KTM's Duke 390 seen testing in Pune

KTM's Duke 390 has been seen testing in Pune, the picture being posted on indianautosblog.com.

The motorcycle looked like it was production ready, though some of the decals were missing. The Duke 390 is likely to be launched at what promises to be an unbeatable price-to-performance proposition (approximately Rs 2-2.5 Lakh bracket).

The frame on the 390 is identical to that on the Duke 125 and 200. It took 2 years to develop the 375 cc DOHC four-valve design.

The motor comes with forged pistons and Nikasil cylinder coating. It features aluminium rocker arms with a Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coating. The oil circuit is as in the RC8 superbike with 2 pumps, a pressure pump and an evacuation pump.

The engine weighs only 36 Kg out of an unladen weight of 139 Kg. 

Chassis components are well specced too, the telescopic upside-down fork has the same 43 mm outer tube diameter as the RC8 R. The wheels are 17" cast light alloy wheels with grippy Metzeler rubber. The front brake is a radially-bolted, four-piston caliper, 300 mm disc and comes with a Bosch 9M ABS. The ABS can be switched off. 

The illuminated switchgear (also present on Duke 125 and 200) was installed on the special request of Bajaj says Jörg Schüler, KTM Product Manager Street (source).