[abhijeet080808]

The first generation 2013 KTM 390 Duke has now been comprehensively upgraded. The second generation 2017 KTM 390 Duke is available in India at a price of around Rs. 2.30 lakhs (ex-showroom).



What you'll like -

- Superb engine - It has enough grunt to keep up with larger capacity cousins. It is refined too - feels almost Japanese in comparison to the earlier version.
- Telepathic handling - The handling is an improvement over the already good handling of the earlier version. The front end communicates much better now.
- Strong brakes - The front brakes are a revelation compared to the earlier generation. It now has better bite and better feel. It has all the braking prowess that the bike needs.
- Loaded with features - ABS, Color LCD display with Bluetooth connectivity, LED headlight, Open cartridge upside down forks, Ride by Wire, Slipper Clutch, Single touch starter - this bike has it all.
- Styling - It is a head turner. Enough said.
- Improved build quality - The general build quality is improved as compared to the earlier version.

What you wont -

- Niggles with the electronics - The newly added electronics associated with the LED headlight and the LCD console still has some niggles.
- Low rpm fueling - The fueling even though is vastly improved as compared to the earlier version with the introduction of ride by wire, still has some rpm surges at around 2k-3k rpm. This corresponds to speeds of below 20 kmph in 1st gear and thus is only felt in bumper to bumper traffic.
- Weak rear brake - It is much weaker as compared to the front brake. Could have been better.

TLDR - Want a bike to blast past everything in city? Want a bike that is high on power without the accompanying weight penalty? Want a bike to cruise effortlessly on the highways? Want a refined version of the 2013 KTM 390 Duke? Or, maybe simply want something that spells F-U-N? Get this bike N-O-W. There is nothing quite like it available in India at the moment.

[abhijeet080808]

Styling and Build Quality



The second generation KTM 390 Duke takes its design inspiration from the KTM 1290 Super Duke. The LED headlight with the horseshoe shaped DRL, the slim tank with extended shrouds, the split frame with contrasting orange and white paint, the side mounted exhaust and the orange wheels have all been faithfully reproduced on the baby Duke. The bike looks stunning on the road - especially in the Electronic Orange paint shade. Expect to be stared at by others at traffic signals.

The bike also looks sufficiently different from its younger sibling the KTM 250 Duke. The younger sibling has similar body work but does not get the LED headlight and the orange painted frame and wheels. The younger version also does not get the color LCD console and the orange handguards (not present on the bike in the pictures).

The build quality on this bike is a noticeable improvement over the older version. The panels feel well put together and no annoying panel vibrations are present. The UV resistant paint definitely adds luster to the panels as well. This is a bike that feels like it will last the distance.



From the front, the LED headlight and the LCD console dominate the sight. The milky white LED headlight is an eye turner and will catch attention on the road. The horseshoe shaped DRL looks cool and stays on at all times. More details on this later. The color LCD console is a first in its segment feature. It looks futuristic and is a treasure house of information. More on this later as well. The console is pushed closer to the rider and takes the place that is usually reserved for the handlebar lock. The handlebar lock moves to the front of the tank. While riding, with the console pushed back, there is nothing that dominates the front view of the rider except the road and thus gives the rider a floating in the air feeling. The switchgear is back-lit like the earlier version but now gains additional switches to control the LCD console. The big front brake disc (320 mm) adds to the look too.



Coming to the middle of the bike, the tank now looks better and is ergonomically better as well. The earlier generation bike had a tank shape that was not very ergonomic and fouled with the knees of riders of around 6 ft height. The new tank does not suffer from that problem. The tank is now much easier to grip with the thigh and is comfortable for taller riders as well. It is now made of metal instead of being made of plastic as was the case with the earlier version and in the process tank capacity has gone up from 11 l to 13.4 l. The tank shrouds are made from plastic and houses the Duke logo.





The seats are now better shaped and are also slightly softer as compared to the older version. Both the front as well as the rear seats are now slightly bigger as well. The seats feel comfortable enough to support long hours on the saddle on the highways. The design on the seat cover looks good and the seat cover itself is resistant to slipping under hard braking as well as hard acceleration.



