Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

I was thinking the same.. A spray should be good or at least some rubber pads..

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I think one of these should do.. what say??

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

I have been sitting at home for the last 6 days. I have completed the review and published it. Please, everyone have a look. Put in a lot of effort into this one!

Your comments are appreciated!
I would write more, here but I have been awake for the last 2 days to complete this video for Sunday night. I will see you guys again tomorrow!

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

any chance you could get the 200 buddy??

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Just saw the video review done by you. It helped to get a much more clear image of RC390.
Can you do the RC200 review too? It will be helpful.
One doubt. How is the visibility of images on the mirror when you are not leaning much??

Sent from my Xperia SP

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

KTM RC390 - A Track Review

In a little known village of Chettipalayam on the outskirts of Coimbatore city, situated amongst picturesque countryside and flanked by the majestic western Ghats, sits a most unexpected sight. The Kari Motor Speedway race track. A place where many a battle has been won and lost in races and championships over the years,. Where dreams have been made and broken, and where bikers from all over the country come to ride at track-days and have a good time. This place has history, and it seems fitting that after a long hiatus from riding at any serious pace, I was to return to Kari for India's first track test of the much awaited KTM RC 390.

To start with, pit boss Navneeth had his work cut out for him. To deliver a brand new RC390 to the race track for 3 days of testing. From some of the reviews at the global release at Modena italy, it looked like the faster journos were running a rear preload setting of 5 out of the 10 step adjustable unit, by the end of the day, and this seemed to work well at that smooth circuit. The RC is more front weight biased than its cousin the Duke390, and even though both share the same rear suspension, the RC has preload set at 2 out of 10 by default. I had Navneet set preload to 6 prior to leaving. I hoped this would be a good starting point with my body weight at 70kgs. The bike being new also meant that running in the engine would be required, so again pit boss had the daunting task of a restrained ride, down through the 350 odd kilometers to the track. Full marks to him. I arrived Friday morning to pleasant weather and the RC all clean and waiting for me at the race track.

In the build up months prior to the bikes launch, I had a hard time pegging down whether I would like the bike or not. Though sharing the same chassis as the Duke390, the RC's revised geometry numbers seemed very aggressive, with the RC sporting an even sharper steering angle of 66.5 degrees and consequentially a shorter wheelbase and reduced trail than the D390. This coupled with an increased ride height over the Duke of 820mm had me a bit worried. Front suspension again, though still the same unit as on the Duke, now has 25mm less travel on the RC. So, a sharper handling Duke with a higher ride height than other bikes in that segment (the Ninja 300 and R25)..and a fairing. hmmmm..I mean we all know the D390 turns on a dime, almost too quickly for a lot of people, so I couldn't really wrap my head around how this even more aggressive RC machine would handle. Would KTM get this right? With their experience and domination in moto3, I resigned to the hope that they probably would.

As I stood there track side, eyes on this admittedly stunning looking machine, my brain, in an effort to keep things simple, rationalized the chaos of my thoughts into 2 possibilities. I told myself, I'm either going to love this motorcycle or just not like it at all.

