Planning my first superbike purchase: Keep or sell my 2022 Duke 390?

I may upgrade from the CBR650R in a few years to a litre class and then I would miss my D390 even more.

BHPian 9godspeed6 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hey everyone,

I am upgrading to my first 'big' bike and I am confused about whether I should keep the old one or not. Let me start by giving all of you a summary of my biking life.

I started off on a Honda Dio, clocked about 35-37k km on it and sold it. Next in line was a BS3 Duke 200 which I absolutely loved. I rode this for about 4 years and let it go with around 35k km on the odometer. This was followed by a BS6 Duke 390 which I purchased in June 2022 and as of today, it's just over 2 years old. I have clocked about 21k km on this.

After a few months of hunting, riding various bikes and wanting to try out something different, I have finally decided to upgrade to a CBR650R. My other contenders were the STR765 and ZX6R. I have convinced myself to give up on the extra horsepower in exchange for reliability, the inline 4 symphonies and a sports tourer-type riding position (especially since I've been riding naked bikes for about 6-7 years.

Now, getting to the point, I am terribly confused about whether I want to let go of my D390 or not due to the following reasons:

1. I absolutely love the bike. No complaints it's exciting enough on the highways and I find it to be a fun daily as well.
2. I have spent precious time and money enhancing the performance of the bike and it still puts a smile on my face when I ride it.
3. I want to have an all-rounder backup bike and I'm afraid I'll never get a hold of this again looking at the emission norms and also because I'm not a fan of the newer designs.
4. I may upgrade from the CBR650R in a few years to a litre class and then I would miss my D390 even more.
5. Again, I absolutely love the D390 and it's a part of my personality. I'm also sceptical about giving both the bikes the time they deserve.
6. I'm confident that I will be able to manage the bikes financially and if not, the Duke definitely has to go away but that has a very low probability.

This is what has been on the top of my head right now and I would love to hear what the people here have to say. I'm hoping someone here has been in this situation before and I can get some good insights.

Thank you & Cheers!

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

A lot of us own 2 (or more) cars & bikes, so why shouldn't you own two motorcycles? I own 5 cars, all of which are very different from each other, in nature & character. Your KTM Duke 390 is just 2 years old and you obviously love it to bits.

While I love big, powerful cars, there is a different kick of kick in smaller pocket rockets. I guess it's the same situation with your new big bike & existing Duke 390.

Keep the Duke 390.

Here's what BHPian Axe77 had to say on the matter:

If you use your bike for a lot of local commuting as well, keep the Duke. If your riding is almost exclusively Sunday joyrides or touring only, then you will do just fine with the CBR alone. But if you do even some extent of local runabouts there will be plenty of times you will appreciate taking the 390 where you don’t worry about unnecessary attention, can park with peace of mind etc.

Also has the advantage that if you want to commute in heavy traffic, it will likely heat up a lot less than an inline-4 Superbike.

Here's what BHPian vattyboy had to say on the matter:

Remember that when you have the CBR 650, you'll notice that it's an attention-grabber.

While with Duke 390, you won't hesitate to take it out in crowded places like the market, mall parking, and grocery runs due to its nimbleness and small size.

Having the Duke 390 will also keep you more interested in CBR 650. Every time you switch from the Duke to the CBR, you'll appreciate its power and handling, which will prevent the CBR from becoming boring too quickly.

Here's what BHPian aargee had to say on the matter:

I've 3 motorcycles in the garage out of which Interceptor is the one used all the time. CBR has been sitting idle for almost the entire year. Rx is at least seeing the road once a quarter or so for it being Yamaha Rx100.

My point is: Maintenance & affordability take a backseat before practicality; unless the motorcycle is a pride {like Rx or RD or even old Jawa} or practical {like riding an SBK for 30-40 Km every weekday} there's no point owning multiple motorcycles.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.