[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Can anyone shed some light on touring on a 390 please? I am planning for a Mangalore to Bhutan ride on the 390. Love everything on the bike except that it's a pain to sit on the saddle for more than 30 mins.

I have heard of air cushions and wonder if it is a good bet for such a long ride?

FWIW, the Duke 390 is good but not great for touring. The 2017 ones have wider and softer seat and is W A Y better than the old counterparts. But for the most part, they not derriere friendly, takes getting used to, but yes, can be done.

Cheers!
VJ

[rahul4321]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Can anyone shed some light on touring on a 390 please? I am planning for a Mangalore to Bhutan ride on the 390. Love everything on the bike except that it's a pain to sit on the saddle for more than 30 mins.

I have heard of air cushions and wonder if it is a good bet for such a long ride?

My ownership review of the Duke 390 has all the details of long distance riding, multiple week trips as well as the pros and cons of the bike in its element as a long distance tourer. Take a quick look if you have a moment to spare. Hopefully it helps

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Can anyone shed some light on touring on a 390 please? I am planning for a Mangalore to Bhutan ride on the 390. Love everything on the bike except that it's a pain to sit on the saddle for more than 30 mins.

I have heard of air cushions and wonder if it is a good bet for such a long ride?

Having ridden my RC390 from Hyderabad to Bangalore and back one weekend, I can tell you that it simply isn't built for touring on. I had no issues with the ergonomics or the seat but you definitely need more cylinders and a more relaxed engine at high speeds. I'd suggest you stick to something with a parallel twin running much less aggressive compression.

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by yamaniac

Can anyone shed some light on touring on a 390 please? I am planning for a Mangalore to Bhutan ride on the 390. Love everything on the bike except that it's a pain to sit on the saddle for more than 30 mins.

I have heard of air cushions and wonder if it is a good bet for such a long ride?

You'll want to read this travelogue, both from the perspective of the 390 as well as planning for Bhutan.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...uke-390-a.html (Ka goes to Bhutan with a pack of wolves - On a KTM Duke 390)

[luvtandon]

Guys thanks a lot for all your responses. The friend on whose behalf I posted has gone ahead and got the bike aka SUNDAR as he fondly calls it repaired. He wanted to express his gratitude towards all of you who guided him aptly in his moment of indecisiveness. Sundar is up and kicking again and is now pushing him to explore avenues.

He hopes that all of you will remain his confidant's and help him steer his journey with Sundar to an unerring conclusion.

His message to all of you is given below in bold:-

Thanks everyone for the inputs you had given some time back. Due to covid, bike and riding became a distant priority.

Finally was able to get the bike repaired. There was a lot of discussion between repairing the present bike and buying a new one. Several reasons weighed in favor of repair.

1. Tons of memories
2. Low resale value of D390 in my area
3. New bike minimum 3L
4. No immediate use of bike for long rides
5. No 650 cc bike in budget, again buying a D390 did not make a lot of sense.

So, the budgetary estimate which was provided was around 25-26k. The final bill was a little north of 36k.

Major changes:

1. Block Piston Assembly - 9700
2. Clutch work including Slipper clutch - 3500
3. Chain set -2800

A lot of seals, gaskets , wires, oils, bulbs etc.

The two things which were not budgeted for initially were the Clutch work and Starter motor. Starter motor itself was over 5k.

Around 7200 for the labor charges.
Total 29k for parts

I haven't been able to ride a lot, just took it for a small spin for 150km. Overall, it feels like 2015 again, so money well spent. There is one known issue pending now, which will be sorted before any major ride. The fuel pump is not working to its capacity and gives a feeling of missing.

I again want to thank everyone here for guidance and support.

Thanks once again for helping him in taking the right decision.

regards,
Luv