[rahul4321]

Fed up with the Oil seals breaking on the front suspension and costing me 2200 rupees each time for a replacement, i purchased and installed the Front Fork Seal Covers from Mototrendz yesterday. Heard good reviews about it online. I hope i can ride trouble free now

Please ignore Robert in the background. He likes sleeping there behind the Duke. If i park the Himalayan in that spot, he will go and find where the Duke is parked, and sleep behind it.

Clearly must have owned an oil leaking Royal Enfield when he was born a human.

[rahul4321]

The Duke is at 22000 kilometers now and has gone through its second set of tyres; front Metzlers and rear Pirelli Diablo Rosso's. To be fair the tyre's still had some life left but the compound was very hard mostly due to the fact that these were purchased in January 2020 and during COVID; the bike stood still on its tyres for almost 1 long year.

I had a couple of long trips coming up in the next 6 months starting from Mount Abu in June, Pushkar and Mumbai in July and then Noida in September for the MotoGP Race. So I decided I would get the tyres changed. I chanced upon saikishor's thread and read his feedback about the Apollo Alpha H1's so I got the same set of tyres ordered and installed yesterday.

I did one brief ride to the medical store which was about 20 kilometers in total and while it is too early to comment about the grip as they are brand new unused tyres; the tipping of the motorcycle into turns was quite a strange feeling as compared to the older set of tyres. It may just be a case of getting used to it I guess.

Overall; with my touring duties I am hoping the H1 will give me the grip on dusty roads / unpaved roads which the soft compound Metzlers could not.

[rahul4321]

Completed my first 500 kilometre round trip to Mount Abu over the weekend on the new Apollo H1's.

First things first - the flat grip on the front tyre is amazing. By Flat Grip - I mean the surface area grip when the tyre is upgright vertically (not leaned over). The leaning grip is however a little less than the Metzlers (which is to be expected). The way it leans over is also very different to that of a Metzler. The Metz would turn in gradually; while the Apollo starts leaning and then suddenly its tipped over. There is no gradual consistency in terms of tipping over but rather a sudden edge. Took me a bit of time getting used to it - but once I had the hang of it, it was smooth sailing.

However, what I love about the H1's is its grip over broken roads, dirt and gravel. With the previous setup of Metzlers in the front and the Pirelli's in the back, the incredibly soft rubber did not give me enough purchase when it ran over broken roads, dirt and gravel. It sounds counter-intutive but it is true. The soft rubber was meant as a track only tool where you could carry off incredibly high speeds and extreme lean angles while shedding rubber when riding in that fashion. However on broken roads and gravel; the surface would 'pierce' the soft rubber.

This slightly harder rubber of the Apollo does not let the broken roads and pointy gravel pierce the soft rubber but rather, the friction between the two gives off resistance.This friction lets me get the required purchase and I can get the grip that the soft compound Metzler did not give me on broken roads. Weird but it works.

However - all did not go as planned. I believe I accidentally ran over the windshield parts of a fresh car accident and the new rear tyre got a large cut inside its groove. One minuite I was accelerating at speeds over 100 and the next minuite - I felt like the rear wheel would not move freely. I was not sure it was a puncture owing to the fact that I did not know how the wheel normally behaves owing to my lack of experience with this tyre but as I slowed down; the resistance became higher and higher which made me sure that something is wrong.

Thankfully; I passed a roadside puncture shop just as I was slowing down. There was more bad news to come. Normally fixing a tubeless puncture is a 5 minuite affair when the offending item is either stuck in the wheel or has made a hole and fallen off. However - in this case, this was almost a 4 centimetre vertical cut inside the groove which just couldnt be fixed the normal way.

Hence the guy had to remove the entire wheel; fix the puncture from inside the wheel by applying a rubber compound inside the curvature of the wheel carcass and then reinstall the wheel on the motorcycle. Took him more than 1 hour but boy was it hard work indeed. Not having a centre stand meant; it took 3 people to position the wheel and the bike while inserting the brake disk inside the brake caliper. Fun times indeed!

Next long trip for the Apollo's; Ahmedabad to Noida for watching MotoGP in September. Will keep you all updated on how the tyres behave.