Coming to the rear of the bike, the tail section now looks much more tidy and the LED tail lamp has a vertical split design reminiscent of the Pulsars. The grab rails are redesigned and are easy to use.

The bike's weight has increased from 139 kg dry to 149 kg dry. And the ground clearance has too increased from 170 mm to 185 mm. The increased weight is nowhere to be felt though.

[abhijeet080808]

Ergonomics



The ergonomics have improved as compared to the earlier generation. The seat is now slightly taller and the foot pegs are slightly more rearset. The rider now is slightly tilted forward and has a little more weight over the handlebar. This significantly improves the control over the bike while riding under various conditions. For instance, taking U turns now feels more natural and fluid as compared to the older version. Also, at higher speeds, the front end now communicates much better and as a result, cornering is more fun. Even, stability under braking is improved, A part of credit must go to the new front suspension system too. More on this later. The downside is that seat height has increased from 800 mm to 830 mm. As a result, the bike is more suitable for someone 5"6' and above.

The redesigned tank too contributes to better ergonomics. The tank is now much easier to grip into and thus improves rider confidence and performance while cornering.



Coming to the switchgear, the right side has the engine kill switch and the starter switch in standard positions. The starter switch supports one touch operation - just press the switch and leave it. The bike will keep cranking till the engine starts up and post that disengage the starter automatically.





The left side has a 4 button system to control the LCD console. They are fairly comfortable to use. The high-beam/low-beam switch has been merged with the pass switch and does take a little getting used to. However, the turn indicator is not very easy to operate. The hump over the indicator switch prevents easy operation of the indicator switch.

The switches are backlit in pleasing white and the backlight remains on at all times. The switches themselves feel a tad refined with better tactile response as well. The left and the right switchgears do look like they have come off different bikes though and that does spoil the look. The brake and the clutch levers now have 5 position reach adjustments and are of help to those with smaller hands.

The rear view mirrors are slightly bigger and have slightly longer stalks compared to those on the older version. That makes them that much more usable. However, TVS Apache RTR mirrors are a direct fit and offer better view compared to the stock mirrors.

The side stand is very easy to operate and the rider does not need to hunt for it when coming to a stop or when riding off.

On longer rides, the supportive seats combined with the fairly neutral rider triangle provides adequate support. 200+ kms ride at a single stretch can be done in a jiffy without any stops in between. However, riding continuously at speeds greater than 100 kmph does stress out the rider. This is due to lack of any significant wind protection on the bike. However, the wind protection on the newer version is slightly better than what was present on the older version. This is due to the raised LCD console up front blocking some of the wind blast.

[abhijeet080808]

Handling



The KTM 390 Duke now has open cartridge upside down forks at the front and a reworked single mono shock at the rear. The suspension travel at the front has reduced from 150 mm to 142 mm while it as remained the same 150 mm at the rear. The steering head angle has changed from 65 to 66 degrees and wheelbase has decreased from 1367 mm to 1357 mm. The frame itself has changed to a new split frame design where the 2 parts of the frame joins under the rider's seat.

The older generation KTM 390 Duke was already known to be nimble handler. The newer bike further improves upon that. The new open cartridge forks keeps the bike more stable under various riding conditions where the older bike felt a little skittish. That along with the change in steering geometry means that the new bike now holds its line better at higher speeds and over various road conditions and thus is more confidence inspiring for the rider. The older bike, even though it was a good handler, simply did not have that sublime handling that the Yamaha R15 is known for. The new bike on the other hand outclasses the Yamaha R15. The front end communicates in loads, which helps the rider gain that much more confidence while cornering.

The ride quality is improved over the older version. However, do not expect a plush ride - it is still a sports naked bike.

Even though the Metzeler Sportec M5 are now H rated instead of being W rated, they are as good as before. The tyre sizes remain the same 110/70-17 at the front and 150/60-17 at the rear.

