Hi all,

@Ankit: Congrats on your new bike dude.

I am 5'8'' tall and 65 Kgs. I am looking for a Sports bike and have ideas of touring in some while. Ater reading a lot of reviews i have narrowed down my choices to Duke 200 and the CBR250r STD version. I have test ridden a Duke 200 but not the CBR since none of the showrooms in chennai grant me a test ride for CBR. I have liked the Duke very much. But i need to know if it can be used as a tourer too. I read our xbhpians touring reviews with Duke 200. I am really interested in knowing if i could readily choose the Duke over CBR ? I also felt that the Honda was a bit too heavier for me.

Please help me.
Thanks in advance.

^ Both bikes are great on their own. No questions about CBR250's touring capabilities. Duke on the other hand with its upright seating position should not be an issue either. Wind blast on Duke won't bother much considering that on Indian roads/highways one would not contantly drive at very high speeds.

But don't expect a ride as plush as the Honda due to stiffer suspension. Best thing is to take a TR for both and decide for yourself :-)

Thanks a lot. Will take the TRs for both. As for now i am planning to go with the duke. Will let know once ive got it.

hi Calculus...

yes Duke can very much be used for Touring, rest is all a myth.

1st. You won't be touring it at 150kmph, so wind blast won't bother you at all.
2nd. At all other speeds below 139(duke's top end), you would be using a helmet, definitely, so wind blasts won't be a problem.

"Wind blasts botheration" is just a hype, I have never felt it, I have recently done a tour to Alibaug. Others have done touring too.

Infact Duke is the best bike to go touring, it is light, very responsive, fun to use and keeps you unstrained for longer durations.

The only problem that you can encounter is that you might have to get used to lots of heat getting generated from the engine beneath, that too will be fine after 1st service is done, i suppose.


Go for Duke,..

Thanks a lot Ankit. Surely i am going for it. I will get it most probably by the end of this month, and have already a lot of tour plans

any bike can doa touring,but not necessary it's a tourer bike. Same case is with Duke. Duke is good but when you ride it for long kms it's not that comfortable as compare to CBR.
I can bet while touring any rider takes it's machine to limit, so as Duke does easy 140-145kmph, so people will put it to close to 140-145kmph many times, and fairing does matters a lot while highspeeds. Where CBR wons again.
Dukes stability comes into question post 125kmph+ anytime. We can see a good difference between CBR and Duke over these speeds. CBR fairly does stable high speeds 140kmph+
Wind blast does effects naked bikes more then fared bike!! But yes if you are under 120kmph which duke or any 200cc does easily like a cake, doesn't matters at all. Touring is really on the passion of the rider, Some one did a Ladhak over a platina.
Still thinking how come Duke is more better than CBR , in terms of comfort and touring. Rill now all said CBR is much better or touring and comfort over Duke any time.

Light weight only helps in city to handle not for highway rides. CBR is more stable on high speeds due to it's weight and fairing.
This is to all naked bikes with short gear ratio.

in fact the biggest plus point of Duke was, it has amazing handling over CBR in city or on corners with good braking response. and instant pick up.

Bro, Thanks for dissecting the argument,

well, Duke 390 shares almost all of its equipment with Duke 200, suspension, shassis, tyres... and more.
Duke 390 goes upto the top speed of 170kmph.

Had Duke 200 been so bad for high speed cruising, Then Duke 390 would not have been made by sharing of Duke 200's components.


Bro, CBR is a nice bike, I am not against it. and I myself love full-fairing bikes, I owned R15 before owning a Duke and I still love R15.

But I am just saying that Duke is too much of a package for a bike to be offered to us Indians where Japanese companies are miserly giving their technology to us...

True Friend for the bold!
Every riders take their bikes to capability, so does every duke owner too. touring or not is somthing a person decides. Being a R15 owner i suggest R15 only for highways and touring(distance depends on rider).

I will vote Duke anytime over R15 any given day for all purpose, but i will deny Duke's /NS200 stability at 130+kmph - 150kmph approx.

even r15, sticks like leech at speeds close to 130...
i often think i should get a R15 and fit the engine of Duke on it.. :P

Man,if I could do that there would be some interesting results.