[Starscream1188]

Hello fellow dukers!
After a very short ride today I noticed coolant spill on the fairing, dripping down on the sides of the radiator, I tried tracing back to where it has actually come from, I see a coolant overspill pipe right next to the coolant filler cap! The coolant seems to have come out from the overspill which is suspended right on top.

First service on Tuesday will have to ask the service guys. One more thing that I have noticed a noise from the front when ridden on slightly rough roads, not able to pinpoint where exactly it is coming from can be something loose inside the Headlamp assembly! Anybody from the forum who have noticed something similar?? Close to 850km on the ODO, waiting to unravel the beast soon.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Dragonheart22

Hi Doc (ebonho), I have a query for you. I am planning to take in my Duke for the first service tomorrow.
Primarily looking at Coolant Consumption Issue, and want to fill in Motul Oil instead of the 'BAJAJ oil'. From your experience, do the Service Centre guys let you fill in oil bought in from the market?
I have read in the earlier posts by you, that you too were contending on putting in oil of your own choice but then stuck to Bajaj Oil. Could you please elaborate the reason for the same?

The guys at the Goa service center were most helpful. They were willing to put in any oil of the specified grade - whether I got it from outside for them, or they offered to get it for me as well.

In fact they showed me the Motul 7100 first, but we took the conscious decision of delaying the synthetic till the 5000 km service - giving the engine time to bed in completely on mineral oil first.

A lot of guys on the other hand have gone the SS or FS route at the 1000 km service as well, seeing as these modern motors are generally fully bedded in by 1000 kms (some say even within the first 200 miles, the rings sealing within the first 50). Your choice!

[BANDHAV]

Doc, I have request for you.

Can you post an image of you sitting/riding your duke, In case you have already posted one please direct me to the same. I intend to see how a well built (read big) guy looks like on duke.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

^^ The oil they use for Duke is called as "Bajaj DTSi oil" its a Semi synth oil.

Yup, its called Bajaj DTSI 10000 oil. I guess the 10000 refers to the max non-degraded change interval possible (regardless of what the service recommendation of your bike actually is).

Originally Posted by Shubz

Doc - Is there a shortage of Oil filters even out there?

No idea in Pune bro. A month ago in Goa, they were well stocked. Most KTM centers have been dispatched with "starter kits" containing regularly used consumables - the oil filter is the only thing changed in the first service so I guess that would be first.

I was going through the owner's manual and was surprised at the pretty short recommended change intervals for consumables like both brake oils, spark plug, and air filter.

They recommend changing the filter every 5000 kms (no idea about the cost).

Also, did you happen to read the replace interval for the entire sprocket chain kit?!!!!

Originally Posted by NikhilB

By 'Radiator Guard', do you mean on the sides of the grill in front (to protect the fins)?

Yup, the mesh screen (aluminum) mounted in front of your radiator (see photo in a post by me above). However, you will have to remove the plastic guard provided by the company to fit this I guess.

Originally Posted by Starscream1188

First service on Tuesday will have to ask the service guys. One more thing that I have noticed a noise from the front when ridden on slightly rough roads, not able to pinpoint where exactly it is coming from can be something loose inside the Headlamp assembly! Anybody from the forum who have noticed something similar?? Close to 850km on the ODO, waiting to unravel the beast soon.

That noise / feel is commonly reported. The R&D guys have isolated the cause and the specific mod will be reaching the field stage soon - depending on the chassis details of your bike apparently.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Doc, I have request for you.

Can you post an image of you sitting/riding your duke, In case you have already posted one please direct me to the same. I intend to see how a well built (read big) guy looks like on duke.

I don't have one in full gear yet. These are some old ones when I went to see the Duke in the flesh for the first time with my son directly after office (for comparison, my son is a couple of inches shorter and 35 kilos lighter than me)

[BANDHAV]

Thanks for the prompt heads up Doc.

I have ridden one for a short distance find the bike to be very accommodating and I didn't feel cramped at all but still I have a feeling that me and this machine might not paint a very rosy picture as unitary whole.

I am planning to my 3 year old HH Hunk with either this or Cbr 250R, I almost striked this off the list just because of size and was pretty sure about opting for Honda. Though for last few days the feeling is haunting me that Duke will be a better pick for enjoying my city commute.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by BANDHAV

Thanks for the prompt heads up Doc.

I have ridden one for a short distance find the bike to be very accommodating and I didn't feel cramped at all but still I have a feeling that me and this machine might not paint a very rosy picture as unitary whole.

I am planning to my 3 year old HH Hunk with either this or Cbr 250R, I almost striked this off the list just because of size and was pretty sure about opting for Honda. Though for last few days the feeling is haunting me that Duke will be a better pick for enjoying my city commute.

When it comes to either cars or bikes bro, or even your own body and face, the one thing common about the looks aspect is that you are probably the one who sees it least!

For me what was most important was if the bike would fit me. And it did, so that was all that mattered.

