Did it revv till 11500 rpm? according to MG it will, please confirm. Thanks for the ride report.

Would love to take it on longer rides as well, provided it is comfortable to ride/sit on it for about 12 hours a day. It is comfortable - the suspension beats that of a bullet by a mile. The seat and handlebar position give you room to move your back around.

This morning, i went to the pro-biking showroom in Bangalore to see the duke in flesh. When on saddle, the first and most important observation was the foot-peg is placed way behind where i would find it to be comfortable. Not sure if that is how it should be, or is it my being used to riding posture of a bullet? Being a bullet guy, what are your thoughts on this? I agree - the torso remains upright, like a bullet but your legs are in a sporty position. The advantage is that with your legs hugging the bike, you get better control. It is different but not in a bad way.

You also mentioned lack of torque, and excess vibrations at the pegs at 100kmph. My M3.5 and C5 both vibrate like a tractor at speed in excess of 90kmph, so much that the RVM is just a blur. I always thought that single cylinder, low revving long stroke bikes with pushrods, were meant to vibrate, and high revving short stroke ones with the given suspensions and frame of the duke would hardly have any vibrations. could someone throw some light on the existing vibes in the duke?
The Duke vibes are very different from bullet. Its like they have a much higher frequency but a much lower magnitude. Compare it to repeated hammer blows for bullet versus constant buzzing for duke.

I must clarify, the vibes were ONLY in the footpegs and more pronounced in the right one. The handlebars etc. were vibe-free. I was riding a bike that had only done 10 km in its life and I was constantly near full throttle.

when at showroom today, it was like a fish market with all the crowd & noise. however, they refused to start the bike to get an idea of the exhaust note. Said, the test ride would start in about 10 days time. Did ask one of the fellas wearing a duke t-shirt about mileage, and he said around 35kmpl with sedate riding. I am still holding my money, will wait for the test ride and take a call.

You will like it Other than a street triple, I cant think of a better bike for your city riding needs.

- Not a torque monster. I did all my riding with a pillion from the showroom. Can not pull away in any gear with pillion and luggage. If you play the gears correctly, it works well. Clear loss of torque for bullet guys. No big deal for me.

Went to the MG Road, Gurgaon showroom. Surprisingly, it wore a deserted look and the sales staff was too happy to welcome me.

Took a small TD, the bike ran nice and fine but I couldnt hold 100kmph for more than a second or two. Asked for a longer TD over the highway (NH8) and they obliged. Took the bike to 131kmph. No issues, very stable and fully in control. Raced a little with a beemer which beat me by going 150+

Rode the bike at 120-130 for a while. Dont know why, but I thought that the engine is not meant to do that all day. Could just be psychological given the bike's weight and cubic capacity. Views anyone?

Did a little bit of corner carving and lane changing, the bike showed good manners. I liked the brakes. They were progressive and felt linear. The bike did not wag its tail under heavy braking. Someone who wants amazing, jerky bite maybe disappointed.

Pillion seat is small but adequate. I asked the showroom guy to drive while I sat in the pillion seat. I would need a backrest or top-box to not feel nervous given the twitchy acceleration that wants to throw you back. Or maybe I am just not experienced at sitting pillion. The seat should do fine for my wife. If you remove the seat you see slots for adding a topbox mount - good!

And yes, the big selling point for me is how light the bike feels. Very flickable and super manageable. Feels like a splendor with lots of acceleration - for me that is a good thing.

The suspension is good and quite responsive. With one hand on the pillion seat you can easily press the monoshock a couple of inches. I liked the monoshock, frame and weight so much that I had to rule out the new pulsar.

Negatives:
- Not a torque monster. I did all my riding with a pillion from the showroom. Can not pull away in any gear with pillion and luggage. If you play the gears correctly, it works well. Clear loss of torque for bullet guys. No big deal for me.
- Booking amount not completely refundable. There is a 3K deduction.
- The big one: Vibrations in the foot pegs at speeds above 90. The right foot peg vibrated enough to make me a little uncomfortable. This is coming from a bullet guy No vibes in the unweighted handlebars or anywhere else. The bike had 10kms on the odo so maybe it wasnt meant to go that fast this early and with running in this may be resolved. But this felt odd and could be a deal breaker. Any views?