[rahul4321]

Changed the 2nd set of chain sprocket at 23000 kilometers. Motorcycle feels like new again. The first one lasted 13000 kilometers. The second one 10000 kilometers.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Changed the 2nd set of chain sprocket at 23000 kilometers. Motorcycle feels like new again. The first one lasted 13000 kilometers. The second one 10000 kilometers.

Hi Rahul. What a coincidence! My first one lasted similarly. I'm on my second one now, but while its almost new, the 6 year period of stasis has not been kind to the O rings of some of the links, and the chain is running right and loose in parts. So I will use it till I can, and then shift to the brass Rolon one. Its just 1500 bucks more than the standard kit, and a young guy I met today at Wagholi KTM had it on his 390 Gen 2. He said it was his second brass set. His first OE set lasted him a similar 10k as us. Then he shifted to the brass kit and got 25,000 km from it! His bike is now around 40,000 km and he hope to get another 20,000 km out of his current chain. And it looks really amazing too. Really pops from far! Have put yp photos of his bike just now on the original big Duke 390 thread.





Cheers, Doc

[rahul4321]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Hi Rahul. Then he shifted to the brass kit and got 25,000 km from it! His bike is now around 40,000 km and he hope to get another 20,000 km out of his current chain. And it looks really amazing too. Really pops from far! Have put yp photos of his bike just now on the original big Duke 390 thread.

Attachment 2537538

Attachment 2537539

Cheers, Doc

Hi Doc,

Thats amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this with me. 25000 kilometers from a chain-sprocket on a 390 is pretty damn good. I will definitely bookmark this purchase the next time the chain runs out which will be at about 33000 to 35000 kilometers maximum. Do the 1st Gen 390 and the 2nd Gen 390 share the exact same chain-sprocket? or does Rolon make them for both generations of the Duke?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by rahul4321

Do the 1st Gen 390 and the 2nd Gen 390 share the exact same chain-sprocket? or does Rolon make them for both generations of the Duke?

I think Rolon is OE. Which means all generations. My present kit I bought directly from someone I knew in Rolon from my Bullet racing days (small sponsorship in terms of kit) so I got a pretty huge discount. Sadly he's retired now.

As it is I think all Duke and RC 390s share the same number of teeth, which is different for the Adventures and the 200s and 250s. When in doubt, check the manual! Priceless

Did you guys know that ALL KTMs, 200, 250, 390, across all 3 platforms, use the exact same spark plug? How amazing is that!!! In terms of spares logistics and availability and parts bin inter-compatibility.

Cheers, Doc

[rahul4321]

With not much happening on the Long distance riding front as I have started studying once again at the not so young age of 40, the KTM has been mostly doing grocery runs or 50 kilometre weekend runs just to keep the engine and wheels in running condition .

I started studying for my US CPA in Q3 2023 which I expect will finish in Q1 2025. The motorcycle will then once again be used for long distance touring in conjunction with the Himalayan 411. I recently was introduced to a new group of bikers and took the opportunity to go on a 250 kilometre breakfast ride with them to Polo Forest. The KTM after almost 1 year saw 6th gear and consistent high revs. Hope that woke it up from its slumber. It certainly woke me up because I found that I had lost my ability to use it as a crisp corner carving machine. I was riding tentatively and quite sedately as compared to how I used to ride it from 2018 to 2023. I also needed some time to regain my confidence on its awesome brakes. Still it was a good ride and reminded me how much I enjoy riding.

The Apollo H1s installed in 2023 are just a class apart. Forest roads, single lane highways, ruts, light rubble and potholes - it gave me enough grip and traction which the Metzlers never did on the not-so-good-roads.

I also came across a very interesting advertisement on Facebook by KTM / a KTM dealership which said that they will install the Gen 3 Duke TFT on the Gen 2 motorcycle for 33k INR. Steep pricing I know, but I am still contemplating it because I miss not having the ability to control music / volume and pick up calls on long distance rides which I will start shortly again after Q1 2025.

With the Android phones updating their softwares regularly (since I got the motorcycle in 2018) and the motorcycle TFT receiving no software updates, my Samsung A35 does not now connect with the TFT at all; neither directly nor via the 3rd party app which I used for a few years. So now the TFT is just something to look at and offers no utility at all. Installing the Gen3 TFT will bring back the ability to control volume, change music tracks and pick up phone calls which is something that for me is a basic necessity.