Team-BHP - The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by MavericK46 (Post 3348243)

P.S: Anyone found a solution to the buzzing emanating from the front half?
Gets pretty annoying in traffic.

Cheers !

Hey Bro! Nice to see you here on TBhp! :)

We come from a similar lineage (Me from a ZMA and you from a Uni if I remember :)). We should soon catch up over a ride.

The buzz for some is the coolant container cap hitting the petrol tank and for others it is from the windscreen area. For me, it's there sometimes and disappears suddenly. I think tightening the front number plate/windscreen bolt and keeping the rivets in the locked position helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VedderTheFixer (Post 3348562)

Guys, im about to land a 390 next week :)

Just FYI, i asked the showroom manager about the black Duke 390 & apparently it will be here between Feb 15th - March 1st. What opinions on this color scheme? I personally prefer this one over what's being sold today,as good as it is.

Am considering waiting for the beast in black :D

Converting the bike from white to black will only cost about 3-3.5k with the stickers. I suggest that you get the bike now itself cause god knows when Bajaj decides to hike prices again. Anyways, when you're bored of the white, you can make it black for pretty cheap :D

Just back after a 950 Kms BLR-Ottapalam(Kerala)-BLR ride over the weekend. Off which 500Kms was solo.

The bike performed splendidly! I found the hard seat super comfortable for touring and even rode continuously for 250kms at a stretch without breaks. Compared to my ex-TBTS I was way less fatigued after the ride with 100-120kmph cruising! In short I am falling in love with the Austrian devil all over again!

On the way back we had to keep the bikes at 80-95kmph range as there was a Royal Enfield with us. The bike returned a mileage of 36kmpl at this speed! Not bad indeed.

OFF TOPIC [Mods please feel free to delete if this is irrelevant]: Our return journey took us through Nilambur-Mudhumalai-Mysore route and we took a whooping 11hrs to complete this. with about 500mins of saddle time! The reason I am mentioning this here is due to the fact that I am super pissed off with the attitude of forest check post police walahs and KA police walahs towards bikers/bike riders.

We reached the Mudumalai forest check post by 6:50PM and the guard there refused to let us pass saying that bikes are not allowed after 6PM. The fact was that the restriction for 2 wheelers is only after 9PM. A 100 Rupee note had to be sacrificed for crossing the checkpost. Again the same story at Bandipur checkpost too. Its amazing to see how low these guys will stoop for harazzing / 'robbing' travelers in the midst of such dangerous forest reserve areas and that too at such god-forsaken times of the day (We were warned in the previous checkpost about elevated number of elephant mischiefs over the past few days). After this episode we covered Bandipur-Gundlupet and Mysore. We did'nt stop at any ATMs as we had just enough money for the NICE road toll. Just as we thought that that money was enough and another ATM visit is not required Lo! Near Mandya we were stopped for a police routine check. Now this is funny.

All the bikes had all the proper papers, and as I am still waiting for the smartcard to arrive, I had only the tax challan with me. The other 2 bikes were KL registered. He asked for a 'PERMIT' for the KL bikes. At first I thought I heard him wrong regarding the PERMIT thingy. But confirmed that he told 'PERMIT' only.:Frustrati I told him that we very well knew that PERMIT is only for heavy vehicles. He insisted that bikes from other states needs to have a PERMIT even if it entered Karnataka for 1 hour. And the hopeless debate went on and another set of Gandhis had to be sacrificed to avoid the situation to taking a detour and going to the police station. We pleaded the policeman to let us go as our friend was suffering from a backpain and asthma and the night was getting colder (Also, we both know well about the whole PERMIT stuff) and of course he didnt care about the whole asthma and backpain stories he just wanted his so called 'FINE'!! Anyways thanks to all these, the ride time was more than 11hours for covering 450Kms. But sure it was enjoyable as hell. Is'nt the RIDE always about small small experiences we take back home like these? :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010 (Post 3348868)

Ratting noise is COMMON - Your reservoir is probably rattling with the tank.

Near the oil filter there could be some traces of oil and it may be called leaking but at a really really really slow pace. Get it checked without cleaning the bike. The Service centre should diagnoise if its a bigger issue or a common problem due to bad quality of seal.

6th - Gear. Go ahead and Enjoy. You will hardly screw the engine at that speed. If you are constantly riding at 8k to 10k RPM in 6th you are already over 150kmph which is pretty difficult to do continuously in our roads.

Thanks for the reply VW2010. I missed the place of the leak, its below the exhaust pipe at the lower part of the engine. Will get a pic.

