Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

+1, I know it's crazy right??!!
Someone had it getting mixed with the engine oil, but I don't have that also, it's simply vanishing..!!!

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Looks cool to me.. but how did you manage to find that?? I am having a tough time finding the 17 390 accessories!!!

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Guys, I am planning to buy a tail tidy from alibaba and install it on my bike. This one has a reasonable price when compared to the super expensive tail tidy from brands like r&g , evotech etc. What do you guys think?

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

My friend too has this problem, first he had a prob with coolant mixing with engine oil soon after 200 KMS in ODO, spoke to KTM emails exchanged nothing much happened, they flushed the oils and gave it back, but soon after another 500 km coolant was not visible again - went again to KTM emails exchanged lots of calls still nothing much happened they did flush it again and promised it wont happen again. we went to a 400 km ride this weekend and noticed still little amount of coolant is vanishing. God knows where its going as per my thinking it is still mixing with oil.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Even I have this from long time now.. It's really crazy.. No clue at all.. Recently I had problem with the the radiator fan which was causing engine temp to rise rapidly and Coolant level to go down fast. This might be a cause not sure though.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Can you elaborate your fan issue. I have just left my bike to replace fan.. they said they would give this evening but it's extended to tomorrow.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Initially I had my radiator fan running for longer duration than normal condition, which generally runs for 2 mins, I left it thinking it may be due to the b2b traffic. But then recently the fan would run all the time and temperature keep rising and would reach high level in no time. Left the bike at SVC, and came to know that the fan was working very slowly, causing the havoc. Also this was causing the Coolant level to drop down rapidly.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Coolant level might go up and down depending upon the engine operating temperatures. The key is here after the bike has been cooled down the coolant level should more or less remain the same, without showing drastically low coolant level in the expansion tank. Also, whenever one observes low coolant level after repeated topping up, it's IMPERATIVE to keep a tab on the engine oil level, and the color of it, the latter being very important.

Coolant disappearance can be caused by low coolant level in the radiator or an improperly bled system that causes fluctuations in the coolant level when the temperature increases or we have a mixing coolant with engine oil albeit at an extremely slow pace. Either ways it's very important to keep tab on both of these w.r.t. to coolant level and take immediate action if one observes change in engine oil color and coolant level.



Indeed you have plethora of items being sold by Alibaba, though most of the stuffs procured have gotten decent reviews, especially those LED lights. To your question of "why not? I'd suggest you go for it.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I somehow came across this forum while searching for tail tidy and the person was kind enough to leave a link to it. If you are interested there's more pics of the tail tidy installed by duke 390 owners. they all seem pretty satisfied with product.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

What made you sell off the previous Duke 390, if you don't mind me asking?

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

And she comes home, yet again ! My 2017 Duke 390

So it will be a long thread so please bare with me. I shall try my best to deliver and share as much details I can and hopefully make a good ownership thread.

The Past

I used to ride an Apache 150 which I got in July 2006. Rode the beauty for 11 years and for 1.33 Lakh kms before selling her to someone who would ride her more. During this period in 2012, got the itch to upgrade for a better and powerful motorcycle and headed straight away to the Honda dealership and booked the CBr250 with ABS.

Fate was such that I had to cancel the booking in the next couple of days due to some financial issues in the family and finally the plans came to a rest. Come 2013, read that KTM was planning to launch the Duke 390 and the itch started again. This time finances were in order so went to the showroom and booked the motorcycle. Waiting period was a bummer i.e three freaking months. Finally the time came and the bike was delivered on Oct 13, 2013.

This motorcycle changed my life completely. Absolutely fantastic power delivery and handling. Did many trips on the same including the famed ladakh ride. Had zero troubles with the motorcycles on these trips. The only issues faced were with the initial lot manufacturing defects which were promptly attended by the service centre. They were very prompt in solving the issues.

Come January 2017, I planned to upgrade to a 2017 Honda CBR650F. It was yet to be launched but the honda guys confirmed that it shall be here by July 2017. Finally Made up my mind to let the KTM go and finally got a very good deal through OLX. The new buyer was also a motorcyclist and understood each and every aspect of the duke properly .

