[Dhruv Shetty]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Your bike sounds like it was very close the seizing. Good you got back without incident. You need to get the engine sorted before spending on peripheral stuff that's really not going to up performance in any way. E.g. slipper clutch ... most everyone agrees that the Gen 1 clutch gives it part of its punch. The slipper reduces it. Softens the delivery.

Cheers, Doc

As the bike is close to 40k on the ODO, 13800 done by the previous 2 owners, but don't know how the engine was maintained and as I said I have done close to 30k, I would like to start from a clean slate and would like to try out the slipper clutch once and feel the difference between the two, I have been tempted by the slipper clutch for quite a bit of time, plus recently I have started riding in a more aggressive manner including downshifts with quite a bit of wheel hop which I thought was fun but later realized that it could be dangerous under hard braking where it could lead to a crash, I had the conversation about the slipper clutch who do alot of track days, I do my digging for information before taking a plunge. I'm curious on how the engine is going to look after a teardown and how a slipper clutch feels compared to the standard clutch, basically an OEM+ build . This thread will be like an interesting one with all the experiments.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

[saikishor]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

Mid-year update (35880Kms)

A small update on the bike and myself, the bike is still burning lot of oil. Returned from Udupi to Mumbai on 3rd May as I got a good job opportunity overseas. In this 2 week of riding in Mumbai and ride to Pune & Lonavala, in the first few days after returning the battery had gone weak, I decided to use the RSA service to jump start the bike, paid so much for comprehensive insurance so why not utilize it, took a good 60 kms of riding to get the battery back to full charge. On the 11th of I had an overnight stay at Lonavala with my ex-office colleagues, decided to go till Pune at meet @Bhpianebonho and get a second opinion from the guys at Wahgoli, but due to me both our time not matching, I took a U-turn back from Pimpri-Chinchwad after hydrating myself properly. During Pune – Lonavala trip, the bike performed pretty good except for a few areas. First were the brakes, the difference between organic and sintered pads is very noticeable, especially if one is an aggressive rider. During the entire ride, I could feel a good amount of fade and was using applying more pressure and using 2 to 3 fingers on the brake lever, braking distance increased and less stable under heavy braking compared to the sintered pads where less pressure, one to 2 fingers on the brake lever, shorter braking distance with more stability. Second was the engine temperature, the temperature was hovering almost at the maximum, the weather being the big contributor for the engine and the braking system. The coolant was having a tough time keeping the cool, plus the engine burnt around 500 ml of oil which increased the load on the cooling system. Three times during the entire trip the bike shut down due to high coolant temperature. Lastly the uneven R.P.M at idle and sudden power cut under acceleration in 1st and 2nd gear. Sometimes the R.P.M will stay stable and other instances it will stay at 2000. In the final days of the bike staying with me, bike would start with a very inconsistent R.P.M which makes the bike go off, unless some throttle input was given to stabilize it. Keeping these issues aside it is still a hoot to ride.

At Lonavala
Attachment 2613009

After returning the next day
Attachment 2613010

During the 3 months of being in Udupi, I was in deep thoughts of whether to sell off the bike and buy a new bike, the decision had come down to sell it off and buy the 3rd gen 390, with decision final, I was excited and dreaming of the stuff to do with it and places to explore, until that fateful job opportunity message came up which changed everything, plan changed to upgrade to a middleweight or litre class bike, narrowed down to a GSXs 750 or a CBR650, towards the end of April the ad for my bike had come up on the classified section and Bhpian owned bikes for sale thread for small time of 1 day as I decided to keep my bike as the guys at Zenngine offered to take care of Tali in my absence, till I return to India permanently or back on holidays.

Dropped of at Zenngine, discussed about the engine rebuild and other small stuff, decided to take the plunge and switch to a slipper clutch .

Attachment 2613011

And this Zain opening up his Daytona engine to figure out what caused the engine to seize during a track day. After two days the culprit was found, the shell bearings from the crankshaft at piston no:3 had gone kaput and in turn damaged the surface of the crankshaft.