[abhijeet080808]

Braking



The KTM 390 Duke comes with ABS as standard. The front brake disc is now upgraded from 300 mm to 320 mm, the brake pads are of the sintered variety and the master cylinder is also reworked. As a result, the braking of the bike is transformed. The older generation bike had just adequate brakes - the brake lever needed to be squeezed hard to access the braking power and while at it, braking feel was virtually absent. In contrast, on the new bike, the brake lever bristles with braking feel and the effort at the braking lever is significantly reduced too. Single finger braking is now very much possible.

The ABS behaves the same as before. However, kickback at the brake lever when ABS is activated seems to have been refined a bit - they are no longer felt as strongly. Also, the ABS now allows the ABS on only the rear wheel to be disengaged. This is done by setting the ABS in Supermoto mode via the console. More on that later.

The rear brake feels very weak in comparison to the front brake. They are not upgraded in any way as compared to the older bike and continue as it is. They could have been made slightly better. However, since on a bike braking is done 70% with the front brake and 30% with the rear brake, this can be considered as a minor issue.

[abhijeet080808]

Engine



The newer generation KTM 390 Duke is powered by the same water cooled 373.2 cc DOHC single cylinder engine. The engine is oversquare with 89 mm bore and 60 mm stroke. The engine is now Euro4 compliant. To achieve this, the engine had to be tweaked and as a result it gains some emission hardware including a side mounted exhaust. The engine now makes the same 43.5 ps of power as before. However torque is up from 35 Nm to 37 Nm. Peak power is now made at 9000 rpm instead of 9500 rpm and peak torque is now made at 7000 rpm instead of 7250 rpm. As is evident from the changed power and rpm figures, the lower end power of the engine is now boosted by a noticeable margin while keeping the top end as it is. Also, compression ratio is up from 12.5:1 to 12.9:1.

The engine gains ride by wire throttle. The choppy throttle response of the older bike has been tamed to a large extent, even though a hint of it is still felt at around 2k to 3k rpm. The bike now has improved low and mid range power. The engine starts pulling from 3k rpm onwards and goes into rocket mode from 5k rpm onwards till it hits the rev limiter. In contrast the earlier bike had slightly lower low end power and needed around 1k more rpm to display the same urgency. The throttle response is CRISP and is on a different league altogether compared to the older bike.

The vibrations on the newer bike are much more controlled. The engine does not even let the rider know that it has approached the red line - the vibrations are that controlled. At idle, both the older and the newer generation of the bikes have a slightly lumpy idle and the vibes can be felt. As rpm increases, the differences between the 2 generations become more and more evident. While the older bike used to vibrate significantly post 8k rpm till the red line, this bike has absolutely none.

The bike also sounds much better now. Gone is the cheeky blat of the older bike. The bike now hums like a Hero Splendour in comparison. Indeed, the new bike feels almost Japanese in comparison to the older one. NVH is one of the area where KTM has worked hard. There is one fly in the ointment though - the new bike while having a smoother sounding exhaust, has a exhaust that sounds too gentle as compared to the old bike. At higher speeds, all you will hear is wind noise, while at lower speeds radiator fan seems to be making more noise compared to the exhaust. The exhaust does wake up with a muted growl post 6k rpm as the engine rushes towards the redline. However, the bike does not announce your arrival like the older one used to.

The slipper clutch works to make the clutch action much lighter, while the 6 speed gearbox is as slick as ever. No complaints on these fronts.



Inside the city, the bike now feels much more quicker compared to the old bike - power delivery is instantaneous and more power is available at lower rpms. The heating is also slightly lesser compared to the older model. All of this combines to make for a more city friendly and easygoing Duke. Those who have tested the older version may miss the rawness of the older bike though. The older version had more character.

Out on the highways, the refinement at higher rpms is evident. The engine feels comfortable at speeds upto 140 kmph. The top speed is however expected to be slightly lower than the older older Duke. Speeds of upto 120 kmph is easy for this bike to climb to and maintain.

The calmer nature of the engine means that the bike no longer eggs you on to rev to the redline every time you ride. The engine is now comfortable over a wider rpm range and feels right holding a greater range of rpm and speeds. The brash angry teenager is now a suave gentleman who has learnt to keep the aggression under control. Make no mistake though, this bike is every bit as fast as the outgoing version.