January 26, 2017, I delivered the duke to the new owner. After selling off the duke bought a brand new impulse the next day as the replacement to the Apache and also to improve my off roading skills.

Finally, the time came to book the CBR but the finances were not in order, so thought of waiting as he bike was not yet launched. In the meantime I still used to go to the Honda Wingworld showroom to test ride the CBR and had developed a good relation with those guys.

The Present

Time flew by as I was too busy with work and the impulse did its off roading duties on Sunday mornings ( with a few minor mods ). On 23^rd of September 2017, me and my three other friends planned to leave for Spiti valley and Chandertaal. The whole journey was fantastic but there was one thing missing, POWER !

The only speed I could cruise on was 80kmph which was frustrating in the plains as well the bike was not too comfortable on long rides. I was missing my duke really badly. As out of us four, one friend had accompanied on his duke, I used to remember my bike more and more.

After a lot of discussions with friends ( one of them was our very oen Rachit Bhai who owns the 650F ) and my goddamn heart and mind, thought of postponing the plans for the CBR. There were a couple of reasons for the same.

1. I did not want to be under the pressure of EMI for the next 5 years and I would have lost all the balance in the bank account if I had to make the down payment.
2. Maintaining a superbike. I know cbr is comparatively cheap to maintain compared to other big Japanese brands but I was still not ready financially.


Therefore, the moment I came back from our Spiti Ride, I made my mind to go for the 2017 Duke 390. It was the best of both worlds and the test ride literally blew me.

Next morning, I was at the showroom and booked the bike. Took the delivery on 8^th of Oct 2017 ( me and my another friend booked and got the bikes on the same day ). There was no waiting period at all. I chose my bike out of 4 bikes present at the showroom . Now below are some initial observations though I wont go into much detail as it has already been covered before.

Styling

Looks absolutely killer. I am sure the looks are subjective but I personally love it. Looks much better than the previous gen bike I owned. The tank, rear panel , headlight and the overall proportions og the bike are just perfect.

Engine and handling

Well what should I say ! Its a bomb ! The moment you open the throttle, the damn thing just flies. 44PS are more than enough to keep me happy for a pretty long time ( otherwise powertronics is also there ). The bike is much more linear but still violent. The front wheel pops up if I jab the throttle even in 3^rd gear. The best part is that the vibes are almost not present. As everyone says, it feels like a japanese machine.

Build Quality

Miles ahead of the previous gen though there are some parts where it could have been improved. Specificaly the area around the ignition key slot. Rest the paint quality is also much better than before.

Ergonomics

For a person of my height who is 5’8”, it is pretty comfortable and I can place both my feet down properly without tip toeing. It does seem to be a bit more forward biased but you get used to it pretty soon.

Fuel Efficiency

I am getting 21kmpl at the moment as per the LCD console and I have only covered 190 kms. Plan to finish the running in in the coming week. After completing 190kms, the tank is half empty.

Issues faced

Nothing major as such. The oil pressure icon lights up now and then. Got it checked the same day the bike was delivered. They updated the LCD console but the issue still remains. Nothing wrong mechanically with the motorcycle as its all fine. Will get this sorted again when I go for the first service.

Haven't faced the coolant vanishing issue till now ( touchwood ) . Still will keep a check on the same.

I shall try my best to update this thread as much as possible. Do shoot your questions if there are any and I shall be happy to answer them.

Now some pics :-

My old 390 and my apache


The old duke en-route khardung-la


My impulse


My new Duke

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

[MENTION=12237]addyrulz01[/MENTION] congrats on the new ride. Hope this time around it will be even more rewarding. Happy riding be and ride safe

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Congrats on your latest acquistion and how does the tank bag fit on the bike any difficulty.

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I upgraded to Benelli 600i, Kept it for good 2 years, and then sold it off too.


BTW, the long thread couple of posts above by Addyrulz is the same guy who I bought my new DUKE 390 with. We both went to the spiti trip together

I'll try to share Pics of my duke as well. Currently too occupied in enjoying the ride

Re: 2017 Duke 390 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Congrats on your priced acquisition...enjoy

ATGATT !!!

Cheers,
WindPacer