Attachment 2613013

Attachment 2613014

Last glimpse of Tali before i left, atleast i know she is in good hands and will be well taken care of.

Attachment 2613015

390 with the 790
Attachment 2613016

Attachment 2613017

On the engine rebuild topic, if I'm lucky i will just get away with a crankshaft & block piston or else full engine reduild with almost everything getting changed, like a new engine .

Until next time.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

Hey Dhruv, been a while since I read Tali's thread. I am curious about the taking care part by your FNG. Will they be using it for short spins or will they just preserve it? I am very curious about this.

[Dhruv Shetty]

Originally Posted by saikishor

Hey Dhruv, been a while since I read Tali's thread. I am curious about the taking care part by your FNG. Will they be using it for short spins or will they just preserve it? I am very curious about this.

Hey saikishor,

Good question on the taking care part, the owner will do the general maintenance and keep her running by taking short spins. Any major work expenditures like fork rebuild, new battery, brake service and big gun expense like the incoming rebuild will be borne by me .

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

[Dhruv Shetty]

Just a small update before the engine & brake rebuild.

Here is the expenses on the Duke since I have purchased it, the expenses is on the high side and wondering why am I spending so much, but hey it was a derelict Duke 390 which needed saving, I got the motivation from a German guy who fixes derelict and broken BMWs, worth every penny. I learned a lot about bikes and the 390 in the 4 years of ownership. On the engine rebuild front, the guys at Zenngine are waiting on the Mumbai rains to subside and till then the main parts are put on order like the block piston and crankshaft.

The parts which are marked in yellow in the sheet means it was big expense and labor intense job and lot of parts involved.

2020

The first year i was maintaining the bike purely on pocket money as i just graduated from Mumbai university.



2021

Here a big expense cropped & had my first accident in the first month during a breakfast ride, which was the ABS motor which happened a week before joining my first job in a corporate company and got it fixed somewhere in September when i collected enough funds. From here the never-ending expenditures starts .



2022

Mostly general servicing and few parts getting changed, nothing intense.




2023

Two major repairs took place in 2023




2024

For now it may look less, but soon it is going to shoot up by a huge margin



Total from 2020 - 2024

By the looks of it, I'm spending close to superbike level of expenses or close.



Next post will be on the engine & brakes, end of September or start of October.

Until next time

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

[b16h22]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

By the looks of it, I'm spending close to superbike level of expenses or close.
Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

Quite a contrast considering my ex 390 was one of the cheapest bikes to maintain among the other bikes I've owned. All thanks to Bajaj

With used bikes, it's all about luck. Also, I wouldn't touch a used high mileage first gen 390 with a barge pole You'll end up rebuilding the whole bike. The best time to pick one up is long gone now as most of them have ended up with 4-5+ owners.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

Just a small update before the engine & brake rebuild.

Here is the expenses on the Duke since I have purchased it, the expenses is on the high side and wondering why am I spending so much, but hey it was a derelict Duke 390 which needed saving, I got the motivation from a German guy who fixes derelict and broken BMWs, worth every penny. I learned a lot about bikes and the 390 in the 4 years of ownership.

Looks like labour costs are triple the parts cost on an absolute basis. I think parts replacement in general either as a part failure or proactive due diligence doesn't significantly change the spend equation much. As I say, the devil is in the details, it's small works that help a service center earn better margins profits.

Good luck!

Cheers!
VJ

[Shonith]

Dhruv, i hope you consider the possibility that even after an engine rebuild the bike may not be as reliable as a brand new bike. You should ask yourself this is it worth the money and time. You are not getting younger with each passing year (time flies dude before you know it you will be in your 30s thinking what happened). If you love working on bikes then it’s a different story. But if it’s the ride experience that matters then it’s a very expensive ride experience so far.

It’s my humble opinion that you look for a new bike. There are plenty to choose from than when you bought your 390. If it has sentimental values then go ahead with the rebuild else you should give this a thought.