The new bike is also more fuel efficient compared to the older version by around 3 kmpl. City mileage is around 27 kmpl while highway mileage is around 33 kmpl at speeds below 100 kmph. Fuel range on a tankful is 350+ kms on the highways.

[abhijeet080808]

LCD Console







The KTM 390 Duke now comes with a color LCD console with Bluetooth connectivity. The console is a nice upgrade over the monochrome orange console used on the earlier version. The console can perform the following tasks -

- Display the usual engine RPM, vehicle speed and odometer
- Display engine temperature and fuel level as gauges
- Display the current gear
- Display trip information such as trip time, trip distance, trip fuel efficiency and trip average speed. There are 2 trip meters available.
- Display time and date
- Display service reminders based on kms and duration
- Display battery voltage
- Display distance to empty
- Configure the ABS system to be ON, OFF or ON only for the front brake (Supermoto mode)
- Detect ambient light and configure itself in either day mode or night mode. Day mode uses a white colored background while night mode uses a dark blue colored background.
- Connect to a phone via Bluetooth and allow changing currently playing music track via the 4 buttons on the left side switchgear. It can also display any incoming calls on the display and allows pick up and reject of the calls via the 4 buttons.

LED Headlight


Engine OFF


DRL mode ON and engine running


DRL mode OFF and engine running (Low beam)


High beam selected via the left side switchgear

The LED headlight is one of the eye catching feature of the bike. The bike supports automatic headlight ON in low beam. The system has a few quirks though. They are explained below -

- When the engine is OFF, and the low beam is selected, only the claw shaped DRLs are turned ON. The low beam or the center section of DRLs does not operate with the engine being OFF.
- When the engine is OFF, and the high beam is selected, both the claw shaped DRLs as well as all 3 sections of LEDs come ON. This is the high beam. It can operate even with the bike switched OFF.
- The same behaviour as above is repeated for the high beam with the engine being ON.
- When the engine is ON, and low beam is selected, the claw shaped DRLs always remains ON and either the top row of low beam LEDs or the middle row of DRLs will be turned ON. Whichever comes ON is decided by 2 factors - when DRL mode is OFF in the console, low beam is turned ON. With the DRL mode ON, the ambient light sensor decides to turn on either the middle row of DRLs (during day time) or the top row of low beam LEDs (during night time). Thus in effect, DRL mode in the console controls the automatic headlight ON system. With DRL mode being ON, low beam will be turned ON as needed and with the DRL mode being OFF, the low beam will be always turned ON.

The ambient light sensor has good detection thresholds and thus can operate both the console display mode as well as the automatic headlight feature reliably. However it may behave slightly erratically during dawn, dusk, foggy or rainy conditions.

Coming to the beam throw and intensity, they are adequate. They are not as bad as the FZ250, nor as good as the Dominar 400.


Low beam


High beam

[abhijeet080808]

Small Yet Significant Things

The Heel plate is made of plastic and hence will not scruff off its paint like a metal heel plate.


The radiator shroud has a gaping hole in the center. The earlier version had a proper radiator shroud.


The coolant reservoir tank cap is placed in an awkward way. Need to top up the coolant? Use a dropper to fill it!


The fuel tank cap now opens in the reverse direction. It is slightly inconvenient.


The rear tail light remains ON at all times.


The single key opens both the seats. On the older Duke, the front seat was fixed.

Underbelly pan is now secured with 4 bolts instead of 6 bolts before. Easier to remove when needed.

The kill switch on the older bike used to turn off the display too. It is no longer the case.

Engine oil capacity has increased from 1.6 l to 1.8 l.

A new shroud has been added to protect the rear mono shock. It was present on the 2016 models too, but not on the initial 2013 models.

Reviewer Note

I have purchased the new 2017 KTM 390 Duke that is seen in this review. My earlier bike was the 2013 KTM 390 Duke. The one before that was a 2008 Yamaha YZF R15. And the one before that (and my first bike) was a Pulsar 150 v1.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle Section. Thanks for sharing!