I kitted up, set cold tire pressures to 24psi rear / 22 front, switched off ABS, and headed out for the first initial laps. Having not ridden for a while, my plan was to build up pace gradually and get a feel for the bike first. With 3 days at my disposal, I had plenty of time. Reality though, turned out a bit different. The RC took all of 2 laps to warm its tires. Even on those warm up laps the front end felt very sorted and precise, while the rear tire dilly dallied about a little bit on braking into turns. I shifted my body weight as far back in the seat as I could and made a mental note to possibly re-adjust tire pressure if grip didn't improve.
One thing that stood out like a sore thumb, especially on those initial laps was the position of the handlebars. Straight away the position they put your arms in, just feels awkward. The height of the bars is fine and not overly forward committed but they are 'angled' a little too far forward, almost reminiscent of clubman / butterfly style bars we used to run on the RD350's in the old days. This doesn't allow optimal control over the bike nor allow the rider to tuck in correctly at one with the bike, moreover its downright uncomfortable and fatiguing too. This isn't correct posture, and the only fathomable reason why KTM has it that way is presumably for a better turning radius on the streets. A bit annoyed at this, I persisted onto another lap. The tires now feeling like they meant business, it was time to up the pace.
Still on my first session out, I tucked into the RC as I exited onto the home straight. Despite the discomfort with the bars, I was pleased that my 6ft body fit snuggly into a tucked posture aboard the RC, something I haven't had the luxury of on anything south of a 600cc supersport bike. Precise and well timed shifts on this quickly revving bike are rewarded with a strong flat linear wave of torque, powering the RC past 160kph down the straight with distinctly more urgency past 6000rpm. The narrow RC, is reminiscent of the Daytona 675 in this aspect and feels like it was meant to cut through the air like a blade. Gear shifts on this bike are butter smooth and almost feel a little too slick. I found myself wishing I could feel the clunk of the shift through my boots a little more, but that was just being nit picky. Brakes bite hard and remain fade free however I found I had to use 2 fingers on the lever on aggressive braking (as opposed to 1 that i'm used to), and apply a lot of pressure to achieve maximum stopping power. Tipping the bike aggressively into C1 I noted how well dialed in the 43mm WP front forks really are. Just spot on, and amazing feel for a low budget suspension like this. In fact in my opinion a rider would do well to set more expensive suspension units on bigger supersport bikes to feel as good as this. On the RC, its all ready to go with no tweaking necessary even for a rider with serious pace. This was one critical item checked on the list for me. The bike turns in quick, but progressively and predictably without scaring the rider and instead building his confidence. All the while you feel in control and the RC even allows midcorner corrections at deep lean angles without complaints, while providing good feedback and letting the rider gauge grip levels well. A huge part of this is owed to the Metzeler M5 rubber, which provide astounding levels of grip for a road tire. Tire profile also allows for some pretty extreme lean angles. Very useful at a track like Kari, allowing the rider to drop the bike to max lean very quickly, square off some of the slow tight turns like C2 and use that stonking midrange to power out. The wear pattern on the tires is a bit different from what you might expect traditionally from sport bikes. At deep lean angles, you can and will run the front tire completely to the edge while still leaving a good 1/4 inch more to go on the rear tire. This is probably due to tire profile and an oversized rear tire. It can be confusing because its normally the other way round, with more tread left on the front tire even when the rear gets to the edge on most sport bikes. However the front tire never pushed or gave any sign of loosing grip even at deep lean angles. Speaking of lean angles, this was the 4th lap and the raised foot pegs of the RC were already scraping. I was starting to smile in my helmet, this was feeling bloody good. Cracking open the throttle at max lean can feel a little intimidating to less experienced riders due to the instant response. Power fed to the wheels can also be a little rough and jerky at low rpms and increasing idle rpm for track use should help with this issue as it does with bigger sport bikes.

Through the bumpy back section of the track the RC front and rear suspension was surprisingly compliant while remaining super responsive to steering input with no nervousness. Almost like having your cake and eating it too. As opposed to the Ninja 300 I had tested at the Chennai track some time ago, the RC's demeanor is a little rough and 'vibey' by comparison. It does let you know you're going fast, but because of the way the RC handles itself, that only serves to enhance the experience and increase the fun. You start to realize that this represents the latest in new generation racing machines in this category. The bike has to be ridden with precision to get the most out of it. Choosing the right gear for a turn, a precise throttle hand and allowing the bike to carry momentum through the corner with minimal hanging off and knee scraping is how the RC should be ridden. Not a whole lot different from Moto3 riding technique. This presents a challenge that is very rewarding when you work for it and get it right. Fast lap times will not be served on a platter with the RC
While I didn't intend to compare the RC with the Ninja 300, I do think it will be quicker at Kari than the Ninja. From a riding perspective, where the Ninja does score an advantage over the RC is in corner entry. The Ninjas slipper clutch and super smooth refined engine feel allows for more aggression on corner entry and thus will likely make up some time there over the RC. That said though, the RC should have the advantage coming out of a corner. We'll need a proper shootout test to determine exactly what's what between these two, but I'd still lean on the RC coming out on top. The Kari track doesn't offer a whole lot in terms of fast sweeping corners like the Chennai track, however through the bowl section and exit onto the straight, the RC remained stable and tracked a line true, which to me suggests it will do well on the larger tracks as well.

