Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience


No it is not possible. And that is what worries me. Have the red light and its switch near the engine checked out. And also have the bikes rev limiter setting checked out just to be sure. Sometimes they are set wrong.
The redlining method is not to be done all the time. That will seize your engine. Its meant to be done every once in a while. It helps your bike run smoother post run in. Cheers

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Do u have 3 KTMs now.???


Damn it my iPhone sent it again.!!!

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience


By the way despite better heat dissipation in RC compared to dukes,I can still feel a lot of heat on me when in traffic.I can't even imagine the misery duke390 owners have to go through..

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

I do not think they would be much a problem without being checked upon for a few days as even I am driving sanely.
But I will surely tell the KTM guys to fix the issue if there any is next time I am nearby service center.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I would advice dont. It is ultimately a Bajaj engine. And my experience has taught me to go by the book when it comes to running in of Bajaj bikes. Be it pulsars or Dukes. Just to avoid any heart burns. Having said that, please do not lug the engine and baby the bike. Best way to run in is to commute in city traffic where you get to use all the gears without exceeding prescribed rpm limit by a big margin. This would also make sure you are not riding at a constant rpm, which should be avoided even after the running in is done.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I bought NS in feb 2013...
Within a week of purchase my brother took it to agra...
He tore the bike apart!!! Went all the way with throttle...

The result:
My NS is brutal on streets, and on highways it doesnt like going slow... Gives better fuel efficiency...
Acceleration is as good as a fighter plane!!!


HOWWWW?????

Sent from my HTC Salsa C510e using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Wow dude which city do you live in where you get to use all 6 gears of a duke 390 in traffic? LOL

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

Actually thanks to there being no fairing, if you're going fast enough then its not so bad and stop gap traffic is gonna be a B%$#@ anyway for both dukes and RC's.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Dont tell me in your city you cant use all the 6 gears. On my Njnja I am able to and utbis quite fine at that. What do you do with the remaining gears? Keep them home?Come down to Mumbai, and it will be my pleasure to show you how to use 6 gears.

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

Dada, if that didn't affect your bike, you are lucky. My experience wasnt as pleasant as yours. Not only me therr are few more people I know who had the engine seized. There us a reason manufacturer even writes down the method to be used for breaking in. If something works fine even without following proper guidelines then it is luck.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

By the above quoted post it seems like you are saying that in traffic ,heat from both rc and duke is same and while on the move duke is instead much more cooled than RC.
You are mistaken my friend.I test rode duke390 and it threw way more heat on my thighs and body than the RC.If you do not believe me,you can read some reviews by various online websites and they will also be mentioning the same.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Haha! No, sold the D390.


Now for some updates, clocked 500 kms.

The RC even though its new, runs a lot cooler than my D390. And as it happened with the Duke the heating would further lessen as I clock in some more kms.

Headlights are strong but the beam focusing job is a pain the wrong pace. The svc had to rip apart the whole fairing to do the same and they took 2hrs.

The test RC had lesser vibes compared to my duke but mine somehow is a little buzzy at the handlebars, more than my duke. Probably would lessen as the engine runs in more.

The ride with a pillion is again better for the pillion compared to the duke but can get really difficult for the rider because when you brake, the entire weight of you and your pillion falls on your palms and your balls. Phew!

I am getting a better FE compared to my Duke already.

Brake feel is a lot better and so is the exhaust note.

The bike gets crazy dirty and cracks and crevices are much difficult to reach for cleaning.

And for everyone, the red light that blinks is not the limiter or that doesn't mean that the bike is locked at some particular rpm when it is delivered. Its just a shift light which you can program yourself, just read the manual.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Bro your view on performance vis-avis Duke 390? Like acceleration, refinement if any? Does it seem underpowered than duke or you would call it more refined? Till what RPM is the RC subdued and what is the power band?, how does it compare to the power band of duke? Thanks in advance !

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

From standstill the D390 will be off like a rocket and I bet the RC390 can't catch up with D390 until about 130kmph. But maintaining the high speeds of over 130kmph will be much easier in the RC than Duke.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I know this is not a street bike...but still, is the rider comfort better than that of dukes??

I mean i only had problems with shoulder and wrist for initial rides only in r15 v2.0. So rc200 and rc390, both will be tough to the rider on city compared to r15 v2.0 ???

Sent from my Xperia SP

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

The RC is much more rideable in a way that it is able to handle lower speeds at higher gears without stuttering or complaining like the D390. This is probably because of revised lower gearing(RC does 100 at 6k rpm, Duke at 5.3k rpm) and this makes the power delivery much smoother and not jerky like Duke, people tend to confuse it for a tamer bottom end, which believe me and the Powerdrift guys is not the case. In fact their vid shows the RC(stock, brand new) doing a 0-100 in 4.5 secs flat which makes it way faster than the Duke even to 100. After 100 the RC comes to its own. May be because of the lack of wind blast, it feels way quicker than the D390.

Unlike the Duke where you feel a very strong surge past 7k rpm its not there is RC because it already reaches 7k rpm much stronger than the Duke, its power delivery is linear in feel. The surge is there but tamed. Keep in mind, tamed does't mean less powerful, it means the power band is much better spread.

Also because of the altered gearing the way RC launches from a standstill feels much better, bajaj has improved the clutch feel too. Overall I am impressed with the bike, the only thing Duke does better is being more comfy but I am not complaining. *Grinning*

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

You would lose your bet mate. This is coming from an ex duke 390 owner. Duke feels mad, jerky and powerful(probably because of the wind and the way power is delivered) but RC not being able to catch up, tell me that's a joke. The RC is the faster bike, I have explained above why(even with more weight its geared lower, so acceleration is faster and better aerodynamics aid better high speed performance too)

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

I have answered the comfort part above, but compared to an R15 v2, RC has a more dedicated posture for the upper body, you'll have to lean more.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hey Buddy..long time. The timing shown by Powerdrift is overly optimistic. 4.5 sec to ton is a huge difference over the Duke390. Which isnt possible. Stock Duke 390 does in 5.5 secs. Shaving of a second requires lot more.

Regarding the difference between power delivery, yes, I too felt Duke 390 was jerky. Infact while cornering, most of the time it feels like you are not in the right gear. It feels like you need 1 more gear in between.

Hope the gearing in RC addresses that. I read she is even more fun than R15 to corner. Only thing that bothers me is 390 engine runs hot. In RC the fairing is pretty close to the engine. Much more closer than Ninja or R15. Wouldn't that cause some issues in the long run? I am waiting for some long term reviews before she makes it next to my Ninja in my parking lot.
I believe 250-400cc bikes are best suited to our condition and you can try to use them to their full potential.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hey mate! yeah, been a little busy with life. I trust the ninja is keeping you happy under your lid.
And yes, 1 sec is a big gain over Duke but I don't understand, its shown in their video. Anyway my point was that the RC is not slower or with a weaker bottom end as being said by many. In fact it has a better bottom end rideability and this is not coming from any online reviews, first hand experience

Cooling is better even with a fairing, may be a bigger radiator employed(just assuming). I have a feeling that this would hold up better than the duke counterparts in the long run but then lets wait and watch. I'll keep updating.