Yes, I totalled my 4 months old Duke 390 on my 2nd big roadtrip in Rajasthan, Jaipur. Was riding in 2nd lane at 130kmph when an underage boy riding a bike cut the lane. To avoid crashing I braked harder while the boy when saw me accelerated like an idiot and banged my ABS wobbling duke 390 out of control making a flip throwing me like a crash dummy. He ran away. Fortunately. And I'm glad, that he must've reached his home safely. For me my safety gears saved me from major injuries. LS2 jacket with shoulder elbow and spine guard. Cramster hand gloves and knee guard. Only got ankle sprains due to the leather shoes that got torn off. And bike totally wrecked. Thankfully I have zero depreciation insurance so I'll be covered with majority expenses.

Had a 1982 Royal Enfield before and a Yamaha Fazer. Did many tours on both old motorcycles. Decided to get modern tourer so got the KTM duke. Did 8000kms in 4 months. Had an amazing time over those 8000kms. Fell in love with the bike. And now after this accident I am questioning the build quality and sturdiness of KTMs. I understand KTMs are lighter bikes with powerful engines. And I love that, and really make for an ideal cruisers too with some mods here and there. The chassis aren't that tough for a cruiser though. My Duke bent from centre, rims broken, all most all plastic broken into pieces, disks bent, and lots of other little stuff broken.

i am on mission to travel every state of India on a bike photographing and documenting my experience. Hence I shortlisted duke 390 over Harley or Kawasaki, as I can get service stations easily.

im yet to do Ladakh, Sikkim, southern India and Off-roading around Sahyadris, Bhutan and Nepal. And a lot more places. i was going to install the aftermarket engine guard on my Duke and Dirtsack Llama Metal storage. Raised handles and a nice windshield. I'm yet to hear from the insurance company if they declare the bike total loss. It is about 75% wrecked. On a total loss I'll get a 1.7L value from insurance of my wrecked duke.

Now the big question. what should I get next?

Himalayan. Kawasaki Versys. Duke 390 with mods. Triumph Tiger might cross my budget.
Since I'm going travel a lot, I'm considering not to spend lots of money on motorcycle and then crib over not having enough money to travel back to back.. Lol.

Himalayan- I love what RE is doing here. Read a lot of articles. 10000km service interval is just great. Power is good enough too. Bigger fuel tank and better mileage. Yeah I will consider mileage as I am doing 1000s of kms. Price I'm guessing could be 2L. And the best part is the touring accessories for Himalayan are just fantastic.

kawasaki versys- I like handling and height. Extremely comfortable. 27L tank is just amazing. it's a 650 so no need to discuss about power. Mileage is said to same as Duke 390. 18-20kmpl. And it's almost in my budget. But when I buy all the touring accessories, I'm sure the whole bike as a package will costs me closer to 8.5L . So in this case it's closer to fall out of budget.

Duke 390- I already love the bike. I mean if it wasn't for this accident I'd be in Rajasthan sleeping at a desert by campfire.

guys let me know what you think. Is there any other bike that I am not considering? I am open all possibilities.

SOLVED: It is Duke 390 2016!!


Why the Duke 390 Again?
I realised that once you taste the blood its really difficult to go back . . So here is why it took me 3 months into taking this decision. I knew RE Himalayan was coming out around March, So I decided to wait and take a test ride of the bike. And I did. Right on March 16 when Himalayan was launched and available to test ride, I went to the Bandra RE Showroom. As much as the bike looks to be a bit of a misfit and out of place for a RE stable, it looked equally beautiful, tough and huge in person. I have owned a 1982 RE standard for 8 years and after riding the 44bhp Duke for 8k kms in 4months, I wasn't expecting the new Enfield to blow me away. But when I sat on the bike the first thing I noticed was the comfort. Himalayan is all about that super comfortable ride quality. The seats, raised handle bars and foot pegs everything is designed with really great attention. Now it was time to test that 410cc LS Engine. Well, I wasn't blown away, but definitely felt a huge change from a typical RE riding experience. Power is decent, no vibrations and the suspensions were phenomenal.

Honestly, I enjoyed sitting on the bike more then riding it. Spoke to the dealer about delivery and he said I can get the bike by May end if I booked on that same day. I didn't book it because , I was missing that adrenaline feeling that I was used to from my KTM 390. Since I tour a lot, I also considered the economical aspects. Himalayan was 1.89L vs Duke 390 2.26L , fuel Himalayan 30kmpl vs DUKE 390 22kmpl . Service Himalayan 10K kms Duke 390 7.5k kms. Then comes the luggage part. Himalayan offered fittings for aluminium panniers and lots of accesories vs Duke after market stuff. Practically, Himalayan checked all boxes for a tourer and adventurer. So the next day I booked it. Yes. I did. But now the delivery was by June. So the patiently waiting game starts.

Fast forward 3 months later, its June, I visited the RE showroom to check on delivery status. Seems its end of June or maybe July. I was like hell no. But can't help it. I started to consider other bikes, like Benelli TNT 300 and Ninja 300. I went to Benelli showroom in Andheri to get info on bikes and to my surprise there was no staff. Just a reception manager and security guard who by the way tells me about the bikes on display at the showroom. With literally no service stations and a just one showroom that is in Thane, Benelli is now out of question.

I visited the KTM/Kawasaki showroom in Andheri Ahuja Motors from where I purchased my DUKE 390. The dealer was kind enough and took me on a little ride on his Ninja 300 and also offered to ride the bike. I was actually extremely impressed by Kawasaki's built quality. The engine was buttery smooth and and the ride quality was just superb. If I was carrying money that day, I had booked the bike right away. I am glad I didn't I took some time to analyse few things. what was I getting for those additional 2L. Ninja 300 is 4.18L vs Duke 390 2.26L .

Since I was already in love my old KTM DUKE 390, I decided to invest those additional 2L on more tours - Long story short!

Btw I still have the Himalayan booking. And will get the bike in coming 2 weeks. If anyone interested, I can transfer the booking. so no need to wait for months.