Back in the pits, Navneet came running over as I taxied in. I'd clocked 1min 16sec flat in the first session. That was already on par with CBR 250 race bikes from Honda that run HRC kits and race rubber. The writing was on the wall for me. This was some serious motorcycle, not just a Duke with a fairing.

Over the course of the next 2 days, I made no changes to the bikes setting. Tire pressures remained the same as did rear preload, but that was primarily because we didn't have the C spanner tool required to adjust rear preload. I focused on modifying my riding style a bit to suit the RC and as the pace went up even higher, it did seem like going one step harder on rear preload may have been worth trying. Stomp grips will be a welcome addition to help the rider anchor himself to the tank better. The stoppers under the pegs were removed to facilitate additional lean as I got more comfortable with the bike and lap times dropped further. I continued to use just 1 finger on the brakes knowing full well I had another 3/4 of a sec of overall lap time to be gained there. The reason being, I wasn't too happy with my feel for the throttle with just 2 fingers on it while cracking open the gas at max lean. Something I will have to get used to, or do something to improve braking to suit my style.
That brings me to the fairing underbelly on the RC, which is another thing about the bike I didn't like. Towards the end of day 2 lap times were in the early 1:14's with the speedo nudging past 174kph down the straight. The edges of the squared off underbelly were starting to scrape the ground through several corners. Not really disconcerting to the rider, but not pretty on the bike. I don't know why KTM chose this squared off design verses a traditional V shaped underbelly that wouldn't have had any such problems, and to me would have looked better too. By this time, the pegs with their stoppers removed were still getting worn through and becoming an annoying limitation. Rear sets as those available on the ADAC cup race bikes will help squeeze more out of the RC for serious racers. Because the RC doesn't rev out very high, a reverse gear pattern ala track style will also help with mid corner upshifts. This was apparent exiting on the home straight at Kari.

By the end of the weekend the RC had clocked a best time of 1min 13.5 seconds and stood up to all the abuse just fine. I realized later that this is the fastest time a street legal sub 600cc motorcycle as ever clocked at Kari Motor Speedway. With rear sets the RC can shave a couple more seconds and then you have power parts and what not, excited yet?. The RC is a very potent, complete package for the race track, out of the box. A great tool for novice racers to build their skills on as they work up to bigger machines. In this segment, it does for the track enthusiast, what the R15 did when it came into our lives years ago.

For me personally this was a return to the joy and fun of riding a well setup motorcycle, I just might pickup one for myself. And so the sun set beautifully on another track weekend at Kari, always a pleasant sight, and good times with the team at Apex Racing. Pit boss finally got his chance at an unrestrained RC390 ride back to Bangalore which he thoroughly enjoyed despite the uncomfortable ride and freezing his privates off in the rain. Regardless of how well this bike does on the street (which I don't care about) I sit here now thinking about what this motorcycle has brought to the table for Indian racers and track enthusiasts alike, and I think we should feel lucky. From where we were a few years ago to where we are now. The times are a changing, and the future looks exciting!

Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=8274def2a7

Fastest lap onboard video

Appreciated Man



Rahul thanks for the review and all your efforts from last few days This is going to help a lot of bikers choose the beauty and get there qquestions answered.

One question from my side will the RC200 feel little lighter compared to RC390 while riding due to weight ???

Thanks for your time and video man Much Appreciated !!!!

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

I was waiting for this review for so long.
I pesonally feel this review is perfect for the average joe beacause most professional reviewers throw in some cheesy lines which may or may not be experienced in daily riding.
Anyways i appreciate your hardwork.
But I wished that u included a drag too.

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Drag coming up in Duke 390 vs RC 390

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Should be lighter by 25 kg or so. Just as the Duke 200 is lighter than the 390.

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

[MENTION=5637]Killer[/MENTION], that review was smokin joes hawt.loved it.


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Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Yes it should work great but you have to check its adhesive capability on the bikes plastic as it is a smooth surface. but if it sticks I think it will be an improvement to the bike.

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched



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Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Yes.. and it shouldn't be harsh on skin also..

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

liked the review. its imformative. one request. lose that accent. personal opinion though.:thumbup:

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Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Hi Rahul, liked your video review and sincere effort in making it.
Were the tests performed near Dankuni(NH-2)?

Re: KTM RC 200 & RC 390 Launched

Liked the review very much, cleared all my doubts.
Now please, do a similar detailed review of the RC 200 as well!