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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-78.html)

When you were riding a 500 the 390 is way too frugal even in city. No complaints there. My daily bike is 390 and i love to ride it in city more than highway.

In fact there are two bikes inside the 390 the one below 7k rpm and there is one above 7k rpm.

Try them both to enjoy the ride even within city.

Does any one get kick-back from gearbox ,while shifting from 1-2 or 2-3 ?
It looks like the gear does not full engage or disengage while shifting . This causes a kick-back .I have changed the oil and also have adjusted the clutch cable .

After spending a few weeks with the 390, i am not sure if i made the correct decision to buy it. i wanted to buy duke 200, but this news of 390 kept me waiting. Intention to buy a city bike for daily commuting to work etc, which is light weight, easy to maneuver, good pickup and good brakes. Basically i wanted to modify my C5 for long rides, and the duke for the daily usage. Not sure if 390 fits the bill perfectly. :( it hates traffic, heats a lot, acceleration in lower gears couple with strong engine breaking makes the ride jerky at B2B traffic. i guess 200 would have made better sense for my requirements. I realized this today, as after a long gap, i rode the C5 to work, and found it to be very relaxed, calm and comfortable in the traffic. Will have to seriously consider role reversal for these two, C5 for daily commute and 390 for the highway.

On that note, has any one tried handle bar raisers on the duke? any place where i can get it? Also, has anyone tried an aftermarket adjustable foot-peg assembly? something like in the below pics?
I guess with these two basic mods, 390 could be a more comfortable tourer. (ofcouse a bigger wind shield too, but that problem is already been cracked)

This was discussed a few pages back i think. The bike can roll and the rolling sound is actually pretty nice to hear though it reminds you of a disgruntled auto :)

The jerkyness is mainly due to engine speed. If you can manage a consistent engine speed irrespective of how slow or how fast it is, you will not find the bike jerky.

Its definitely rideable without being jerky in back to back traffic. In fact its a learning process moving from typical bullets or even some 150cc bikes. If you can slowly learn to roll the bike at around 2-4k rpm in the first two gears, be sure to have a smoother ride.

The handle bar is slightly titled towards the tank. Try tilting it back away and see if that helps with the positioning. I added some cushion to seat and correct the handle bar and i typically get a position that puts my back at 90deg to seat while my arms are probably 75-80 degree.

Also avoid hard boots for gear change. Meaning, boots with heavy soul like a woodlands. Get some good riding boots.

The bike to me is "the" perfect city rider that i wont mind taking on even the ugliest of traffic. The space it covers whenever it gets a chance is just great.

Are you referring to rolling as the fact that the bike keeps moving in 1st gear without throttle input? If yes, i understand your point, but from standstill, throttle input is required to start rolling, and the traffic here so erratic, that constant rolling becomes just a theory, and for all practical purpose, throttle input and braking becomes un-avoidable, + the added engine breaking.

like you mention, i guess it a matter of getting used the throttle control. The engine breaking is something i am used to, as the C5's engine breaking force is very very similar to 390's. Also the fear of lugging forces me to shift to 1st at slow speeds, where as the C5 can handle much slower speeds at 2nd gear thus reducing the engine breaking force a bit.

Will try the handle bar pivoting to see if it makes for a better posture. Could you share some details on cushioning the seat? did u add a layer of foam under the cover? are you using the OEM cover? i have done a lot of seat mods for my previous rides, but was a bit reluctant to touch the 390, for the fear of loosing the OEM cover. Do share some details on the cushioning bit.

Have been riding with alpinestar blacktop shoes. Been using it for 3 years now, and i must add, its one of the best available multi-purpose shoes combining riding with other activities. Super light weight, good ventilation, super durable and comfortable. have done numerous trekking on my rides, including the waynad's chembra peak, and after all the abuse the shoes are as good as new. Highly recommended.
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/alpinestars-blacktop-shoes

The bike to me is "the" perfect city rider that i wont mind taking on even the ugliest of traffic. The space it covers whenever it gets a chance is just great.

I don't know if this helps, but i simply try to gauge the traffic and shift up or shift down based on how much space i have.

I do shift up post say 18-20kmph and without accelerator try to roll the bike. It hardly lugs as i am not increasing the engine speed.

If the speed goes below 20 and i am in 2nd, i engage full clutch and shift down but don't let the clutch out. Ride the bike till the speed reduces, or even increase the RPM to match the shift down RPM and slowly release. This way there is very little chance of jerkiness.

But overall you can also ride this bike like rolling the bike in different gears, say riding at 60 in 6th if you can manage the right throttle. Its so much fun to roll this bike at different gears as well as taking it to the extreme.

To be very honest, the pull was very addictive, but i am reaching a point where i feel i want MORE :). The FZ1 dream will continue :)

Same happened with me. After continuous duking for about ten days I took my CBZ for a ride yesterday. I was blown away by the smoothness, linear power delivery, stability and perfect gearshifts of the Honda engine. I understood the moment why people buy Japanese machines all over the world. But in the duke, the gearshifts are a bit clunky and the front suspension is so stiff that transmits the slightest irregularities on the road to your elbows and shoulders which is the main cause for a jerky ride. The bike is great on good roads but bad roads? I used to take wide corners on the CBZ at 80-90 kmph but can't do the same speed with the 390 on the same corner because the road upsets the bike a lot. And a bouncing front end is not good while cornering on our roads as they are not that forgiving. A pothole comes in the middle and thinks can go scary before we could even realize what's happened.

Yes, happened to me on two occasions. Once when I was shifting from 4th to 5th, it fell into false neutral and then fell to 4th on its own. I thought it was becuase I did not shift properly. And once it fell into neutral.
These happened when I was shifting really quick, so I am guessing it is becuase of a improper shift.

I am was using Sandeepmohan's 390.

Regards

Me had the same experience several times. I don't know which gear I were, but when i shifted the console became blank and the 'gear' was blinking and the bike engaged back when my toe just touched the lever, that too with a thud noise. Its very annoying as I am used to the super slick gearboxes of the Hondas. I found the gearbox too 'pulsar' ish

I think this happens when i am in very high gear and have completely slowed down and the engine speed is too low to make the gear changes or change down. Try to get the gears changed at the right rpm and that may prevent this.

This is pretty much something i am used to even in my old bull where a little engine speed helps to reset and slot the gear with a THUD :)

The gears are very clunky in 1-3, but very smooth over 3rd. This is my observation as well.

In most bikes have five gears or more have the same setup. If you try to reduce the speed suddenly from 6th gear, then you have to downshift accordingly or else the gear box may lock up and if you release the clutch a bit, then the gear shifts one down at a time. :) But here the problem is a bit different. Even if you apply sufficient force, sometime the gears stays in between and we revs the bike like crazy and all of a sudden the gear falls in place with a loud 'thud' and this reduces the life of transmission and sprockets too.

Blip the throttle while downshifting.

Well, it would disappoint you on that too; Duke 390 with a sub-12L fuel tank is a big headache for long rides. Even if it returns 30kmpl, the total miles it would cover with a full tank would be slightly more than 300 kms. For this reason, I gave up the idea of upgrading from my current RTR 180 (gives 600kms on a full tank) for touring purpose :(

Its not related to rev matching while shifting actually. It happened when upshifting to me in the right revs as well. It fell into neutral and rev'd since the throttle was open and as soon as I closed it, the gear fell into the lower gear.
In the Amby days , it was referred to as gear slipping :)

You mean like in Royal Enfields! :D Always had experienced that on my RE.

But honestly false neutral was the last thing I expected from a KTM.