[rohitoasis]

This post is in continuation to the previous thread of the same subject.

A lot has happened in the past few months. I thought i provide an update in this thread.

1) My commute length has reduced from 100 Km per day to 90 Km per day. (The 45 mile commute i mentioned in original post)

Reference to earlier post.
45 Km commute: Nearly entire distance is highway. 4 Tolls, 5 Traffic Signals and 3 speed cameras.

Current update
With this change the tankful to tankful range turned from 300km to 270 Km. With lesser distance and lesser share of stop and go traffic, I found that my plan to refuel every 3 days much conservative. I have now tried to implement refueling once in four days instead.

2) The lockdown has thrown a spanner to the service schedule i usually maintain.

Reference to earlier post.
- Bike serviced at near OCD levels. Once every 3 odd months during the first phase and Once every 20 days at least in the 2nd phase. (At one time, i was also doing the chain service every 500 km as per recommendation, but since that meant service every week, i decided to do it by a gut feeling on when it was needed, Noted that chain service was really evidently required around 1800-2000 km
- Oil Change done every 7500 Km. Mineral for the first 15K km. Synthetic ever since.

Current Update
The service station i patronize currently was in one of the red zones and was not allowed to open due to local regulations for a long while. As against my usual intervals for chain service of around 1800-2000 km. I had to extend duration between service to 4000 odd Km. I had to ride through this niggling thought in my mind. However i noticed that this period shows fuel efficiency which is marginally lower than what i have been achieving otherwise. I am assuming a reasonable chain cleaning and lubrication schedule as well as chain slack control does in fact contribute to vehicle efficiency (and effectively fuel efficiency).

3) Earlier i had access to a service station within 2 Km from my office and 1 Km from my home. With this change in location, i have access to only one service center close to my house. The closest one to the office is 14 km away and i have stopped patronage of that service centre.

Current Update
This aspect is heartbreaking for me. Among the 2 ASC i used to have access to, the one near Sungam at Coimbatore was better at listening to issues and making diagnosis. The one i have near the house has relatively inexperienced crew and this has given me some issues which i will detail later.

4) I have been able to do commute in a wider variety of climate conditions.

Current Update
There is no surprising revelations to be shared here. I was able to ride through some of the summer months. So higher engine temperatures were seen. Few times enough to scare me to do a coolant flush and refill the coolant. No significant effects on mileage though.

5) Issues with the bike which has led to change in my understanding of the bike.

Current Update
Now let me share something i have been putting off from posting for a while. In the past few months, i have been noticing some issues with the odo/speedo reading. In between rides, even when i would be riding at constant speed, the speedo would suddenly show fluctuating speeds. For example if i was riding at 60kmph. The reading would show random numbers between Zero to 60. I was originally not very concerned at this. But at refueling when i record the distance between top ups. I noticed the odo reading to be slightly lesser as well. After a few of this. I started recording these events in my excel sheet as well.

I assumed there is a slip somewhere between the prime mover of the speedo and the speedo cable. Eventually this kind of behavior became a bit extended. So i started observing patterns in how this aberration would repeat. Below is the summary.

I noticed, this kind of issue repeated over bumps while riding. At this point i felt that at the rebounds from these bumps, there was something coming off loose. I stuck with my original assumption for a while and tried tucking in the speedo cable a bit and riding again. This part of experiment was not very conclusive because sometimes the problem would abate and sometimes it would continue.

Eventually i found more points which i felt reinforce my theory was that at additional conditions where the suspension was in rebound, the reading would go haywire. Allow me to explain. The speedo cable attaches to the left fork. I would notice that when i would lean towards the right and the left part was in rebound, i would start noticing the speedo readings going cuckoo. Alternately in occasions where problem showed up and i was leaning left and the left part was in compression, the problem would temporarily go away.

This went on for a while and i decided to keep minuting these slips in ODO reading on daily basis. Eventually i had to give my bike for chain lube. I suggested to the service guys to check this issue in speedo. I told them to check if there was something loose there. After they handed over the bike, i noticed the issue still persisting. I asked the service advisor if they checked everything and the service guys said they did not notice this issue appearing. Yes i know, it will be possible to learn most of this data from the internet already. But what is the fun in that. I was stupid enough not to check this forum or anything in internet even at this situation.

The oil change was getting due and so i decided to make sure the service guys actually do try to test ride repeat this issue. They did attempt to replicate the issue and were able to replicate it a few times. We decided that we attempt changing the speedo cable. I asked them to check if this item matched with existing bikes or even anything from Bajaj parts bin. I was told that was not the case and had to fresh order. So i told them to order the component and wait it out.

In the meanwhile i continued the observation.
The speedo nearly never works at lower speeds. The readings start appearing only after i cross around 15 odd kmph. I was able to show this to the service guys as well.

The speedo cable arrives 3 weeks later and i got it changed. The problem still persisted. I was losing my patience with this problem. This is when i turned sensible and went out in the hunt for possible solutions rather than trust the service guys. My service advisor from Chennai was among the best problem solvers with the issues i turned up with. So i called him up. He was suggesting some "bolt" which could be the issue. Next in line was google search. One of the first links was from teambhp Duke 390 thread (The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread) and i was able to relate my situation to the second of the 2 options shown.

In the meanwhile my sister got tested positive for COVID and i was stuck in the house for 2 weeks. I took this opportunity to get the service guys to a complete checkup of all possible components which these threads pointed to. So wiring harnesses, fuses, Stator coil was checked. The service guys also attempted using a replacement speedometer console to check if the speedo console needed change. It was decided that this change would not be required. Every day they decide to return the bike. I ask them to do a test ride to see if the problem is solved. They find the issue and decide to keep it another day. This went on for a week and then i decided to stop this experiment. I got back the bike and the issue still persists.

I am now resigned to the fate of this faulty speedo. I am no longer minuting the daily loss of mileage. But at every fuel top up, i register the approximate distance i have covered based on the number of days i have ridden to office. This excel sheet would remain the closest estimate of the mileage my bike has done and i would keep this updated till i keep this bike. But my days of monitoring the mileage of bike are done with this bike. The latest updated excel sheet is attached.

ktm duke petrol.xlsx

I continue riding to the day. Other than the issue with the speedo, the bike is otherwise faultless. It bugs me a little bit and i keep wondering if this is reason enough for me to actually replace the bike. But every day i ride it. I feel no other bike currently offers value to me as much as this one.

PS: If any of the readers can share some advise on similar issues they have faced and what they did to solve it. I would appreciate it.

[raman.aries]

Kindly update this. Also, please provide us data for your new motorcycle.