Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Major reason why Dominar is having less issues as compared to 390's is because of engine configuration, 390's uses DOHC configuration because of this cylinder head is of complicated design, compared this to Dominar which has SOHC with Triple sparkplugs you get a head design which is much simpler.

Added to the high power figures 43PS vs 35PS and high compression ratio in the Duke vs Dominar.

There is lot more chances for coolant mixing in Duke and head to give way much sooner when compared to it's brother from another mother. Same with the oil blow back into Airbox.

Yes, you got it almost right there. But total loss not only in case of accident but also includes case of theft, floods, vandalisim. So better to stick with high IDV as it also helps in deciding your bike re-sale value if you wish to sell your bike say after 2-3years. Usually used bike dealers use this number for calculation.

And yes to answer the second part, if claim amounting less than IDV then both will be same whether you have high/low IDV with zero-dep.

P.S. With my personal experience, suggestion please switch to some private insurance provider than a public sector insurance like (New India, United India, Oriental) to something like (IFFKO, ICICI, HDFC ERGO, Barathi AXA, TATA AIG etc etc), reason being they are much simpler to deal with compared to the lazy old public sector based companies, claims will be settled quicker without much haggle, also they have well designed easy to navigate fancy websites to track claims and 24x7 BPO support when compared to the former.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Even I own 2018 Duke 390 it has zero issues works like a charm

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Yes, but we all want hassle free machines. It's fine to have a machine with lesser power but with more reliability and also cheaper. DOHC setup is also expensive to produce and harder to work on in case. If we compare 220 with dominar bajaj has done fantastic job so far in quality. Some niggles here and there. But overall a fine product.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Is it too early to say? Considering 2017 bikes are facing issues now.

I also own a 2018 with 7k km on odo. Nothing major issue yet.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Not all bikes face these issues. Its just that people with problems post here on the forum more than those who don't. This usually gives the impression that most of the bikes have this issue.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I know many people having 2018 dukes having more than 10k on ODO and no issues till date.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences


Thanks for the detailed answer, I am getting the highest IDV 215k and zero dep for 6.1k at new india . So i guess i'll stick to that. I myself had an accident and yeah it did take a lot of emails and follow ups and the process was not a bit transparent. Till the day i received the amount which was after a month of repairs, i didn't know how much amount i would be getting, nor what was the process flow. But i did get almost whole the amount without which i would've been totally screwed.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

In 2018 Duke 390 gasket leakage issue is very rare. Most of the dukes we are hearing are from 2017 lot. If we go into technical details DOHC setup will not have rocker arm like SOHC setup and has less parts involved infact they directly actuate valves. DOHC setup can generate more power than SOHC hence Duke generates more power. common problems that occurs with SOHC setup is Cracked heads and DOHC setup is burnt valves or head gaskets.

I would chose DOHC setup over SOHC setup for added power, less moving parts reduces the valvetrain inertia which is a good thing and will have better reliability over SOHC setup.

Basically gasket leakage can happen due to high temperatures generated by the engine so you will need to monitor and maintain coolant levels and ensure that your radiator fan is in good working condition. In case of Duke 390 2018 model even though it generates very high temperature we have a better fan than 2017 model which will help in cooling down the engine effectively, so only thing we need to take care is to use good coolant and maintain proper levels. If you are facing gasket leak issues in 2018 model it could be manufacturing issue and might be from a particular lot. Most of the issues reported in this forum are from 2017 model and you may find couple of instances from 2018 model but will be very less due to added heat management upgrades by KTM

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

What are the symptoms of oil and coolant mixup?

Also is there any charger/cig lighter which can be direct fit to one of the accessory ports? Plug and play?

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

390 owners from Mumbai, need some information. Which KTM service center is the best from a servicing perspective? I stay in Kandivali and the bike was bought from KTM Andheri East. I'm going to get the first service done soon.

Distance is no bar and I'm ok with traveling long distance to get the servicing done, since I aim to build a long term relationship with the SAs. Pointers will be helpful.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

If you have coolant disappear issue Meaning. The coolant level constantly goes down every week and you have to top up 50 to 100ml regularly . Is a potential symptom of oil coolant mixup.
Final stage could be oil low pressure warning .

You can check the oil level keeping the bike in Center and in neutral. now raise the throttle till the radiator fan kicks in. Now stop and see oil level. You should see layer coolant water above of oil clearly. Or the oil level would be more than the normal .

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Today after a hard ride, while parking the bike I saw some traces of engine oil kind of stuff from the bottom bolt of the chain sprocket cover.

It was not too much but seems like an oil leak from engine. Does this bolt leak oil ? If so what can be done for that

It was dark so I couldn't click a pic... Attaching an image from Google for understanding.

Thanks in advance

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Oil/coolant mixing is a swift killer to say the least. The first and prominent thing that hits most riders is the coolant level dropping ever so slightly but on a constant basis. If you observe this behavior it's certain there is a very mild coolant ingestion. Second is the color of the oil, this one confuses us all, sometimes mild coolant ingestion doesn't show up in the oil window, as it gets vaporized. Slow yet steady and accelerating failure is when the coolant mixes with the oil and the oil turns visibly different to browinish/greenish to chocolate latte with white foam in the window that's when you know it's a complete BOOM.

With respect to the charger, the accessories port supports 12v and is a 10 AMP rated. Check this thread, should give you an idea as to where to start.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Picked up 390 today. Unable to upload pics from mobile.

Coming from r15 v1. So obviously biased in certain way. Hoping it turns out well. Fingers crossed.