 3-4years, best advised to replace it after 3-4 years even if its working fine especially KTM bikes are very sensitive and highly dependent on battery.

P.S. Never buy any motorcycle consumables items online, be it Tyre, Battery, Any Liquids, Rubber, Helmets, Riding Gear etc etc. Best it to visit offline, feel it physically, verify the date, fit, QC and proceed with the purchase even if it costs Rs.200-500 offline.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Nice, glad you din't have to sell the bike off. i'd still advice just get the voltages checked as i mentioned earlier.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

alright ladies and gentlemen , please advise-:

i want an ecu remap with air filter (bmc) andi want to make a free flow on stock exhaust. which meand i just need to make a bend pipe .

1. can i remove anything from stock muffler to reduce weight?
2. is powertronic worth it ? does it actually give you value?
3. i need front fork adjustable cartridges any good suggesions??
4. i want a rearset adjustable footpegs suggestions?
5. please also suggest any good ecu remaps for pure performance and smoother engine besides powertronics, whatever happend to kirrus where did it go?

whats my option if i want to do a track day and i live in mumbai is chennai the only option??

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

hi check out ari hennings setup its cheaper then ohlin and is apparently as good .
any one has any leads on where can i get front for adjustable cartridges for RC390?
?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

It's been 5 days and multiple starts, no issues so far. So that means the original battery was in fact gone and the seller on Amazon scammed me with a bad battery. There was nothing wrong with the bike.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Good, did you a basic check of the voltages with the new battery in ? You basically need to check the voltage:
1. with the ignition/bike off.
2. at idle
3. at 5000rpm
sometimes a bad rr unit can supply excessive voltage to battery in turn ruining the battery of a period of time.
i would still recommend you get the timing and valve clearance checked and set to spec.. because usually if the bike is cranking but not starting it could be this. basically the engine needs fuel+air, compression, ignition to fire up.. and poor compression can result from valve clearances out of spec i.e. too little to nil clearance.

do keep us posted on how this goes..

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Thanks for answering. No modifications at all, bike is all stock. Around ~4 months back the original battery seemed to be losing charge and then one fine day the bike just failed to crank. I automatically assumed that the battery must be dead since it's over 2.5 years old. So, i purchased an appropriate Exide battery from Amazon. One of it's terminals was badly dented out of shape but it seemed to work so i kept it. It was all fine for about a week, then the battery went dead just like the old one.

A day or two before the battery dies the bike takes a number of cranks to start. But when fully charged the bike cranks in one go.

1. I asked the two different SVCs about this. As usual they never give a direct answer but i reckon they didn't think the battery was the issue.
2. Both mentioned the valve clearance being out and the bike getting hard to start because of "high compression". One SVC said setting the valve clearance would fix the issue and the other didn't think that that was the main issue. I am thinking this was not be the issue since the bike does crank immediately when the battery is charged.

I went to the nearby battery shop to get the battery charged and he suggested that maybe the battery is faulty. Well, having wasted around Rs 10k already i thought lets give this a try. With the new battery the display console came back to life to my great relief and the bike started in one crank. I went for a ride today morning and faced no starting issues. It's too early to say, but i am thinking maybe it was the battery.. (BTW, ordering a battery from Amazon was a dumb thing to do, it's best to get a new one from your local dealer who in this case gave me a cool Rs 400 off on the price in return for the replaced battery.)

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

A healthy charged 12V battery should read at least 12.5V (to around a max of 12.8), under 12 and you have a partially discharged battery.. which shouldn't usually happen if the bike is used regularly and charging system is working properly.

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have you made any electrical modifications on the bike ? any accessories like horns/lights/hazard flasher etc...?
what do you mean by bike is not starting ? does it at least crank up or does it just not do anything ? Do you hear a clicking noise when you thumb the starter? does the bike crank up but not start?

here are some possibilities:
1. the battery is bad, or there is some parasitic drain that is draining the battery.
2. if it cranks but doesn't fire up easily, then you might want to check and adjust the valve clearances. over time the valve clearances usually reduce, causing the valves to not close completely and thus reducing compression.
3. if it doesn't crank up, then either the battery is gone, or the starter relay is faulty. you already replaced the starter motor so its unlikely that.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

My two cents worth. As a thumb rule, any pitting or scoring on the sliders on the Duke 390 or any other bike fork tubes is always, always recommended to be "replaced" No matter how much you sand or buff it, unless it's a speck or something, a significant score would and will definitely leak after sooner or later, as exactly happened in your case. Secondly, it's the same reason bent fork tubes are better off replacing unless it's a mild bend, which doesn't cause surface distortion, which can be mended and reused. You can keep replacing again and again spending valuable money on the fork oil seals, oil and labor. Instead, replace the tube with a new one and new seal and you can be rest assured you'll have peace of mind.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hello Everyone hope u all are doing well, i have an issue actually i live in Jammu and my motorcycle is also registered there. But now i have shifted to New Delhi for Studies and took my motorcycle along with me. My motorcycle Registration number plates are damaged and Yesterday traffic cops fined my motorcycle i want to replace my registration no. Plates. My question is can i change my registration no. Plate in Delhi but with same Registered no.

Thanks & Regards

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I neglected to fill in the details. Actually, the SVC guys confirmed that the battery is indeed charging. They even showed me with a multi-meter. I left the bike for three days at the SVC last week so that they can check the battery drain. But according to them the bike starts okay and when i received the bike yesterday it did in fact start ok if with a slight hesitation. So i asked them if they had charged the battery, to which they replied no. That was yesterday and today morning the bike failed to start.

And this back forth with the SVCs has been going on for last two months during which time i barely got to ride the bike. Hence if i can't get it fixed now i am going to have to sell it to someone who has the time & skills to fix this.