Reviews of KTM 390 Duke ABS [2013-2016]

Style

it's a must buy in case of styling..

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine over heats a lot, bike fails on hot start, pickup is amazing, superb handling, fuel on street 20-22, highway- 29-30

ride quality & handling

handling is superb and quality is not that good, suspensions, clutches are very hard , seat is very very stiff

final words

must buy, don't think much, buy before the another price hike

areas of improvement

hard seats, tight suspensions, oil tank is just 10.5 Litres, stone hard clutches, noisy , engine heats a lot, hot start problem, coolant problem...

Pros

abs, metzeler tyre, 390 cc engine

cons

stiff seat, orange telescopic body, stiff suspension, good on highways, not good in streets

Style

it's the best in terms of style. That feel when you ride it is awesome.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine is a classy thing from ktm, i got a fuel economy of 35.

Ride quality & handling

handling is superb and seats are bit hard. Ride quality is like never before for me.

Final words

the best..!!

Areas of improvement

nothing..

Pros

style, abs, 390cc engine

cons

nothing :)

Style aggressive, but not overwhelming, looks in sync with the ktm family.

It looks brut-ish from the front.

It looks sharp from the side.

It looks distant from the back.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox great middle-high end power, lacking low-rev power, but then again, you shouldn't expect it to have grunt off the low revs. It wants you to thrash it around and keep it fired up.

Fuel economy is below average, at around 25-30 kmpl, i shouldn't say below average, because this doesn't compare with average bikes and under the subtext of 'kitna deta hai?'

the gearbox has a very tall sixth gear, you could max it out at around 175kmph. You could also stay in third gear throughout the day when you forget it goes fast.

Ride quality & handling the rear wheel plays more than it should when hitting bumpy roads while leaning during a curve.

It feels quite unbalanced at gridlock speeds, the reason being the tires are highly curved, the kind you find on proper race bikes and not on tvs apache 'racers'. Those tires (metzeler sportec) are very, very grippy, you see the difference from the duke 200's mrf tires. The metzelers do cost around rs.16000 For the set though.

Final words you would be daft, very daft to buy any competitors bike, the yamaha r3 or the kawasaki ninja 300. They both cost much more than the duke 390 and do not make anywhere near as much power neither do they have better equipment. The pulsar 400 to be released might pose a threat, but we'll see how that goes, as of now the duke 390 and the rc 390 are, deservedly, the best you can buy.

Areas of improvement more competent service, though adequate, i feel sure that any major repairs needed wouldn't be an easy process.

Pros

power, power, price

cons

nothing in particular

I bought ktm duke 390 in august 2016 and since i have bought this bike it was giving me perpetual problem. There were vibrations, engine oil problems and the list goes on. But today i had a close escape. While coming back from office my bike started giving a very unusual, loud noise and suddenly i heard a blast. When i checked, the bike's engine (which is made up of high-end aluminium, as they claim) had a huge crack. The bike could have caught fire or the oil could have spilled over me. #Ktm #ktmindia #ktmduke #ktmduke390

