thanks mohit..
can wait to get my hands on her

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. And when I heard the news that its coming to india , I looked at my pulsar with a feeling… a feeling that could be best explained when you are holding hands with your wife and walking and you see a hot lady passing by. After that I went to my pulsar and said “don’t worry you will be my sweetheart always”. Later the bike got launched and one day I was riding through the then probiking showroom in Bangalore , I saw THE sexy naked orange lady standing there and staring into my eyes and calling me towards her. It was 6 in the morning, I stopped my bike and went near the glass and was literally drooling
like the way small kids do on icecream stores. I stood there and looked at every detail of the bike. And turned around walked to my pulsar with the decision to get a divorce notice for me and my pulsar . The next day I rushed into the showroom took the keys and test rode the bike. Considering mine was already a 200cc bike , I expected the duke to perform somewhere close to my pulsar itself. But boy oh boy.. The moment I twisted the throttle the bike propelled like a rocket. In just 5 seconds I decided , I am ready for my second marriage.
I then went to the same showroom about 4 times to test ride the very same bike. I was that much crazy about the bike,. Dreaming about the duke, changed my phone and laptop wallpaper to duke's pictures , I was literally crazy in every sense. Now thanks to god I finally got ready to buy my duke. And now its been 9 months and 13000 kms with my duke . And I enjoyed each and every minute I spent with her. I loved the handling and the rocket like acceleration and was proud of the fact that I am a KTM duke owner. And I became a big follower of KTMs. But later the big news came.. KTM 390 duke is coming !!!! First when I read the specs of the bike I was in utter shock ! 44 bhp out of the same bike !! that’s is insane !!!
Filled with curiosity I was there for the official Bangalore launch of the bike , and to be frank I was disappointed. It looked like a white 200 duke with its rims and frame orange painted. But everyone there told its not the dress, its what that inside that matters for the duke 390 ! Now badly wanting to test ride the bike and know what it feels like I rushed to all showrooms in Bangalore to ride the bike. But sadly it was unavailable . Only display bikes were there. And then I happened to know that the KTM showroom in Trivandrum (which is my hometown) is giving test ride for the 390. Packed my bags on the weekend and reached Trivandrum . Went to the showroom and grabbed the keys of the bike. Usually he sends a staff as pillion, thanks to the showroom manager , he trusted me and told to go alone .. Just me and the 390 !!
And this is how things went..
and those wires belong to the abs system employed in the bike . You even notice the paint quality on the handguards are not good enough and feel like a less quality one, The decals look cheap and the engine looks so plain, I mean the 200’s engine looked better with the engraving on it and had a better finish, touch the 390’s engine and you feel it doesn’t have the quality you expect from KTM. But the showroom people say these issues are there only in the first lot of display and test bikes. When the production ones come all these will be rectified. Overall the changes are minor , park it next to a 200 duke and you wont feel much of a difference.
the bike is a powerhouse . If you don’t roll off the bike properly in the first gear , you will surely pop up a wheelie. That much is the torque. A small twist in the throttle the bike propels like crazy. And if you don’t have enough throttle control the bike will surely bite back. You need to hold on to the handle bars tightly or else you might fly away from the bike. And make sure you keep your neck strong . The torque pulls your neck back and if you are wearing a heavier helmet , after few days you will run to the store to get a neck brace ! That much is the pulling power the bike has. You go to overtake one vehicle , by the time you have already overtook 3 vehicles . There is a sudden surge of power after 4500 rpm which makes you piss in you pants. And the handling has also improved significantly, throw the bike into a corner and the bike just takes you like superman rescues you in the sky. The Metzeller tyres provide immense grip that you try to dip the bike as much as you can , it stays planted on the road. I found the front end of the 390 is a bit heavier than the 200. That means turning the bike suddenly takes a bit of an effort on your arms. The 200 was more light to turn around . Another thing I noticed was the engine was getting heated up very much than the 200. U can feel the hot air gushing into your legs. Which will be a very big let down in city driving. Eventhough the 390 comes with a slightly bigger radiator than the 200, the heat dissipation was not good enough.


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