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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-301.html)

Yeah one of my friends told me i was lucky to not get the levers damaged. These things are usually the first to give up on a ktm. The casting is horrible though. That's why I'm looking for better replacement pegs from some other bikes or custom pegs which cost a bomb.

In my limited experience, the brake pedal got bent inwards after a fall. It all depends on a variety of factors and is hard to generalize.

While I agree that the crash guard is near to hopeless and useless on the Dukes, components like the pegs, levers, handlebars are all designed to absorb the impact as much as possible before passing a fraction of it on to the frame or engine causing costly damages. This is common in all the bikes and this absorption of impact results in either deformation or breaking. It is common across all the bikes including the bike in question here.

@b16h22: If possible, can you please post a clearer picture of the bubbles/pores in the pegs?

Karan, what I used to do was keep both foot levers spare wrapped up in plastic under the pillion seat (that's about all that can really fit there).

I had changed Baby Duke's old style levers to the new ones and had kept the old ones as spare.

Those old ones had a tendency of snapping every time the bike fell. You can change gears or use the rear brake without a foot peg. I have ridden a few hundred kms without a foot peg on my LB once, resting by foot on the clutch casing. And shifting the toe-only shifter using foot and heel (like a Yezdi).

But without a functional lever, you're badly jacked.

P.S. That photo is pure poor quality. And very scary for guys (like me) who regularly stand on their pegs. Some things you just cannot cut cost on. Wheels and rider foot pegs are some of those.

You hit the nail on the head. Actually I am a Bulleteer of 16 years who is just 3 weeks and 700 kms old with his Duke 390 :-) I am already a little scared.

The Duke is actually surprisingly strong for such a light bike. I've seen some pretty bad (and high speed) spills, both on weekend rides as well as the Orange Day races, and the bikes are usually picked up, starters thumbed, and are running instantly and run back to the service center on their own steam. Usually less than a thousand bucks is all that's needed to get the bashed parts replaced. No/very rarely serious structural damage.

I then compare this to the other bike/s I'm most familiar with. Bullets. A spill on a Bullet can be pretty expensive to fix, and a lot of the fix is to structural elements oftentimes. Its the weight more than anything that does the damage. That and the metallurgy, welds, and overall build quality in my opinion.

Doc the cast ones can take the compressive loads better. But when it comes to shock loads they fare poorly. So don't worry about riding on the foot pegs, it will not fail.

Also the energy is absorbed by these parts breaking thereby saving the more crucial ones. I have seen some bikes in the SVC being stranded as structural damage was more due to the aftermarket parts.

As I recall, the newer lot levers are stronger (thicker, angled differently, more structural cross buttressing) than the earliest lots (which came on Baby Duke).

Evidence of that can be seen on my own 390, which has obviously been low-sided at some point in time by the previous owner. The edge of the brake lever foot extension has been ground away. The lever also slightly (very) bent.

A similar thing with the older bikes, and the lever would have snapped. Not bent. Not stayed intact while getting ground away.

Its a big improvement.

About the shock loads, that is what I'm worried about. Not the peg taking my 90 kilos per se, but taking it when the bike at speed hits a bad hump/hole, and the bike and the 90 kilo rider both telescope into each other, all the weight on the pegs.

As a comparison again, I can stand on my Bullet pegs without ever worrying about them breaking. They are that solid and strong. As is the hardened rod that holds both side's pegs together. I've seen both bend, never break. I know there are positives and negatives to that (for the bike), but in this instant, I'll go with my personal well-being first.

I have had a few spills on my R15. The pegs bend in the worst ones. No sign of breaking apart. They should work like frame sliders. As in, they are supposed to bend and not break under any condition. Pegs are not the right place to cut costs in my opinion. You could also stand and do whatever and nothing will happen to them. At least not in 7 years for the almost quintal me.

Took with my phone cam so not the best quality


I do the same thing Doc. Standing up on pegs to tackle potholes and sore back in journeys. Now i'm a little scared to do that because i weigh 90kgs. Mine is a late 2013 model. Maybe they have better pegs in newer models

It's a good theory but looking back to the wheel breaking incidents we can't exactly say whether the pegs are brittle by design or bad QC

That standing on foot peg part paints a scary picture. And I'll buy the spare levers, just in case.

As for the pegs. I had a few spare levers from R15 and Fz. I think the Fz one's are a simple swap. And I can vouch for the quality. Sorry to say but tried and tested.

Here are the pic. The bigger one is from Fz with no rubber grip. And I have mounted it in the pillion footrest. But they will easy mount onto the front one's too

Dear 390ers, what in your opinion is a 'logical' upgrade from the 390 and why?

Please don't get all philosophical and explain why what's a logical upgrade for one may not be so for the other, tell me which bike (s) you would buy/ consider buying after the 390.

A Benelli 600i or a Z800 for me; the appeal of an inline 4 being the main pull. :)

A KTM Duke 690R.

Please.

Considering that the 690 is not in market here, any other choices?

No. Not for me. Not currently.