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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-340.html)

Ayush, is that all the damage there is?

Nothing else scratched or bent or broken?

Man, the wonders of modern materials and plastic together with fantastic build quality.

I've low sided (disc lock on gravel, at night, avoiding a cretin cutting across a one way road from the oncoming lane across the divider to get to the petrol pump on my side) my Pulsar 180. I've low sided my Machismo 500 (front end, on slick mud, off road, racing). And I've low sided my Duke 200 (back end, track, racing). These were the ones where I had damage. Many other spills on my Machismo 500 (on ice and slush, thrice, Himachal), my std 500 (rear ended a Maruti 800 who stopped suddenly on a flyover bang in front of me), my Kinetic Honda (lowsided, in the rain, at a round about), and my KB100 (banged head on into a buffalo who I swear I did not see in the evening right outside my house ..... yeah funny - very early riding days).

What I've learned and seen is that the harder and heavier they are, the harder and heavier they fall. And the greater the damage and the costlier the repair.

The other damaged parts are a bent gear lever, bent hand guards, completely mangled left leg guard, bent handle and a slightly flimsy rear left indicator.

A thing that I've learnt from this episode is - the importance of the leg guard. Thank almighty that I had the wisdom to get it installed barely a month before the crash.

Although it costs a measly 150 bucks, the protection it offered to my bike is beyond commendable. It took a majority of the damage until it was mangled and then it gave away. If it weren't there, perhaps my entire left side would've been totalled. I now swear by it and shall be getting it installed at the earliest for I peculiarly find myself trusting it more than the frame sliders.

Out of all the SVCs I have spoken to, all of them have given me an estimate between 4.5k and 5k, which includes change of engine oil and filters.

I just need a harebrained idea to minimise/remove the scratches as well as get myself new number plates because the current HSRP ones have bent badly.

To all those who say that KTMs have 'flimsy' finishing and 'too much' plastic, I hope this one smacks them on their face.

As long as your fork and chassis are OK, which by the look of the damage and type of fall, I am sure they are, you are looking at hardly any damage.

Handle replace - 1000 (change it - the hydroformed one never comes back proper, and the whole feel of a bike depends on the handle - get this one repaired and keep as a spare)

Gear Lever - 250 (change it - next time it will snap)

Crash Guard - 150 (the new ones are built better with additional cross strut welded supports)

Hand Guards - 750 (if they need replacement - a car bumper fiber tinkerer or even the guys who repair buckets will heat and get them back to shape, even fiber-weld them if cracked, and then you can carbon fiber wrap or paint them)

Indicator - quick-fix and soda (each indicator is 550 coz of the LEDs)

Number Plates / stickers - 250

The engine oil and filters cannot be included in post fall damages.

So a fall that kept you off the road for a month and half, actually cost about 1500-2000 bucks max to repair (mainly coz of the handle). :thumbs up

Add another 2K for oil, filters, servicing and TLC. And you are ready to hit the roads again.

Hope this time with proper gear of course. Your body parts are not as cheap.

Can you post pics of the leg guard? Is it the same as the crash guard which comes as standard? Where did you source it? Post some pics, could you?

Here are the average rates quoted by the local SVCs I called up. These include labour costs :

Left RVM - 290
Hand Guard (Pair) - 720
Leg/Crash guard - 200
Gear Lever - 490
Handle - 1400
Cone Set - 1200

Extras :

Engine Oil Change - 1300
Rear Shock Protector - 110
Air/Oil Filter Change - 350

All of them couldn't seem to provide me the exact cost of the rear footpeg pillar, which having snapped into two, needs complete replacement. Anyone has any idea as to how much this can cost?

As far as the new gear goes, I've set my eyes on some and shall be purchased soon.

I shall certainly do so whenever I see my bike next, which should be next week before I get it into top shape. It was sourced from the local KTM SVC itself and was fitted by them.

Though it's unlikely I'll be heading down South any time soon, thanks a lot for the assist. Much appreciated. :)

If you are hopping into Bangalore soon, let me know. I have some spares left out from the Leh ride lying idle with me which I can hand over to you including the crash guards.

And thanks for that last line. It is indeed very true.

Looking at the repair cost the vfm money just got exponentially high for this bike. The reason I have been saying this bike offers more even in terms of long term ownership just got validated for me.

Other bikes in competition would have taken this repair estimate to some level.

I second you.

I am, in fact, surprised at the estimate quoted by them. I was expecting a higher damage to my pocket. Then there are people who refrain from buying this beautiful machine because it's 'not a long term investment' and because 'after sales costs are high'. All I can hope is that after this incident of mine, some sense ought to have dawned on them.

