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-   -   The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/138082-ktm-duke-390-ownership-experience-thread-162.html)

Does not look like it fom the photo though. There seems to be more than a finger width clearance between the fender and the tyre.

Well maybe. By the way how are these tires for the city ? And what options do I have for the front. Can you help.

These are good dual purpose tyres. And can run on tarmac as well as give decent purchase off road in mud, slush, snow, and gravel.

They will not be nowhere close to as good as the stock Revz on good tarmac though.

But they would be a lot better than the Revz off road and off perfect tarmac.

Plus if they too as tubeless (as they are from what's being reported), then thats a major advantage of the Revz equalized if not negated.

And a major advantage of these over the Revz (or the Metz) is that these will not allow the rims to bend or get damaged (and sometimes cause dangerous instant deflations from the damaged side). This is THE Achilles heal of the tyre profile of the Revz/Metz. Now way around it.

Alright doc. But now I am more confused as to which one to go for. Michelin's or the ceat ?

Depends on the use. If the Revz have life in them, why not keep those for the city, and get these for your trip to the mountains?

Both the Michelins together ar 10-11 K. The Revz are nearly the same.

Both the Ceats are less than half of that.

OR

Another way of looking at it, especially if you are a 390 rider.

You can get BOTH, and still be under the price of a set of new Metzelers. :)

Yup that's what I plan to do. Get a set of Michelin's for the city and a set of vertigo's for touring.

Thanks

I'm probably being paranoid here but between your home and that off road haven is the highway, mostly good roads.

Won't braking n overall stability be compromised? It seems like a dangerous proposition to me. These ceats are less than 4 times the price of Metz. If this indeed is a safe option what stops Bajaj from putting these on the bikes at the factory itself n reduce the price another 15k ....... Lure in some more junta by upping the vaue quotient.

I truly believe in using an item based on the fit for purpose concept as opposed to try and make it something it was never meant to be.

But that's exactly the point!

I believe the Revz and the Metz are the right tyres for the bike. But the wrong country.

We just do not have the roads here. And every time a wheel goes, you are set back by around the price of a revz tyre.

Cheap right?

But when you sit and calculate the mathematics come home to you.

Tyres add about 75 paise to a rupee per km to your running cost.

Petrol is about 3 rupees a km.

Service, spares, consumables is about 40 paise to 50 paise per km.

If you hit one bad pothole at speed once every 10,000kms, that's an addition ONE RUPEE PER KM.

Its time Bajaj/KTM rethink their tyre choice.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, are you inferring that running 120/80-17 tubeless tyres on the rear of dukes can lessen the chances of bending the alloys when hitting a pothole hard?

Is it really safe to run a 120 section tyre on a rim which is meant to take 150 section tyres?

Based on the side wall height and air cushion yes.

If you've been following this discussion from the begining, this is exactl one of the concerns I had earlier. But if its been used by rally guys and that too in competition then it must mean its taken more than a few serious whacks. If there was an issue of the tyre popping out, we would have heard of it by now probably.

Doc, the person has removed his front mudguard and is due for some mods on it and has said it would take a week for this. Let us wait for him to reveal this.
Although the pics tells a different story, I think if the mudguard flexes during travel, it might touch the tires. He mentioned that this may not be an issue after 1.5K kms by which the tires would have lost some rubber.

@Aditya: Let us know your experience on the MPS. By the way how much mileage have you clocked on the ride?

I have done 8.5k kms on mine and suffered two minor and one major puncture on the rear tire.

Finally after lots of decision making,got the vertigo sports . Now the bike handles well in rough surfaces and bumps. Totally satisfied.

So you have pulled the ABS fuse?

Nope. The abs works perfectly fine