6th gear, I touched 135 on the OMR stretch beyond thiruporur junction where the road was completely empty. It was bliss!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Added_flavor (Post 3348627)

Hey Bro! Nice to see you here on TBhp! :)

We come from a similar lineage (Me from a ZMA and you from a Uni if I remember :)). We should soon catch up over a ride.
....

Hey Suhas ! :)
I've been 'here' for a while matey. Just haven't been posting up very regularly.

My bike history is more like P150 1st Gen Ditsy -> 1st Gen Uni (Still with me, dad uses it) -> Zma (She's now my commute) -> D390

The buzzing is intermittent just like it is with your bike. At touring-pace (Ton and above) the wind noise drowns out the buzzing and isn't a bother.
However, when the speeds drop to 80ish, it gets pretty annoying.
I'm gonna make it a point to point out the noise by taking the A.S.S manager shotgun during the 2nd service !

And yes.. We most definitely need to put off one ride asap :D

Cheers !

Sundar

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010 (Post 3348890)

Give it sometime..you will hit that speed in 5th quite often :) which is what we all are mostly doing unconsciously.

Below the exhaust?? I dont think its from the oil filter or oil reservoir.

Yeah, it is not coming near the oil filter or reservoir. Have to get it checked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aks_karthik (Post 3348912)

razorBlades : Possible you can join with us.

I am stuck with a PMP class this saturday! :Frustrati (Sunday I am free though!) Any weekend after I am game. Just got back to biking after 2 years (got married :D ) the touring bug bit again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by aks_karthik (Post 3349025)

No issues. I got back after 10 years and after having 2 Naughty Kids, yep after Marriage ;)
But thoroughly enjoying each and every second with this beast.
we will plan for next weekend too.
will PM my Mobile No.

Same here. Got back on a bike ( that too a 390) after over 6 or 7 years or so. My last ride was a Kawa Eliminator. and now I am riding the duke like there is no tomorrow :uncontrol. and the KTM guys asked me if I was buying the bike for my 18 year old son ? (why should boys have all the fun :D)

Quote:

Originally Posted by man_of_steel (Post 3348873)

The other 2 bikes were KL registered. He asked for a 'PERMIT' for the KL bikes. At first I thought I heard him wrong regarding the PERMIT thingy. But confirmed that he told 'PERMIT' only.:Frustrati I told him that we very well knew that PERMIT is only for heavy vehicles. He insisted that bikes from other states needs to have a PERMIT even if it entered Karnataka for 1 hour. And the hopeless debate went on and another set of Gandhis had to be sacrificed to avoid the situation to taking a detour and going to the police station. We pleaded the policeman to let us go as our friend was suffering from a backpain and asthma and the night was getting colder (Also, we both know well about the whole PERMIT stuff) and of course he didnt care about the whole asthma and backpain stories he just wanted his so called 'FINE'!! Anyways thanks to all these, the ride time was more than 11hours for covering 450Kms. But sure it was enjoyable as hell. Is'nt the RIDE always about small small experiences we take back home like these? :)

:OT reminds me of a similar situation. I was driving from Goa to Lonavala for a seminar with 3 friends in a Goan Private registered (Black letters on white board) friends car. It was midnight and I was stopped at Goa-Maharashtra border at Insuli and I was informed that only the rightful owner is entitled to drive a private car and none others. the guy was obviously drunk and all our arguments fell on deaf ears. (of course we had all original documents such as RC, Insurance and PUC) and my driving license. He would not let us go and finally I paid a Rs. 1000/- fine and was issued a challan written in Marathi. I wanted to take it up with higher ups when I reached Lonavala but then in the thick of other work forgot and let it go. I lost the receipt too subsequently, though I was curious to know what offence / MV act was quoted in the challan. But I was running a very tight schedule and had to urgently reach Lonavala early next morning, but for which I would have really made an issue of this and shown the guy his place by calling my friend's dad ( who was a police commissioner in Pune) and many other people at higher ups whom I knew. But this goes to show the limited knowledge these guys have about MV act and also the way they fleece the common motorist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by man_of_steel (Post 3348873)

We reached the Mudumalai forest check post by 6:50PM and the guard there refused to let us pass saying that bikes are not allowed after 6PM. The fact was that the restriction for 2 wheelers is only after 9PM.

Don't know about this bro. Every time I have done that route, the cut off time is indeed 6 p.m. It is pretty risky (and scary) after that, though a friend once went through the forest and the climb to Ooty at 9 p.m. - with his wife as pillion no less. Guess even the animals stay hidden when a 500 cc std Bullet with stright though pipes thunders through a forest! :uncontrol He apparently was so scared that in spite of serious pressure, he did not even once stop to relieve himself, till he actually saw the lights of Ooty in the distance.