Well I think the 390's pricing has been a bit unfair to d200 owners, I guess most of them would have gone for the 390 if both bikes would have been launched together so it's very obvious for them to get a bit disappointed..

And the new lot of 390 owners will feel the same when the RC 390 launches and so on.

Well I think the 390's pricing has been a bit unfair to d200 owners, I guess most of them would have gone for the 390 if both bikes would have been launched together so it's very obvious for them to get a bit disappointed..

No one is cribbing how 200 is better than 390. People are expressing their view point just as you expressed. Also, perception matters.

Jus rode the 390 and tell u what its perfect for city riding no hiccups watsover in bumper to bumper traffic..... easily beats D200 ... cant wait to get my hands on 390.... wonder y people are cribbing abt how the 200 is better than 390 ....

Pasting a section of a review that I read which very much talks about low bottom end that some of us observed and is bang on.

"Clutch feel was not as smooth as a D200′s & its heavy & requires a harder pull to disengage and tires you in a stop-go traffic. Slot into first and the first gear was selected with an assuring “thud”. D390 is geared taller and that along with an unimpressive low end will require the rider to slip the clutch to get going from a stand still. Till about 5000 rpm, its unimpressive for a machine that produces a peak power of 43hp and 35 nm of peak torque. By this time it was apparent that most of the power of the D390 is at the higher revs. If you short shift at around 4-5k rpm you will feel the vibey nature of a big single when under load"

KTM Duke 390 Review | throttlers.net - Part 2

Bro you need to ride this bike a little more to see how it behaves. I spent a lot of time with it and rode it on some of the best Delhi roads. The power delievery is perfect for daily use. A more agressive bike would only result in the front popping wheelies everywhere. Take a 390 to a nice road with less traffic and keep it above 5k revs in every gear and you are gonna enjoy a LOT. It just keeps on pulling and never feels like its working hard. On nice twisty roads and i am sure it will give any 600 a run for its money.

You can always install a custom rear sprocket. How about a 52teeth sprocket? Thats gonna make it wheelie everywhere .

BTW love ur userid bro, Doga is my all time fav comic character .

I had the opportunity to ride the 390 40 kms on a ghat section around pune. yes, engine heating maybe an issue in the city,however, the ghats/highways seems manageable.
hopefully i should get the bike within the next few days. I'll keep the group updated.

I was thinking yesterday night about the 390 power delivery and it's apparent departure from the 200. The 200 gearing is extremely short and it originally sported a 43 T sprocket at the rear, which was later changed to 42. This translated to awesome pickup from standstill and a sense of victory on most traffic lights .
The 390 has taller gears, picks up well from standstill but relatively poorly if one considers the fact that it's the same chassis as the 200 with twice the power. "Relatively" is the operating word here. One should think what would have happened if the KTM guys would have opted for the same maniac character of the 200. The jolt(launching from zero in first gear) one gets on the 200 would have doubled on the 390 then, resulting in probably the rider loosing grip of the handlebars.
Then it struck me. In light of the upcoming RC 390, I think, the same gearbox of the 390 would be used with only minor tweaks in mapping for increasing the top speed probably.
Makes sense, you essentially manufacture the same bike with a fairing and new handlebars(clip ons) with even the gearbox remaining the same.
I don't really find another reason for the relatively laid back character of the 390, given the fact that dukes are known for keeping the rider busy. If there was not a possibility of using the same setup for the RC 390, the designers would have opted for the Duke series USP, namely maximum fun possible in lower and mid range and not much regard for the higher rpms and top end. Make no mistake, the engines are all hig revving, but they don't wait for the higher revs to make the rider grin.