[sagarpadaki]

Labor costs are pretty high for the work done. Is this a premium service center where you are getting the work done? For example, chain sprocket replacement labor is Rs.1500! Way too high.

Looking at these labor costs reminds me of a KTM/Bajaj service center in BLR- Auto Service. I used to service my simple pulsar over there for a couple of years and every service excluding oil cost was in the range of 2k-3k.

[Vignesh_N/A]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

[b]
Next post will be on the engine & brakes, end of September or start of October.

Until next time

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

I have spent 1.39L for my 2017 Duke for labour and parts replacement including tyres and my yearly expenses were nearing 23K as it stepped into 6th year of ownership (the engine rebuild was planned at 67000 kms). The vehicle when sold, was at 62300 kms and the engine compression was around 9.8 bar (a little bit of life left). But I mostly doubt it could just be the piston rings.

The spare parts price have risen over the years and coupled with short lifecycles make it an expensive affair.

[Dhruv Shetty]

Originally Posted by b16h22

Quite a contrast co pole You'll end up rebuilding the whole bike. The best time to pick one up is long gone now as most of them have ended up with 4-5+ owners.

I would rather touch high mileage first owner well taken cared of KTM than a low mileage neglected KTM vice versa. Now that is the intention, to restore the entire bike. Agree with you about picking up a good pre owned 390, majority of them are either trashed to death, stunted, raced or totalled. The pristine ones are kept well and don't come up for sale easily. Problem is I'm spoiled by the quality of work performed by Zenngine and I'm never satisfied when the bike goes to KTM, even for the smallest of work.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Looks like labour costs the spend equation much. As I say, the devil is in the details, it's small works that help a service center earn better margins profits.

Good luck!

Cheers!
VJ

As you seen all the updates on the bike you are aware of the quality of work done and I don't mind paying extra for quality work. Plus I plan out the work and services to be done on the bike months in advance so I am prepared with the funds.

Originally Posted by Shonith

Dhruv, i hope you consider the possibility that even after an engine
It’s my humble opinion that you look for a new bike. There are plenty to choose from than when you bought your 390. If it has sentimental values then go ahead with the rebuild else you should give this a thought.

I have been giving the bike to them for about 2 years plus and I have seen the quality of work performed, I have had alot of conversation about the engine and seen how they work on other engines, which gave me the confidence that it will be done properly and will be reliable. On the reliability standpoint, it has never stranded me anywhere, the bike did a 900 km ride with 300 ml of oil in the engine (never repeating again). Matter of fact I had put up the bike for sale before moving from Udupi to Mumbai, later pulled down the ad after a few days.

I do like to work on my bike and have sentimental value for her, balanced electronics it has.

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Labor costs are pretty high for the work done. Is this a premium service center where you are getting the work done? For example, chain sprocket replacement labor is Rs.1500! Way too high.

Lookingl 2k-3k.

It is a independent premium bike workshop and they have pretty skilled staff and the owner is very knowledgeable, the labour was high for the chain sprocket replacement as they had dismantled mostly everything and cleaned it up very well, the swingarm bolt was torqued to 130NM which the service centres ignore, or matter of fact any bolt on the bike.

Originally Posted by Vignesh_N/A

I have spent 1.39L for my 2017 Duke for labour and parts replacement including tyres and my yearly expenses were nearing 23K as it stepped into 6th year of ownership (the engine rebuild was planned at 67000 kms). The vehicle when sold, was at 62300 kms and the engine compression was around 9.8 bar (a little bit of life left). But I mostly doubt it could just be the piston rings.

The spare parts price have risen over the years and coupled with short lifecycles make it an expensive affair.

Let me guess the bike has been serviced at KTM only, looking at your numbers I have spent that money within 4 years ,, my Duke engine started to show signs very early on, but I ignored it was just some tanturms and over time the smoke interval increased and somewhere in 2023 it started getting worse, it started a drinking problem and my brain thought it was the oil quality of Motul and somewhere in April and May it was having compression issues before I left for Saudi and handing over the bike to Zenngine.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

[dwarika]

Dhruv, I have been following your thread for quite sometime now and it surprises me sometimes scares me looking at the quantom of trouble and expenses you have gone through so far. Also the sharing of info by other fellow KTM owners who spent huge amounts later.