About the Reviewer

Well let me start with negative points.1) engine vibration- right from start, all the time you sit on it. 2) sound- horrible, if you stay in a busy neighborhood, you will be ashamed to start the bike.3) engine heating - it will burn your thigh and knee area, if you get stuck in traffic. Also engine shuts down sometimes because of heating. Pretty embarrassing.4) my own bike has starting problem from very first day. Even after servicing parts.5) seat is rock hard. Up to 60-70 speed you will feel almost every pebble on the road. Shock-absorber is non existent up to those speeds. So barely you can sit on it little more than an hour.6) there is some issue with fuel pumps. They do not last long and they will cost around 4000 rs. Now about positive points 1) mind boggling acceleration. If you are not strong and fit, this is not the bike for you. In traffic signals, when light goes green, few times i twisted the throttle to full and every other bikes, cars faded away, every time. 2) gearing ratio is ok. Although first gear is too short, almost never used it. In third gear you can leave the throttle, eat pizza and roam around the city at ~25 kph. Cruising is possible fourth gear at 40 kph , in fifth gear 50 kph and in 6th gear 60 kph.In 6th gear from 60 to 100-110 kph vibration is minimum, you can cruise for long hours (only the hard seat will not let you), although not as good as a perfect cruiser but manageable.3) if you can ride a bicycle then with this you can hit the corners like motogp racers (that is the feeling you will have). This is the thing, i guess the bike is made for,4) the engine braking along with actual braking is decent enough and it saved my life few times. 5) mileage - !!! yes it is mileage. In city i consistently got 26 kpl. And in highway tour, which i have made only one, i have got more than 37 kpl. But this is from calculation, not exact reading (reading gave 32 kpl in last 100 km, in that i believe 40 km was inside city and rest on highway).This is a damn good engine for touring. That is what exactly bajaj did, they made dominiar 400 with this engine.Just an advice- if you own a car or a bike, you need to treat it as a living being and take care accordingly.

About the Reviewer

The ktm duke 390 is a good bike an all-round performer. Light, agile, versatile, and super strong, the ktm duke 390 is the all-around perfect choice i ever made it is comfortable on the road, even at high speeds. It's too much fun when the road gets twisty because of all that power from the engine and the grip from the tires.

About the Reviewer

I have owned a passion & pulsar 180 before the duke 390.. After the pulsar, i wanted to upgrade, back then i always saw myself as a guy who would prefer a laid-back cruiser and just glide around.. :d and an obvious choice then was the 'thunderbird' (not surprised are you? ;) ) i got to know of the duke 390 from my friends who had it then (those were the ones w/o the slipper clutch) and during one of those "orange rides" (which ktms organize) i got a chance to ride both the duke 390 and the rc 390.. I was in awe of that power which i wasn't used to and that adrenaline rush, it took me a while to get used to that.. Let me honest, it did freak me out... Second encounter was during one of the rides to hp (shoja), i was on my pulsar 180 and the two friends of mine on their duke 390s; riding at an easy pace towards chd, those guys making sure i am on their trail.. But the moment we hit the himalayan expressway the two dukes took off like rockets dropping me like a stone..!!! it felt humiliating (face-palm)... That was the moment when i decided to buy this mean machine and nothing else.. Bought it in 2015 (that's when the slipper clutch came) and been riding it since.. Most of the kms clocked on the odo are from rides..

The bike is very agile and light… and has the go-to-anywhere ability.. I have pushed the bike to its limit and what it does is takes me to my destinations in one piece… i had never imagined me leaning on the curves/apexes, but the duke 390 taught me those (courtesy those metzelers) and with each and every ride, i can feel i am getting confident.. The servicing – maintenance of the bike after such rides does not burn a big hole in your pocket at all, even when i have had certain incidents.. A major plus point.. I know how many times i have breath sigh of relief after seeing the bill.. The power delivery is spot on, that 43 bhp power is enough to give you goosebumps.. Even in traffic one can easily navigate at lower speeds..

It’s a very distinct bike.. The ‘orange’ on it and the ‘sputtering firing’ catches everyone’s attention and people actually turn their heads to see.. On most of my rides, the locals come upto me enquiring about the bike, the tech specs and even asked to have their picture clicked with the bike.. Hahaha.. On a recent trip to mana (the last indian village in uttarakhand); one of the local boys excitedly comes to me and asks, “bhaiya kya ye duke waali bike hain?? maine suna hai iske baare me” (“is this bike the duke? i have heard about this bike!!”)

The flip side what i can think of on the top of my mind would be the space for the pillion.. It’s a little too cramped.. So riding with a pillion would be slightly uncomfortable and other issue is the heat from the engine especially when you are in traffic, you can feel the heat coming onto your legs.. If you can look past that, nothing to worry about.. That’s all i can think off.. Summing it up, those who want an adventure machine, which will take you to almost everywhere without having to worry what damage it will do this is the machine to buy.. Most importantly all the goodies packed into this and at the price it’s at makes it totally a “value for money” buy..

