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Brother if you want raw power go for duke as it offers you higher torque and bhp than 200NS. so you will be quite happy to ride it.. But remember one thing ...as far i know duke is serviced only in pro biking ...and pulsar NS can be serviced at all bajaj service station...I am not quite sure about this.... i need to clarify the above remark i guess...but before you buy plz take a little note of this issue...

Hi rohan,
I am a duke owner and i just wanted to tell you that my bike has no issues.see the thing is if 10 bikes are sold, there would be hardly 2-3 ppl who post online about it.and 90 percent chance is that 1-2 are having issues and other 1 is just posting ownership report.The other 7 people are riding their bike normally.Yes, issues are there in first lot-takecase of cbr.but they take care of it in consequent batches.and bajaj had to launch their flagship pulsar for which they had given bikes to normal riders to report issues and iron them out.now ktm 200 is a design trademark so i beleive bajaj made what ktm ordered, tested it and sold it.this same bike goes in europe, malaysia and many other developed countries.so the scope for design change is limited.but pulsar200ns, developed in co-ordination of ktm could accomodate design changes as it was an all new product.takecase of ktms coolant filler cap.its exposed in duke coz thats the way ktm 125 is and 200 is ditto 125.now bajaj knew this could be an issue and sweetspot for miscreants in india so they cleverly hide it.
Go for duke if you want insane i repeat ""INSANE"" acceleration.remember this bike is going to stay with you for 3-4 years so make a wise decision.it should not happen that you are riding pulsar and some guy on duke overtakes you and you think in ur mind yaar if only i had gone for this bike.
One more thing i would like to add is u get exclusivity factor with duke.pulsar is just a pulsar and it will become common too soon no matter what.but duke is lifestyle product.i have already gone on 2 rides with ktm buddies in mumbai and bangalore/hyderabadfolks are also going.ktm is also planning to organise official rides.same cant be said about pulsar.
And yes ktm holds meets every month in their showroom for the customers.
In the end its you money go for what ur heart says.dont listen to the mind this time.
my call- my dad only bought me this bike and everytime i ride it it brings smile on my face.i beleive thats most important.And mileage really depends on ur riding.drive a duke sanely and it will deliver upwards 40.

Rohan, you are still confused, i've been following P200NS & Duke 200 threads. Boy, you are taking too many U turns

Both are excellent VFM products, yes both are. Unfortunately Bajaj made even the Duke 200 a VFM product (not really unfortunate for us though) i.e. if you consider the level of equipment on offer, Duke 200 isn't really demanding a premium from you. But i'm sure by this time you know what Duke 200 stands for & what P200NS stands for. I'm sure you read everything that's there on these bikes in Xbhp. So, go for a test ride of the bikes, if P200NS is not available for test ride, wait till it arrives. The moment you ride these bikes, you will be clear on which one you want. Going by your expectations, Duke 200 should be it for you. By the way, so sweet of your Dad, that he recommended you to cancel P200NS booking & go for Duke 200, certainly he knows a thing or two about you! (after all he saw you grow up).

i took the duke for a test ride and went .. i thought its the best bike in india within 2 lakhs .. test ride doesnt reveal so many other things which will be faced later after owning it .. my dad has owned rx100 and rd350 in the past so he instantly told me to go for duke after he saw it and heard its engine .. i find the duke to be a better vfm than ns .. i have read every single post on both duke and ns ownership thread .. one thing u will observe is that there are only problems associated every post of duke thread but there is not a single problem reported in ns thread till date .. i need to buy on 20th so getting tensed day by day .. i am bikeless now as i sold my fz last month ..
the main issue that is bothering me is dukers saying that the engine loses its performance drastically when it gets heated up and it labours to pull even with increased throttle inputs.. . this indirectly means that the engine is operating under lot of heat stress and will affect its life ..i had never heard of something like this on any indian bike ..

@ynike99 -- i absolutely love the duke for what it is but its just that i get tensed after reading the ownership reviews .. almost everybody who owns duke is having some or the other problem .. the only reason for me to sell my fz was because it had developed hard downshifts .. i tried to get it rectified by the svc but they were not able to do it ... i get tensed and dissapointed with the slightest of problems...