Being a Duke 390 BS3 owner myself these numbers and experiences surprise and scare me. My bike is a little ver 40K on the odo and I have been the sole rider since April 2014 when I bought it and except for two breakdowns sometime during 2016 and 2017 when the fuel pump had an issue and started throwing fuel everywhere and the other time when the engine just stopped due to some tappet issue and both the time the expenses were less thank 7K.

Besides the above it has been once a year regular maintenance serviced at KTM service station and yes the service costs have increased considerably. A year ago with cgain and sprocket change, it was about 12K and this time a few months ago it was about 7K without any space change but a oil seal repair of one of the USD suspension which was the only additional work.

Yes I have replaced the spedo cover twice so far and have replace the windshield with a bigger one. Everything else is stock and the bike runs as smooth and crazy and wild as it was during 2014. Yes I dont often try those 160s anymore but occasional 140s are easy.

Now a serious question to all Duke 390 BS3 owners. Do you all face issues and am I just lucky to not face them so far? For me reliability is more important than performance and this is one of the reason I never did any mod although I was tempted to. Not even a simple K&N or FuelX etc. Interestingly the headlight bulb is still the original one but yes the left side left indicator were replaced some three times, thanks to my careless parking style in my earlier garage where I would make it touch the wall and break. At 40K if its nearing its life or is it good to keep for another decade with regular maintenance?

[Dhruv Shetty]

Originally Posted by dwarika

Dhruv, I have been following your thread for quite sometime now and it surprises me sometimes scares me looking at the quantom of trouble and expenses you have gone through so far. Also the sharing of info by other fellow KTM owners who spent huge amounts later.

Being a Duke 390 BS3 owner myself these numbers and experiences surprise and scare me. My bike is a little ver 40K on the odo and I have been the sole rider since April 2014 when I bought it and except for two breakdowns sometime during 2016 and 2017 when the fuel pump had an issue and started throwing fuel everywhere and the other time when the engine just stopped due to some tappet issue and both the time the expenses were less thank 7K.

Besides the above it has been once a year regular maintenance serviced at KTM service station and yes the service costs have increased considerably. original one but yes the left side left indicator were replaced some three times, thanks to my careless parking style in my earlier garage where I would make it touch the wall and break. At 40K if its nearing its life or is it good to keep for another decade with regular maintenance?

Thank you for being a follower the ownership thread, by the looks of it your 390 is a very well maintained specimen.
A stock Duke is tough to come by, a question does your bike still have the stock standard clutch or swapped to the slipper clutch.
If the bike isn't giving any problems, then you can keep the bike by doing regular maintenance. These duke's are tough bikes.

My expenses and maintainace has surprised, shocked and scared my friends on why I'm spending so much on an old bike.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

[Vignesh_N/A]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

Let me guess the bike has been serviced at KTM only, looking at your numbers I have spent that money within 4 years ,, my Duke engine started to show signs very early on, but I ignored it was just some tanturms and over time the smoke interval increased and somewhere in 2023 it started getting worse, it started a drinking problem and my brain thought it was the oil quality of Motul and somewhere in April and May it was having compression issues before I left for Saudi and handing over the bike to Zenngine.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

I stopped using KTM ASC as they were simply too good with their work. Didn't want that level work perfection for my bike.

So I mostly serviced at a private garage in Chennai. For the basic stuff like oil and filter changes, I usually do it at home.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by dwarika

Now a serious question to all Duke 390 BS3 owners. Do you all face issues and am I just lucky to not face them so far? For me reliability is more important than performance and this is one of the reason I never did any mod although I was tempted to. Not even a simple K&N or FuelX etc. Interestingly the headlight bulb is still the original one but yes the left side left indicator were replaced some three times, thanks to my careless parking style in my earlier garage where I would make it touch the wall and break. At 40K if its nearing its life or is it good to keep for another decade with regular maintenance?