Happy riding! :)

About the Reviewer

The buying experience was really good. They delivered the bike within a day. Speaking about the riding experience the bike has got lot of power. What i feel is that the initial torque should have been better. Its jerky at lower rpms. Its a little pain to ride in the city at lower rpm. The bike comes alive only after 5000rpm. 7500rpm is the sweet spot. After 7.5k rpm the real pocket rocket pulls you. The seat is really hard. After riding for more than 2 hours you feel that you are sitting on a rock. The metzelers give awesome grip. But for Indian road i feel michelins are better. The bike is light weight so its pretty easy to maneuver in the city. If it has good low end torque it would have been awesome to ride in the city. Braking department is good. But not that good. It lacks the initial bite. I guess they should have added a option of dual disc brakes since this crosses 150+kmph easily. The abs gives good confidence to brake hard in any conditions . There have been some problems in my bike. 1) engine oil leaking. 2) fuel leaking from the fuel filter. Servicing the bike is easy. Just change the engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter , air filter, spark plug that's it. You can even do it at home. I had recently serviced my friends duke 200 by myself. 5000kms more to go for my bike to get serviced. The average mileage you get is around 22-25kmpl. My bike has done almost 3000kms and I've been continuously monitoring the mileage. I ride in both highway and city mixed. After third service ie once i cross 16k kms. I will be installing power tronic ecu. They say the bike gets smoother and will have good low end torque. It also unlocks the rpm limit.

Pros: good mid and top end torque

nice looks

abs standard

sticky metzelers

digital instrument cluster

Cons: vibrations

low end torque

About the Reviewer

It’s a great bike and the popular name ‘rocket’ suits so well. May not be a daily commute in mumbai and delhi kinda traffic but a great bike for fun ride on some days. Gets hot if driven with frequent brakes and slow moving traffic and radiator’s voice is uncomfortable at times. Bike is fun to ride on free roads and very safe because of awesome abs brakes. Stops like a tamed elephant. Super pick up and smooth gear shifts. Seat a bit better than previous version but still hard for long commutes. Over all good bike.

About the Reviewer

Style

it's a must buy in case of styling..

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine over heats a lot, bike fails on hot start, pickup is amazing, superb handling, fuel on street 20-22, highway- 29-30

ride quality & handling

handling is superb and quality is not that good, suspensions, clutches are very hard , seat is very very stiff

final words

must buy, don't think much, buy before the another price hike

areas of improvement

hard seats, tight suspensions, oil tank is just 10.5 Litres, stone hard clutches, noisy , engine heats a lot, hot start problem, coolant problem...

Pros

abs, metzeler tyre, 390 cc engine

cons

stiff seat, orange telescopic body, stiff suspension, good on highways, not good in streets

Style

it's the best in terms of style. That feel when you ride it is awesome.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine is a classy thing from ktm, i got a fuel economy of 35.

Ride quality & handling

handling is superb and seats are bit hard. Ride quality is like never before for me.

Final words

the best..!!

Areas of improvement

nothing..

Pros

style, abs, 390cc engine

cons

nothing :)

Style aggressive, but not overwhelming, looks in sync with the ktm family.

It looks brut-ish from the front.

It looks sharp from the side.

It looks distant from the back.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox great middle-high end power, lacking low-rev power, but then again, you shouldn't expect it to have grunt off the low revs. It wants you to thrash it around and keep it fired up.

Fuel economy is below average, at around 25-30 kmpl, i shouldn't say below average, because this doesn't compare with average bikes and under the subtext of 'kitna deta hai?'

the gearbox has a very tall sixth gear, you could max it out at around 175kmph. You could also stay in third gear throughout the day when you forget it goes fast.

