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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-98.html)

Well you ride any bike like that or beyond the flow of traffic you are going to add to fatigue. Anyways, while on tour, there is very little possibility of a lot of start and go acceleration and braking.

It is the stopping and starting that causes fatigue, on tour this isn't an issue on good roads. I can't imagine touring on this on marginal roads strewn with speed breakers and broken / carelessly patched up tarmac. I am extremely wary of bad road conditions as the duke's suspension will deliver a solid whack. This constant wariness is another huge reason for fatigue. As already noted we need good roads to fully appreciate the duke.

The duke is going to make demands on the rider unlike any other, it is quite hard core really. It will be many hundreds if not thousands of kilometers before a lot of people including myself learn to anticipate the duke's reflexes and relax just a wee bit.

Doc, In 4 days time, coming tuesday morning, I will ride to Bangalore on a personal visit and return to Goa thereafter soon. it will be a 1500+ Km round about ride. I will be able to provide a very accurate account of this fatigue factor after this ride. :cool:

I don't know man. I am not super fit personally, nor am I a spring chicken. But I have done a couple of 600-800 km days on the 390, as well as many pretty serious offroad/no road rides on it too. In gravel as well as monsoon slush as well as rocky trails.

Tiredness is not something I associate with the Duke. My recent point of reference being more than a decade of riding Bullets of course.

Yup the suspension of the 390 while it is perfect for good tarmac, does get jittery on broken roads. But that just meant I got off the saddle after the first few times, gripped the tank and handle a little firmer, and learned which patches to avoid.

That never stopped me in my tracks even once from considering leaving it in my garage and taking out my Bullet. Though yes, if I had not been testing the 390, I would have giveen my 200 a serious thought for some of the really bad sections, where the 200 is more pliant and planted than the 390.

I realize all riders are different, as are riding styles, and preferences. Just giving my side of the story as just another rider.

I got it from an acquaintance who has a fabricator friend folks. Cost me INR 1200. Unfortunately the fabricator is currently busy and is not taking any more orders.

However the facebook link provided will surely help as many 390 owners have received their stands from Saqib.

I completely agree and relate to this. How many of us ride the 390 like a commuter? I'm quite sure all of us wring the throttle at the slightest opportunity even in traffic. The addictive adrenaline-pumping acceleration and precise braking make sure I don't realize how fast I am compared to general traffic and how often I accelerate and decelerate rapidly. In the process, I concentrate very hard on the road and also sit stiff involuntarily. All this surely leads to fatigue. The best way to realize this is - grab your friend's 150 CC commuter and take it for a spin!

Now if I'm riding like this (like my behind is on fire) all day, I won't be able to do more than 300 km! I remember posting in some other thread that on the highway I metamorphose into a very sober, conservative rider and the emphasis is on mile munching, enjoying the ride and sustenance. But 'sober' and 'conservative' do not equate to 'slow'. :cool:

Guys, need info. which bike RVM stem is longest that is available in Indian market? I have seen avenger RVM stems to be quite long? any other RVM stems longer than that?,please:

KTM has increased the price of the Duke 390 by Rs. 6000. The bike now costs Rs. 1,86,000 (ex-showroom Pune).

Link to News Article

Sir,
Have they quoted any reason for the hike? From the link there was none I could make out.

From the Pro Biking guys, I heard the hike was 9K.

Sir D200 and D390 were always launched as inaugural offer /Price. They increased D200 price later , the same practice for D390 . In Bangalore , it should cross 220 K OTR .

agree: I got mine for 1.29 Lacs, and now I guess its nudging 1.6 lacs.

The KTM Adyar dealer while delivering mine had mentioned that they were looking for an hike around Rs. 8000/- on the base price. I got mine at 2.05 Lacs.

Now D200 is 1.57 Lacs OTR Chennai, delivery in one week.

agree: Seems D390 will follow the D200 route and may reach around 2.5~2.75 Lacs price bracket within the next one year.


:OTMy thought is "Will it still be an VFM product then?"

The boundary line for that in my estimation would be 2.25 Lacs. Lets see if my record as accurate Bajaj pricing predictor remains untainted! :D

What is the barometer for the term - Value For Money? I believe Bajaj offered a superb package with ABS, inverted fork, trellis frame coupled with some pulsar (local) parts for electrical and lots of localisation at 1.80 ex Showroom. Now prior to the release the speculation was in the range of 2.25 - 2.5 Lakh considering some factors mentioned above + power/performance/brand name and also competitors such as Ninja 300 in mind. I bet everyone was pleasantly surprised when the initial offering was 1.8 L and this became USP of the bike. Even for me the price was the clincher.

Now if the bike was released at 2.25 L, I would still say it would have generated similar amount of excitement and may be tad bit lesser sales ( as for some including me, the number lesser to 2 lakh (read Rs. 2 lakh) is a major deciding point, but even at 2.25-2.5 L it is much cheaper than a bike in its class say Ninja 300 and is a winner.

Sub 2.0 lakh is a mind game played by the company and this strategy could easily have doubled or trebled the sales of the bike in the last couple of months. Now that the bike is out and the word of mouth from owner experience is spreading and with all the smiles on the 390 owner's face and neighbor's envy taking over, the bike at 1.8L which everyone agrees is a wee-bit on the cheaper side considering that the same bike retails at a much higher price abroad, now I believe the price increase is the correction which company is doing is also keeping in mind the RC and 690 pricing.

Just about a fortnight back I was saying to a friend that RC 390 could cost 2.25 L, But now it seems upwards of 2.5 lakh with naked 390 pushing to 2.2 on road at some places. so this price correction is keeping in view of all newer models to come, but still shy of the competitors price which is over a lakh beyond this price.

I read a heated discussion somewhere in this forum that 690 could be priced less than / around 3 Lakh considering that 200 was 1.5 Lakh and 390 was 1.8 L. I see that all such arguments hold no water now as such gradual and recurrent price correction would finally place all the KTM's in respective price bands. I my opinion the naked 390 price could go upto 2.4 Lakh On road by the the time RC390 hits the market with a 2.65-2.7 Lakh OR price tag and even at those prices it could be VFM.

Now again, VFM is a relative term like how fast is fast or how slow is slow. one does not have an answer, but when I say 390 is faster than 200 but slower than say Ninja 650 I am talking sense. When the Pulsar 375 will be released soon with similar specs at a much lower price band, do we say P375 is VFM over 390? Nope. People who want a 390 will still buy a 390. But yes at what price range will the mind start swaying and having second thoughts and other bikes come into considerations, VFM comes into picture. and for that 390 is placed in a price slot very far from its Pulsar sibling or the Ninjas to discount any decision based on the VFM factor.

My 2 cents :)

With price changes, come increase in quality. Agree? ;) :D

Have observed this trend after owning a Bajaj for 6+ years. May or may not be true in the context of the Duke, but feel the new batches of D200's are a notch above quality wise vs. the ones from the first few months. Albeit the current D200 is pricier by 14% over the first few lots. IIRC its 1.6L OTR in BLR vs launch price of 1.3xL