I hope that this is among the first non-journo riding report of the duke

that's great.even I had doubts whether it would be able to maintain 120+ for long stretches (especially with pillion/luggage) without breaking a sweat like cbr.I took td of Cbr with pillion and reached 120+ easy and maintained that.lots of torque that engine has.

If I were ride regularly with a pillion under speeds of 100 kmph, within city limits, would you say this bike has enough torque to overtake traffic moving at sub 100 kmph speeds with a pillion? It has enough to overtake 99% of all vehicles in city at sub-130.

Did it feel practical enough for daily use with a pillion for 60 percent of the time? Pillion is not its strong point. Useful for a cozy, romantic time with your GF/wife

How was it to cut through gaps(assuming u faced some traffic) with the pillion and corner carving? Good

Thanks for sharing your experience!!

So you booking one?

Did you TD the duke? If yes, can you compare the Duke's composure at 120+ with that of CBR?



Not yet, need to evaluate it against the CBR before I take a final call.

Even i am contemplating buying the CBR but have kept it on hold till i get a ride of the KTM.

Though i havent yet test rode the KTM, i believe at speeds of 120km/hr the KTM should be well composed. But at those speeds, CBR would feel less stressed(probably) and will give better grunt when given the stick.

Even i am contemplating buying the CBR but have kept it on hold till i get a ride of the KTM.

Add me to that list too.

@jalva:- eagerly waiting for your CBR ride report.

Only if TVS had woken up by now.

I have ridden both 200 Duke and CBR250R at 130-135 kmph..

If by composure you mean:

>> How planted the bikes feel then both the CBR250R and the 200 Duke are equally composed or scary at 120 kmph.. nothing beats the Ninja 250R when it comes to high speed (130-140-150 kmph) manners.

>> By engine smoothness, the CBR250R has a (minute) slight edge over the 200 Duke

>> The CBR250R has a good mid range, decent top end

>> The 200 Duke has an awesome low and mid range (but one needs to rev the engine, after all its not a long stroke lazy engine like the Bullet), the top end feels restrained due to the short gearing (just look at the huge rear sprocket)

>> The 200 Duke a focussed street bike.. the CBR250R in my books tries to be a highway tourer but nothing like the composed Ninja 250R. Get the Duke if you are primarily looking for a Fast Street bike.

I have ridden both 200 Duke and CBR250R at 130-135 kmph..

If by composure you mean:

>> How planted the bikes feel then both the CBR250R and the 200 Duke are equally composed or scary at 120 kmph.. nothing beats the Ninja 250R when it comes to high speed (130-140-150 kmph) manners.

>> By engine smoothness, the CBR250R has a (minute) slight edge over the 200 Duke

>> The CBR250R has a good mid range, decent top end

>> The 200 Duke has an awesome low and mid range (but one needs to rev the engine, after all its not a long stroke lazy engine like the Bullet), the top end feels restrained due to the short gearing (just look at the huge rear sprocket)

>> The 200 Duke a focussed street bike.. the CBR250R in my books tries to be a highway tourer but nothing like the composed Ninja 250R. Get the Duke if you are primarily looking for a Fast Street bike.

Sir, the CBR as been reviewed way too extensively for me to add anything. But CBR vs. Duke comparisons are highly valid. Even most of the graphs shared by Bajaj during the initial launch compared the bike to CBR.

I have ridden both 200 Duke and CBR250R at 130-135 kmph..

If by composure you mean:

>> How planted the bikes feel then both the CBR250R and the 200 Duke are equally composed or scary at 120 kmph.. nothing beats the Ninja 250R when it comes to high speed (130-140-150 kmph) manners.

>> By engine smoothness, the CBR250R has a (minute) slight edge over the 200 Duke

>> The CBR250R has a good mid range, decent top end

>> The 200 Duke has an awesome low and mid range (but one needs to rev the engine, after all its not a long stroke lazy engine like the Bullet), the top end feels restrained due to the short gearing (just look at the huge rear sprocket)

>> The 200 Duke a focussed street bike.. the CBR250R in my books tries to be a highway tourer but nothing like the composed Ninja 250R. Get the Duke if you are primarily looking for a Fast Street bike.