Ride quality & handling the rear wheel plays more than it should when hitting bumpy roads while leaning during a curve.

It feels quite unbalanced at gridlock speeds, the reason being the tires are highly curved, the kind you find on proper race bikes and not on tvs apache 'racers'. Those tires (metzeler sportec) are very, very grippy, you see the difference from the duke 200's mrf tires. The metzelers do cost around rs.16000 For the set though.

Final words you would be daft, very daft to buy any competitors bike, the yamaha r3 or the kawasaki ninja 300. They both cost much more than the duke 390 and do not make anywhere near as much power neither do they have better equipment. The pulsar 400 to be released might pose a threat, but we'll see how that goes, as of now the duke 390 and the rc 390 are, deservedly, the best you can buy.

Areas of improvement more competent service, though adequate, i feel sure that any major repairs needed wouldn't be an easy process.

Pros

power, power, price

cons

nothing in particular

I bought ktm duke 390 in august 2016 and since i have bought this bike it was giving me perpetual problem. There were vibrations, engine oil problems and the list goes on. But today i had a close escape. While coming back from office my bike started giving a very unusual, loud noise and suddenly i heard a blast. When i checked, the bike's engine (which is made up of high-end aluminium, as they claim) had a huge crack. The bike could have caught fire or the oil could have spilled over me. #Ktm #ktmindia #ktmduke #ktmduke390

About the Reviewer

Well let me start with negative points.1) engine vibration- right from start, all the time you sit on it. 2) sound- horrible, if you stay in a busy neighborhood, you will be ashamed to start the bike.3) engine heating - it will burn your thigh and knee area, if you get stuck in traffic. Also engine shuts down sometimes because of heating. Pretty embarrassing.4) my own bike has starting problem from very first day. Even after servicing parts.5) seat is rock hard. Up to 60-70 speed you will feel almost every pebble on the road. Shock-absorber is non existent up to those speeds. So barely you can sit on it little more than an hour.6) there is some issue with fuel pumps. They do not last long and they will cost around 4000 rs. Now about positive points 1) mind boggling acceleration. If you are not strong and fit, this is not the bike for you. In traffic signals, when light goes green, few times i twisted the throttle to full and every other bikes, cars faded away, every time. 2) gearing ratio is ok. Although first gear is too short, almost never used it. In third gear you can leave the throttle, eat pizza and roam around the city at ~25 kph. Cruising is possible fourth gear at 40 kph , in fifth gear 50 kph and in 6th gear 60 kph.In 6th gear from 60 to 100-110 kph vibration is minimum, you can cruise for long hours (only the hard seat will not let you), although not as good as a perfect cruiser but manageable.3) if you can ride a bicycle then with this you can hit the corners like motogp racers (that is the feeling you will have). This is the thing, i guess the bike is made for,4) the engine braking along with actual braking is decent enough and it saved my life few times. 5) mileage - !!! yes it is mileage. In city i consistently got 26 kpl. And in highway tour, which i have made only one, i have got more than 37 kpl. But this is from calculation, not exact reading (reading gave 32 kpl in last 100 km, in that i believe 40 km was inside city and rest on highway).This is a damn good engine for touring. That is what exactly bajaj did, they made dominiar 400 with this engine.Just an advice- if you own a car or a bike, you need to treat it as a living being and take care accordingly.

About the Reviewer

The ktm duke 390 is a good bike an all-round performer. Light, agile, versatile, and super strong, the ktm duke 390 is the all-around perfect choice i ever made it is comfortable on the road, even at high speeds. It's too much fun when the road gets twisty because of all that power from the engine and the grip from the tires.

