Team-BHP - The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread

@sridhu

Its merely an indicator and it simply makes the red indicator light up. Don't worry about what is set and what is not.

Ride more city in the run in and you will pretty much run in the engine well.

My take on dealer is that its sheer negligence. Not everyone knows about every thing in a bike or car. And the dealer is expected to explain the customer. You pay a premium for the dealer and the dealer makes a cut irrespective of what. To me there are buyers who have no clue to even remove the seat or adjust say idling screw and they need support. There are users who can completely strip the bike apart and assemble.

For the first kind its dealers responsibility to explain and set. Not the dealers per say but the service centre of the dealer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sridhu (Post 3260640)

@added_flavor: That is what I thought; but the service engineer was saying that they set it at 5K & 10K for the first service on all bikes. I particularly remember the discussion between Sriram & Doc on this matter. So, I was surprised when 7.5k was not mentioned at all.

Just wanted to get a confirmation from the rest of the folks who have already taken delivery at what rpm the shift light comes up.

To clarify the question: if I set the RPM 2 to 7500, will the engine be physically limited to 7500 or is it just an indication but the engine will continue to rev to the 10,500 limit?

Sridhu let me clarify it is not a rev limiter. It is just a gear shift indicator. It just indicates the rider not to go beyond the particular set RPM. You can check this yourself. Try crossing 7.5K in 6th gear and there will be no LED blinking. :)

Your service engineer is wrong. It's supposed to be 5k and 7.5K and that's how it was on my bike too!

The engine will Rev all the way up to 10500 RPM and there is no limit on that.

So when RPM1 is set to 5000RPM, the red LED starts blinking warning the rider and when RPM2 is set to 7500RPM the LED glows continuously up to 10500 RPM. Hope this clears the confusion.

EDIT: All the confusion is because they call it REV limiter and not a gearshift indicator!

To be honest, in normal (bordering on aggressive) riding mode in the city, even on a fully run in 390, you would rarely if ever be crossing 6-7000 rpm. If at all. The revs simply do not rise like a 200's + the throttle pulley has a bigger arc with a slight kink/stop at the last quarter (a safety preaution for the unsuspecting overenthusiastic rider :)).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Freewheelin_KD (Post 3260224)

Guys, I don't mean to start a rumor mill or something, but has Bajaj increased the prices of their premium motorcycles?

My dealer called me today for completing the remaining formalities for the delivery and mentioned that the price of Duke 390 has increased by INR 4,000. He also said the Duke 200's price has increased by INR 3,600. Is there any merit to this?

Can those people who have taken deliveries of their 390s in the last two days please confirm the same? please:

Yes guys, its a bloody hike. Just got informed by KTM Trivandrum that the price is up by 5k on both 200 and 390 and now the OTR price of 390 is 2,10,000 (Trivandrum). Previously it was 2,05,000. A small hike just before the festive season and the reason being falling rupee which in turn increased production costs.

Quote:

To be honest, in normal (bordering on aggressive) riding mode in the city, even on a fully run in 390, you would rarely if ever be crossing 6-7000 rpm

And honestly its after the 7k rpm one can even understand the hiding dragon inside this bike. The 200 is absolutely nasty when it comes to power delivery and the way the RPM goes up in the 200 one get the prelude of how a super bike may accelerate.

The 390 is very docile till 7k rpm to me. Its only after the 7K rpm a beast takes over and puts a smile on that face.

A trick to use during the run in period is how you hold and throttle. Two fingers on the throttle, the other two on the brake lever locking by the thumb means you will never be able to full throttle this bike. You can be gauranteed that you are not thrashing and still enjoy the initial rush.

But those looking for the SBK feeling will be definitely disappointed for its very calm and the power delivery at the higher end of the RPM unlike a SBK where its every where throughout the RPM.

In fact my 390 was leaving most of the bikes behind when i was made to feel like dust when my only love FZ1 showed what a SBK is :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010 (Post 3260929)

But those looking for the SBK feeling will be definitely disappointed for its very calm and the power delivery at the higher end of the RPM unlike a SBK where its every where throughout the RPM.

In fact my 390 was leaving most of the bikes behind when i was made to feel like dust when my only love FZ1 showed what a SBK is :)

I have heard some 390 owners claiming that it can hold its own (for the most part) against the Ninja 650 boys on rides.

Quote:

I have heard some 390 owners claiming that it can hold its own (for the most part) against the Ninja 650 boys on rides.

It can hold against 650's in the sense the 390 can ride with the 650 all throughout. But the sheer acceleration and the way 650 achieves its speed at different gears cannot be matched by 390.

When touring with 650, yes 390 can definitely be part of the touring parties :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VW2010 (Post 3261028)

That in itself is no small feat, for a bike disdvantaged by 250 cc and 28 bhp (and around 40-50 kmph at the top end). The same cannot be said for a Duke 390 and a Duke 200.

Looks like folks in Bangalore are starting to get their Bikes. Any word on when deliveries will pickup in KTM's hometown Pune?

I keep getting standard answer it will pick up and you will mostly get the bike before month end. My number is in the 30s and still this fate

This wait is now beginning to bother me :Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by hsub (Post 3261348)

Where did you book?
KTM-Wakdewadi has about 45 bookings and they have delivered about 7. They are expecting another load of 10 today. If you booked there you are in for some wait.

KTM-Bundgarden has delivered about 12 bikes. Queue is 115 long. Even worse. I am sitting in my 70s here :) They are also expected to get another batch today.

And am told the deliveries would be pretty regular now with major deliveries before Oct ends...

The wait is killing me, 101 days of waiting for me. :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shubz (Post 3261611)

This is interesting! The deliveries have still not picked up? I think they did a better job with the Duke 200 deliveries?

Oh hell yeah! My Duke 200 was delivered in 3 days from the booking, and it was amongst the first 50 in Hyderabad, so there's no comparison on the wait times.
I feel sad for all the people waiting so anxiously for their 390s, but I can tell you that the bike is definitely worth the wait!
Hope they speed up the deliveries and everyone gets their bikes soon :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebonho (Post 3260942)

I have heard some 390 owners claiming that it can hold its own (for the most part) against the Ninja 650 boys on rides.

Having ridden both,i think yes it can.
Until the roads open up,where the 650 will fly past the double ton mark.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bazinga (Post 3261499)

Where did you book?
................
The wait is killing me, 101 days of waiting for me. :(

I booked at bund garden. At this time I cant do anything but wait. Every other day I get the thought of changing to a Ninja 650 and just wait some more. Oh well will hold on and see just how long this is going to take.

Funny part is that I bought all my gear i.e Boots, Jacket, Helmet etc in July, so now i have all gear and no Bike!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shubz (Post 3261611)

This is interesting! The deliveries have still not picked up? I think they did a better job with the Duke 200 deliveries?

Yes I too remember they did a very good job with the 200 deliveries. 390 deliveries have been totally mishandled by Bajaj-KTM. People like me have already waited for 3.5 months and still no sight of the bike! BTW congratulations on booking Iron 883.