In fact its taller than all my Bullets, and while its much lighter, it does not "feel" small, and is pretty substantial thanks to the generous handle and seat and the big flary tank, not to mention the heft and positive feedback from the suspension and fat tyres.

Yes it is compact length wise (though its actually illusion-ary as spec-wise it has a pretty decent wheelbase compared to most other bikes in the category), but frankly on a ride (I am always solo), what is behind me is not important. The important thing is that its tall and you are not cramped.

To give you an example, when I rode the RX or Apache (both of which I tried out as I briefly flirted with the idea of buying each at different stages in the past), I felt as if I was straddling a low fence that was digging into my nether regions ....

For me coming off riding Bullets for 10 years, these were the specs that really mattered (Bullet vs KTM):

Wheelbase 1370 vs 1367

Saddle Height 760 vs 810

Ground Clearance 140 vs 165

Weight 180 vs 130

Power 22 @ 5500 rpm vs 26 @ 10000 rpm

Torque 36 Nm @ 3000 rpm vs 19 Nm @ 8000 rpm

Top Speed 125 kmph vs 135 kmph

Touring Mileage 25 kmpl vs 35 kmpl

Touring Range 325 km vs 315 km

[BANDHAV]

Originally Posted by ebonho

When it comes to either cars or bikes bro, or even your own body and face, the one thing common about the looks aspect is that you are probably the one who sees it least!

But anyway we are always concerned about the same.

I am still a little far from pulling the trigger, will surely update you once the final decision is made.

[shreeda]

Guys,

I am facing occasional (happens about once in 100Km on long rides.) gear shift troubles post first service. Only while shifting from 5th to 6th at 80+ speeds. The bike finds a false neutral about a second after I shift! Can somebody point out what could be the problem?

[Dragonheart22]

Hi Guys, Back from First Service today! Prasanna from Khivraj at the Domlur/Indiranagar SC as very cordial and pleasant to work and to share issues with. Coolant was topped up. I faced for the first time a coolant spill after 1000 km while doing some offroading over Nandi Hills. Inspite of this one time spill, the coolant had been consistently dropping from max to min in 1000 km. Looks like the only way is to keep monitoring the level and topup. The total capacity of the coolant reservoir is just 450ml. Also, Prasanna adviced against keeping it at max level, instead it has been topped up to midlevel. I filled in Motul 7100 single ester 20W50 oil. Oil Filter retails at 72 without taxes.
The Bajaj 10000 20W50 which retails at 350 a litre is actually a product developed for BAJAJ for its Pulsar line by HPCL.

[Wind splitter]

Yesterday evening and today morning I faced a weird problem, my Duke stopped (turned off) in crawling traffic, I was in first gear, I tried starting it twice and it refused to start (I made sure engine kill switch was not on and I had held the clutch lever) even after turning the power off and on it refused to start initially, finally after a couple of tries I was able to start it. Yesterday when this happened, after restarting the bike I noticed that average travel time and average speed was reset but the same thing did not happen today morning when bike stopped in the similar way.

I took it to bajaj service center and they told me that clutch play was not right and the clutch switch which lets you start the bike when the gear is engaged might have carbon or dust deposit because of which bike refused to start, got the clutch play adjusted, clutch switch cleaned and chain adjusted (was tight initially) and lubed, as of now no issues gear operation has improved because of clutch play settings.

[baddy]

Hi, my duke is a month old and has about 1300kms on the odo. I noticed this issue after tanking up 2 days back. The fuel indicator went down (not even a single bar showed up) and the DTE also showed 0kms. I turned off and turned on the ignition couple of times, only to be facing the same issue. But after riding for about a km, the fuel indicator started rising, with each bar coming up one by one slowly and before i had ridden 2 kms from the fuel stn, it showed full!!! I havent spoken about this to the srv stn guys. Did anyone face such an issue, please do share.

Note: I filled up when my tank was almost empty, last bar left with DTE showing 20kms at 36kmpl or so.

[Ragtop]

Had the same issue with mine after my 2nd fill up (am still running on that 2nd tank full)... It started out with no bars lighting up and it took the gauge about a km to indicate full. While I was initially concerned, I did not worry about it too much after it corrected but will definitely bring up this issue when the bike goes in for 1st service next week.

[Wind splitter]

I have covered about 560KM's on my Duke, is it recommended to go for oil and oil filter change or is it OK to wait until first service to get the oil change done.

[Dragonheart22]

Originally Posted by Wind splitter

I have covered about 560KM's on my Duke, is it recommended to go for oil and oil filter change or is it OK to wait until first service to get the oil change done.

No need, complete the 1000 km / 45 days and then go. The oil was pretty thick when it drained out at 1100km in mine!

For your bike stalling in first gear and refusing to start, the actual problem could be the clutch being engaged indeed, but that should not matter if in neutral. Keep a close eye on the temp gauge when/if it repeats ever again, even on overheating, the engine won't start readily. This has happened to me quite some times while offroading!