hello everyone,

this is my formal introduction to all the bikers on xBHP.

my name is gurunandan kashyap from bangalore. my first bike was Bajaj Boxer CT Deluxe 2002 model, this bike was/is strictly for commuting purpose. In year 2006 i was looking for an upgrade and short listed yamaha gladiator and ended up buying a royal enfield thunderbird (long and stupid story) . the best and the longest ride on the thunderbird was bangalore-ranthambore-bangalore in 2009, had to part with my bird in 2010 , i really miss my bird. since i had gotten used to a RE bike (maintenance, fuel economy and the ride itself), i decided that my next bike will also be from the RE stable, booked a cl 500 in July 2011 and got the delivery in Dec. 2011. I use the cl 500 for both commuting and highway riding. I have clocked abt 18k kms on this bike.


now to the question and help that i need from all you bikers:

Last evening KTM was at my work place showcasing their Duke 200, i took a test drive and liked the bike. now my heart says go buy the duke but my head is asking to think about the cl 500. i understand there is no comparison between cl 500 and duke 200 - one is a cruiser and the other is a naked street fighter. if i go with what my heart says, i will have to part with the cl 500. my commuting is about 60kms a day and about 1k kms of highway riding in a month (approx. of 2.3k kms of riding in a month). i am not overly concerned about the fuel economy of the duke 200, since the cl 500 is giving me similar fuel efficiency margins as what KTM has claimed - about 30kms/ltr.

now i need help from all the experts here to make the accurate decision. should i live with cl 500 (maintenance, vibes etc etc) or go with the duke 200. i still love my cl 500 but i am drooling over the duke 200 . i don't consider this to be a downgrade since both the bikes i am referring to come different genres.

Thank you for taking the time out to read my intro and please respond to my query!!

Ride Hard, Ride Safe!!

Cheers,
Guru