Well, a 2013 KTM Duke 390 owner here. The motorcycle has done a shade over 50K Kms and running in great shape.

Changed chain twice at 20K & 40K intervals. Left side front suspension oil seal repair done. (This is because the bike on side stand is leaning towards it's left and perhaps a bit more continuous load on left oil seal). Now I have a paddock stand and all is well.

During Spiti ride, the display MID rubber hardened due to extreme cold conditions and cracked and hence had to be replaced and that's it. The rear indicators broke a couple of times due to the rear luggage straps fouling and that was fine. Headlight bulb changed once. Rear mono shock replaced with OEM unit as it got corroded due to the coastal environment (I reside in Goa). The front brake master cylinder was replaced a few months ago as it was old & showing sign of corrosion.

2 tyre replacement. Changed original Metzelar at 24000 kms and then Michelin at about 50,000 Kms. Now running on Timsun dual purpose tyres.

The motorcycle has D&A free flow airfilter, handle bar risers, an auxiliary light on handle bar, a windshield that I got from China through AliExpress those days and luggage rack stays.

As the motorcycle has been used in coastal area only, the engine surface has lost the original glossy paint., rest the bike is absolutely fantastic even now. I am a sedate rider and my motorcycle has never been red lines nor ridden harshly or rashly. It's always ridden with care and love.

I don't remember changing the original accelerator / brake cables, brake pads or any other parts. Everything is stock after 11 years. Great motorcycle. Brings a smile on my face even now when I ride it.

To sum it up. Never broke down even once on road, can do 150+ Kmph easily even now (though I don't ride that fast now.), serviced regularly within the stipulated time whether the motorcycle runs or not. Most of the bike is still stock and the items replaced are mainly due to the rust / corrosion resulting from the salty weather in the coast where the motorcycle plies.

However I have transitioned to the gearless Yamaha Aerox for my long duration rides now, mainly due to my age (I am a senior citizen) and the KTM is taken out very rarely, perhaps once in a few months.

[reddy6980]

Originally Posted by Dhruv Shetty

My expenses and maintainace has surprised, shocked and scared my friends on why I'm spending so much on an old bike.

Cheers,
Dhruv Shetty.

So true, shocking maintance compared to my D390.

I owned First gen 2013 September(The very first lot of South India) till last month which sold at 50% depriciation, with 42K on odo. Stock.

It was great 11 years of ownership with absolutly no niggles till i sold it due to very less usage. Single handed driven and no falls/scratches. Always parked in shade.

Post warranty every maintancne/Service is DIY till the last service at 41K, which was done at FNG for valve clearnace, water pump replacemet (preacautionary changes) as i had no tools and don't want to buy for one job in a decade.

It is still on stock Clutch and rides like day one. Stock clutch is very hard compared to slipper clutch. When i planned to change it to slipper clutch post Gen2 launch, slipper clutch kit assembly was priced at 4500. I dropped the plan to avoid unnecessary maintance.

I changed rear tire twice, front tire once (due for replace now by new owner), Chain/sprocket kit twice, spark plug once, valve cover gasket once due to oil vapours, brake pads once, Front fork oil seals 5-7 times, Clutch cable, indicator set before 2 days of selling. Speedometer cover (as rubber on buttons were cracked). Battery twice. No other plastic parts were changed till date.

Other than these, regular oil changes (5-6K kms), filters, regular maintanance, lubing all necessary parts, brake oil draining, coolant, plastic parts maintancne all handled by self and i loved every minute. Not even a blown fuse, electrical malfunction in 11 years of ownership. Service centres were friendly to deliver the parts over counter all the time for my maintance.

ABS pump started malfunctioning few months back and since my usage was very limited i sold it. I did mention on ABS issue to the new owner, cost of replacing same and was split 50-50.

Test driven new duke 390, too much of electronics influence is not my kind.
Old one felt so raw in delivering power and exhaust note.

Thank you.