These are costs including labour, mind you. Fellow bhpian and good friend mehuel has offered to do all the replacements himself except the cone set. That again brings down my bill, as 40% of the total cost is labour charge.

The intranet in my workplace runs a small article everyday about the happenings in the Bosch world with good information. This is the gateway to any intranet activity and catches everyone's eye when IE or Mozilla is opened. On 25th I was pleasantly surprised to see a pic of Duke on a dyno. Here is the article which opened a few thinking caps. The recent updates to the RC series for the year 2016 includes this too.


Four-wheeler helps two-wheeler – and vice versa
New tank ventilation for motorcycles meets with great interest by automotive sector

Schwieberdingen, Germany. Encounters between motorcycles and cars in road traffic are not always harmonious. However, when developers from both sectors come together, it can lead to surprising results – surprisingly good for everyone involved. The most recent example is a solution for a tank-ventilation problem at motorcycle manufacturer KTM.


Clever ventilation: Andreas Gutscher (GS, left) and Peter Eckert (BEG) are working on it
For a long time now, automotive developers at Bosch have had to observe strict environmental standards. They also have vast experience in tank ventilation. Gasoline can evaporate in the tank. In a car, the vapors are collected by an activated-charcoal filter. “The fumes are carried through a valve into the intake manifold and then burned in the engine,” Peter Eckert, a systems developer at Bosch Engineering, explains. Doing so requires a vacuum, which is created when the engine is operating at part load. This works perfectly in larger car engines. But in small engines, such as KTM’s single-cylinder unit, the vacuum is often inadequate and the system does not work optimally.

Until now, smaller motorcycles have simply emitted the fumes into the environment. But that is now forbidden. When KTM employees came to Schwieberdingen for a meeting on the subject, Henning Heikes, a Bosch project manager in two-wheeler systems development, made sure that experienced automotive engineers from Gasoline Systems were also in attendance. “We were sure that the automotive expertise would help us,” Heikes says. KTM also had high hopes for the meeting – and brought one of their motorcycles with them.

At the engine’s pace

It soon became clear that the tank-ventilation valve was the crux of the matter. This valve can only be opened and closed completely, regardless of how the engine is working. The Bosch experts used software that opens the valve for a shorter or longer period of time to make optimal use of the current vacuum. The solution was a simple one that did not require any radical changes to the platform.

In the course of the investigations, the associates had another idea: to couple the opening of the valve with the power cycle of the engine in the future. This approach is also interesting for the automotive advisors, since downsizing is leading to smaller and smaller car engines. To save fuel, cylinders may even be shut off sometimes when engine load is low. “We learned from the special problems that two-wheelers face,” says Björn Noack, head of the subsystem development platform for car engines. He and his colleagues also got to know the more compact injection valves in motorcycles. In the future, they could also be interesting for smaller automobile engines. Noack has no doubt: “The new knowledge will be included in our next projects.

I'm contemplating switching the rear sprocket on the 390 to something a bit larger. I assume I would have to switch to a different length chain. Does anyone know how easy it is to source a 520x114 (or longer) O-ring chain in India?

@greasemonk,

You have to search via ebay i guess. Also i am guessing you want to go up 2 or 3T in the rear and avoid touching the front. Would gives great 6th gear for sure.

I have been searching for that option to start buying stuffs before i return including some exhaust, filter and even power commander mods.

I had once contemplated on putting a+2T (47T) in the back, from Tyga. But I was discouraged by the service head for Kerala, as it voids the warranty. Larger sprocket specifically for 390 was also not available in KTM power parts. FIYP

Planning to upgrade to Xtreme Vision.

Just needed clarity whether the one meant for the Duke is the H4 model or something else. Listing on website shows it at Rs. 650.

Would be really thankful if someone can post a link to purchase the right one online. Thanks.

For Duke it is the H4 model.

Bosch has started to provide Bajaj with a portable scan tool for its dealerships to scan the ECU for any faults. This replaces the bulky tin boxes which were used until recently by the SVC. The tool has database of the Pulsar, KTM and the RE family of vehicles. This has been the result of the joint effort on the part of Bajaj and Bosch to provide complete vehicle solution project.

The tool is powered by the vehicle battery and has groups under which the data shows up when connected. The scan tool has a OBD2 connector for the output as it is common for passenger cars and bikes. The bikes use an intermediate connector to connect the bike and the scan tool. In addition to Bajaj, Mahindra are also using it for their recently launched Mojo.

This is being used at KTM's SVC's worldwide.













Check if your SVC has one when you visit next time around.