About the Reviewer

I have owned a passion & pulsar 180 before the duke 390.. After the pulsar, i wanted to upgrade, back then i always saw myself as a guy who would prefer a laid-back cruiser and just glide around.. :d and an obvious choice then was the 'thunderbird' (not surprised are you? ;) ) i got to know of the duke 390 from my friends who had it then (those were the ones w/o the slipper clutch) and during one of those "orange rides" (which ktms organize) i got a chance to ride both the duke 390 and the rc 390.. I was in awe of that power which i wasn't used to and that adrenaline rush, it took me a while to get used to that.. Let me honest, it did freak me out... Second encounter was during one of the rides to hp (shoja), i was on my pulsar 180 and the two friends of mine on their duke 390s; riding at an easy pace towards chd, those guys making sure i am on their trail.. But the moment we hit the himalayan expressway the two dukes took off like rockets dropping me like a stone..!!! it felt humiliating (face-palm)... That was the moment when i decided to buy this mean machine and nothing else.. Bought it in 2015 (that's when the slipper clutch came) and been riding it since.. Most of the kms clocked on the odo are from rides..

The bike is very agile and light… and has the go-to-anywhere ability.. I have pushed the bike to its limit and what it does is takes me to my destinations in one piece… i had never imagined me leaning on the curves/apexes, but the duke 390 taught me those (courtesy those metzelers) and with each and every ride, i can feel i am getting confident.. The servicing – maintenance of the bike after such rides does not burn a big hole in your pocket at all, even when i have had certain incidents.. A major plus point.. I know how many times i have breath sigh of relief after seeing the bill.. The power delivery is spot on, that 43 bhp power is enough to give you goosebumps.. Even in traffic one can easily navigate at lower speeds..

It’s a very distinct bike.. The ‘orange’ on it and the ‘sputtering firing’ catches everyone’s attention and people actually turn their heads to see.. On most of my rides, the locals come upto me enquiring about the bike, the tech specs and even asked to have their picture clicked with the bike.. Hahaha.. On a recent trip to mana (the last indian village in uttarakhand); one of the local boys excitedly comes to me and asks, “bhaiya kya ye duke waali bike hain?? maine suna hai iske baare me” (“is this bike the duke? i have heard about this bike!!”)

The flip side what i can think of on the top of my mind would be the space for the pillion.. It’s a little too cramped.. So riding with a pillion would be slightly uncomfortable and other issue is the heat from the engine especially when you are in traffic, you can feel the heat coming onto your legs.. If you can look past that, nothing to worry about.. That’s all i can think off.. Summing it up, those who want an adventure machine, which will take you to almost everywhere without having to worry what damage it will do this is the machine to buy.. Most importantly all the goodies packed into this and at the price it’s at makes it totally a “value for money” buy..

Happy riding! :)

About the Reviewer

The buying experience was really good. They delivered the bike within a day. Speaking about the riding experience the bike has got lot of power. What i feel is that the initial torque should have been better. Its jerky at lower rpms. Its a little pain to ride in the city at lower rpm. The bike comes alive only after 5000rpm. 7500rpm is the sweet spot. After 7.5k rpm the real pocket rocket pulls you. The seat is really hard. After riding for more than 2 hours you feel that you are sitting on a rock. The metzelers give awesome grip. But for Indian road i feel michelins are better. The bike is light weight so its pretty easy to maneuver in the city. If it has good low end torque it would have been awesome to ride in the city. Braking department is good. But not that good. It lacks the initial bite. I guess they should have added a option of dual disc brakes since this crosses 150+kmph easily. The abs gives good confidence to brake hard in any conditions . There have been some problems in my bike. 1) engine oil leaking. 2) fuel leaking from the fuel filter. Servicing the bike is easy. Just change the engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter , air filter, spark plug that's it. You can even do it at home. I had recently serviced my friends duke 200 by myself. 5000kms more to go for my bike to get serviced. The average mileage you get is around 22-25kmpl. My bike has done almost 3000kms and I've been continuously monitoring the mileage. I ride in both highway and city mixed. After third service ie once i cross 16k kms. I will be installing power tronic ecu. They say the bike gets smoother and will have good low end torque. It also unlocks the rpm limit.