Someone (duke owner) please elaborate this part. I am also confused between NS and Duke. I can live with small issues but this is the only thing which i can't tolerate. What is the purpose of buying a powerful bike if it is under performing due to overheating.

Heard something about overheating on the KTM duke as well from my friend. World bikes in my opinion need to be properly tested in India, especially for engine heat and regulation, Wheels, Tyres and Suspensions. I really hope KTM did that before the launch otherwise that testing is underway among people who've paid valuable money for the tested product.

But..

I've also heard many nice things about this bike. I can understand your confusion mate. In terms of testing, repair ability, ease of service and parts its the P200ns. In terms of pure adrenalin, acceleration etc then its the Duke.

Keep in mind that Pulsar though very common nowadays has proven itself through so many rides and adverse Indian conditions.

Tough decision mate, all the best.

Cheers.

I have been writing this almost all the times in the last few months and here I am again. Our market is a perception based market and hearsay gathers momentum without any substance and effort.

I myself own a Duke and have been punishing it on the road for a good 2K kilometers post running in. My experience says that the Duke behaves the same at all temperatures. I have not experienced any coolant issues or bike stalling issues or fuel economy issues or performance issues. What I have been enjoying is the incredible acceleration, the head turning looks and that awesome handling...not to mention the premium service and preference at the service station.

One more for the road...my cousin from Nashik, who also participates in the national mx and rallies has a Duke too. He has been gunning his Duke without running in since the first minute of delivery. He has logged close to 5.8K kilometers and has used it during his practice on rally as well as mx stages. Not a single issue and the bike still runs like a bullet.

I can write many such instances and you may verify...the statement that the Duke heats up and loses performance is the biggest bullcrap that I have ever heard of...

+1

@Rohan200ns, Newrider88, Vykier

Whenever you hear any such absurd things, just think at least once 'how' such a thing can possibly happen. Especially considering the fact that these bikes are tested at least for a couple of lakh km *before* launch. Just because the bike makes equal horsepower to a bike which is 25% more in engine capacity doesn't mean that the engine will overheat and blow up and explode some day. Were similar doubts raised when R15 was launched too? If they were, did all R15s blew up? Or did they overheat? Because at the time of R15 launch, 17bhp came from a 180cc Indian and a 223 cc Japanese engine. Similarly in the case of Duke, at the time of launch, the only engine that made 25bhp was a Japanese 250cc.

KTM is a company whose bikes have won the Paris - Dakar rally for the last 11 consecutive years. KTMs wouldn't win anything had their engines lost performance when they heated up. Even then, we still have the audacity to question the genuineness of something they make. If this is not racing pedigree and absolute dominance, I am not sure what is .

Just FYI: Dakar Rally winners since 2001


Source: Dakar Rally - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rohan, got just one more thing to add to the perception bias. Generally, you tend to see what you want to see! historically when people buy new cars/bikes, it's more likely they will stay calm if everything is going well i.e. they will not voluntarily recommend a product even if it's good, until someone asks them. But at the same time, people are more than likely to ask you not to consider a brand/product even if they face smallest of the problems and that is even if you don't ask them for such advice. With that in mind & strictly going by your requirements, Duke 200 should be the bike for you.

Nice dilemma you're in. Many people would be seeing both the bikes are the best two machines today. I would say buy according to your own choice (not necessarily your dad's choice (sry if I sound rude)) so that you don't repent baad me. Listen to your heart but not shut your mind totally. Make a wise decision. If I were in your place I would go for P200NS because I find it much more appealing than the Duke anyday. Every1 has their own reasoning and choices. Test drive both bikes. If you like Duke more than go for Duke. Duke is a gem of a bike. Forget the issues. Even P200NS can have issues. Enjoy the thrilling acceleration.

Allow me to make it easy for you.*Evil Grin*

@everybody --- was all happy and dancing around that i will soon b a duker until the time i read the whole duke ownership thread .. i will go through it again and find the posts where people are telling that the engine has lost performance due to heat and it requires more throttle to move .. gears become hard after engine gets heated .. engine shuts itself off in traffic .. console not working properly .. bike not starting every few days etc etc .. i will find these posts of owners and provide the link here .. i think i read it just after 150pages ...
now u people tell me how do i convince myself after reading such things from owners ..
my heart says duke but my mind says " go with ns and stay on safer side " ...

Link please.