[rohitoasis]

Thank you for the wonderfully detailed review of the bike which i am so itching to buy.
Brilliant selection and wishing you many miles ahead.

The headlight niggles are bit confusing.

I would wish you could elucidate the electronic niggles in the LCD display in a slightly detailed manner somewhere in this chain.

Did you get the update done which is being offered to resolve these issues. Are they of any help?

Have you done something like a screenguard on the LCD screen? Or are you planning to do so?

Are you planning a metal protector for radiator?

With the ride height increased, does the pillion height increase further? Already half my friends cringe at riding pillion due to the height of the my 2012 Duke.

Once again wishing you wonderful miles ahead. Thanks

[AtheK]

Brilliant review and congrats on your bike. I am so tempted to buy this, but with my kind of driving Akula will suit me better. This is Second in my list, if I do not like the way akula handles or drives, I will go and book this the next day.

[ArunRS2305]

Hello, Very well written review and congrats on your new bike. I have done a test drive on my friends bike when it was delivered to him. It jumps off the line a bit faster than my 2016 duke 390 but i felt the top end to be a little bit restricted on the 2017 model. Post 8000rpm I feel the older gen has a bit more grunt. Did you feel the same?

[abhijeet080808]

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

Thank you for the wonderfully detailed review of the bike which i am so itching to buy.
Brilliant selection and wishing you many miles ahead.

Thank you.

The headlight niggles are bit confusing.

I would wish you could elucidate the electronic niggles in the LCD display in a slightly detailed manner somewhere in this chain.

Did you get the update done which is being offered to resolve these issues. Are they of any help?

The only headlight niggle I am aware of is the random reboot of the headlight which causes the headlight to black out for 2 sec. I got my bike with V39 firmware and this problem is supposed to have been solved. I have not yet seen this issue on my own bike.

Have you done something like a screenguard on the LCD screen? Or are you planning to do so?

I put a 3M transparent film on the screen. Dulls out the display a bit, but it works. I am planning to get a tablet screen guard in a month or so.

Are you planning a metal protector for radiator?

If something comes up in the market, I may be interested. Nothing I could find as of date though.

With the ride height increased, does the pillion height increase further? Already half my friends cringe at riding pillion due to the height of the my 2012 Duke.

Yes, the pillion seat is slightly taller too.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Brilliant review and congrats on your bike. I am so tempted to buy this, but with my kind of driving Akula will suit me better. This is Second in my list, if I do not like the way akula handles or drives, I will go and book this the next day.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by ArunRS2305

Hello, Very well written review and congrats on your new bike. I have done a test drive on my friends bike when it was delivered to him. It jumps off the line a bit faster than my 2016 duke 390 but i felt the top end to be a little bit restricted on the 2017 model. Post 8000rpm I feel the older gen has a bit more grunt. Did you feel the same?

Thanks.

Yes, I have felt the same too. I believe it is the stronger mid range that makes the top end feel a little less gruntier in comparison. But otherwise, the top end seems to have the same grunt as the earlier version.

[unk9ja]

Originally Posted by abhijeet080808

If something comes up in the market, I may be interested. Nothing I could find as of date though.

That was a nice and sweet review of the new D.

Check the carbonracing facebook page for some good radiator guards. They seem to be made out of aircraft grade aluminium which translates to low weight. Link here.

https://www.facebook.com/carbonracinginc/

Note: I am no way involved with this outfit and it si just an information being passed on.

[satishv1987]

Is the new KTM duke a good tourer? I booked a RE Himalayan back in March.Given the absolute lack of info from the manufacturer about when the new batches of the Himalayan will be delivered, I am considering other options. How does the KTM compare to the Himalayan in terms of ride quality? I've never been on one.I loved how comfortable the Himalayan is. I've read a lot about KTMs being quite stiff and riders ending up with sore Bums after long trips.Only that is holding me back from cancelling my Himalayan booking and going for the gorgeous KTM.