more of this should happen so that the yamaha guys can move their asses and bringsomething new not just paintjobs .

with fz and fazer not giving value[except poser value] to the customers,r15 being praised but not bought due to its less practicality by common mass and with no presence of big player like 250 cc its time for yamaha to rethink their strategies and bring something vfm[like they did with sz-r].

Also, AFAIR, the CBR 150R will be priced slightly MORE than the R15 i.e. even closer to the Dook

Hope not, freedom of speech is nice!

Anyway back to topic, the Duke is nice, good price and represents good VFM, I think it's a good thing that we now have choice, 4 years ago what was the choice in this segment? Now we have the R15 V2, CBR 250R (and soon the 150), the Duke 200 and soon the new generations of Pulsars, each bike has it's own merits and demerits. I'm not sure why so many are cribbing about the R15 and the CBR, they're both great bikes with their own niche, as is the Duke again a different niche. Remember the CBR is priced very cheaply in India, compared with the US or UK, the R15 is considerably cheaper than the R125 as is the Duke 200 in comparison to the Duke 125, so with these facts in hand, you have 3 pretty decent and different bikes at relatively low prices.

You pays your money you makes your choice!

Wait what? The R15 v2.0 is just a new paintjob? :P

Anyway On topic:
I have been following the Duke 125 page on FB where customers who have been reporting of problems were all told by their respective KTM mechs that it is their fault that they rode the bike in wet conditions.

So is that the same thing for this Duke? Is it not an all weather bike or what?

I find it really funny that people with this kind of mindset are on our forum!! all bikes with Honda badge doesn't use space age tech, trust me on that. Most people do majority of riding within city, till now they didn't have a credible naked bike option above 1 lakh. With Duke 200 in the picture, it's destined to garner those sales. Whether you like it or not, two vehicles priced similarly will be compared, period.

_Z0KTM Duke 200 walkaround - OVERDRIVE - YouTube

The walkaround by OD and a chat with Stefan Pierer, CEO KTM.

LOL... never heard this concept before...."all weather bike".... so is KTM a "Dry Weather Bike" .....

jokes apart, i never followed the duke 125 page on FB. and if its true, its not good. but you know some mechanics here in india also give such stupid replies.

but it is also a fact that if water enters my pulsar's CDI wiring socket (during intense wash) it won't start or run properly untill the socket is cleared of water. so placing electrical parts at location exposed to weather may have problems, typically in a naked bike. similarly GT650R also have some electrical part which looks like an RR, visible from fairing. (poor placement, i must say)


OT: can someone explain to me, what is a "normal buyer" and "normal biker".... am i ... or rather ...are we the "abnormal ones"

About the 125 folks cribbing on FB -- It is not that a whole bunch of folks are cribbing about it. Very few from among 2.25k people on the page. And most of the issues were resolved at service.

At least from what I know - the known problems (in 125) should not occur in the 200.

I want a value for money bike in 3 lak Rs range. A 400 CC 40-50 bhp made in India single cy bike would be perfect. Emi would also hover in range of 5k. That will be true upgrade to my r15. I want it to be in cbr (CBR 400f) or impulse (BMW 1200gs mini or yamaha super tenere 400 would be ideal) so that I can take them to long rides.

As far as market is concerned ktm will appeal to enthusiasts a lot. Mass market is college goers or commuters who buy these high tech bikes at 20-30 k more with better style and refinement with same fuel efficieny as standard 150-200 CC bike. Let's see if it can dent R15 ver 2 market as it excels in looks and fuel efficiency. As for price I will gladly pay 1.3 lac ex showroom for this bike if I need it.

Majority of my friends see this as dirt bike and most of them have heard ktm name first time though am doing my best to educate them.

Lol. I'm not exactly a Yamaha guy but I think I'm the only one here who thinks R15 is a VFM. Please don't kill me for this. I agree fz is not VFM.
I was right about speculating the price of ktm. I don't why some guys were exaggeration it before. Lets hope this price will stay for long. This bike is made for purely fun. Those who are thinking about low millage, well this bike isn't meant for that.

Completely agree.

Mercs and BMWs enjoy higher rankings in most unreliable cars list. They are very high tech but don't confuse that with reliability. Some say they are overdone. Sorry for OT.

People are facing problem in sub zero temp rainy conditions. Here in most part of the India temp doesn't fall that low. Apart from that like P220, sensors are malfunctioning sometime. I've seen pulsars taking heavy beating from cloudbursts like rain for days, but they never broke. I think pulsars would be more reliable than KTMs. You see the kind of info it shows on the ktm's console. It's all good till it's showing correct info. The day it starts showing weird info you start to think it's overdone.
I'm damn sure that the ktm's gearbox is designed by Bajaj alone. . People are struggling to find neutral.
KTM is VFM too for what it offers. This bike likes to do wheelie at every signal. Who wouldn't want such bike.

ROFL. I've learned few things from my attempts. Use heavy English and idioms. Use unique username which is not associated with any other website. And in reason section write something like 'I want to post ownership experience of R8' or something like 'An owner's take on Lamborghini Supperlegga' . Your chances will increase.
Sorry for a little OT.
I love xbhp BTW.

rony sir where is the showroom exactly ?? i really want to go and see this beast . i knw the one prbiking showroom is in vashi bt that way too far for me to travel because i stay in lokhanwala andheri !!

I sold my 2010 model P220 last year as wanted something bigger , wanted the GT650R but somewhere in my mind i was not satisfied with it's build quality,vibrations issue etc.
Then came news of 2012 Ninja 650R so i thought to wait to have a look at it.
-Now when Daytona 675 is almost finalized, My heart bend towards DUKE 200 as my 2004 model Pulsar 180 Dtsi has lost it grunt and also it doesn't excites me to ride it.
-I have been mostly using Car since last 2 years , So before daytona Duke will keep me excited to ride a bike.

Dreaming Daytona , Now dreaming DUKE .

^^By the time you get bored with Duke 200, Super Duke will be here, so who knows, you might just skip Daytona

For all those who have seen the bike in flesh, would you be able to tell me if the bike is too high for a 5"5' guy? Also, compared to R15, how high is it? Thank you