Pros: good mid and top end torque

nice looks

abs standard

sticky metzelers

digital instrument cluster

Cons: vibrations

low end torque

About the Reviewer

It’s a great bike and the popular name ‘rocket’ suits so well. May not be a daily commute in mumbai and delhi kinda traffic but a great bike for fun ride on some days. Gets hot if driven with frequent brakes and slow moving traffic and radiator’s voice is uncomfortable at times. Bike is fun to ride on free roads and very safe because of awesome abs brakes. Stops like a tamed elephant. Super pick up and smooth gear shifts. Seat a bit better than previous version but still hard for long commutes. Over all good bike.

About the Reviewer

Style

it's a must buy in case of styling..

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine over heats a lot, bike fails on hot start, pickup is amazing, superb handling, fuel on street 20-22, highway- 29-30

ride quality & handling

handling is superb and quality is not that good, suspensions, clutches are very hard , seat is very very stiff

final words

must buy, don't think much, buy before the another price hike

areas of improvement

hard seats, tight suspensions, oil tank is just 10.5 Litres, stone hard clutches, noisy , engine heats a lot, hot start problem, coolant problem...

Pros

abs, metzeler tyre, 390 cc engine

cons

stiff seat, orange telescopic body, stiff suspension, good on highways, not good in streets

Style

it's the best in terms of style. That feel when you ride it is awesome.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox

engine is a classy thing from ktm, i got a fuel economy of 35.

Ride quality & handling

handling is superb and seats are bit hard. Ride quality is like never before for me.

Final words

the best..!!

Areas of improvement

nothing..

Pros

style, abs, 390cc engine

cons

nothing :)

Style aggressive, but not overwhelming, looks in sync with the ktm family.

It looks brut-ish from the front.

It looks sharp from the side.

It looks distant from the back.

Engine performance, fuel economy and gearbox great middle-high end power, lacking low-rev power, but then again, you shouldn't expect it to have grunt off the low revs. It wants you to thrash it around and keep it fired up.

Fuel economy is below average, at around 25-30 kmpl, i shouldn't say below average, because this doesn't compare with average bikes and under the subtext of 'kitna deta hai?'

the gearbox has a very tall sixth gear, you could max it out at around 175kmph. You could also stay in third gear throughout the day when you forget it goes fast.

Ride quality & handling the rear wheel plays more than it should when hitting bumpy roads while leaning during a curve.

It feels quite unbalanced at gridlock speeds, the reason being the tires are highly curved, the kind you find on proper race bikes and not on tvs apache 'racers'. Those tires (metzeler sportec) are very, very grippy, you see the difference from the duke 200's mrf tires. The metzelers do cost around rs.16000 For the set though.

Final words you would be daft, very daft to buy any competitors bike, the yamaha r3 or the kawasaki ninja 300. They both cost much more than the duke 390 and do not make anywhere near as much power neither do they have better equipment. The pulsar 400 to be released might pose a threat, but we'll see how that goes, as of now the duke 390 and the rc 390 are, deservedly, the best you can buy.

Areas of improvement more competent service, though adequate, i feel sure that any major repairs needed wouldn't be an easy process.

Pros

power, power, price

cons

nothing in particular

I bought ktm duke 390 in august 2016 and since i have bought this bike it was giving me perpetual problem. There were vibrations, engine oil problems and the list goes on. But today i had a close escape. While coming back from office my bike started giving a very unusual, loud noise and suddenly i heard a blast. When i checked, the bike's engine (which is made up of high-end aluminium, as they claim) had a huge crack. The bike could have caught fire or the oil could have spilled over me. #Ktm #ktmindia #ktmduke #ktmduke390

About the Reviewer

Well let me start with negative points.1) engine vibration- right from start, all the time you sit on it. 2) sound- horrible, if you stay in a busy neighborhood, you will be ashamed to start the bike.3) engine heating - it will burn your thigh and knee area, if you get stuck in traffic. Also engine shuts down sometimes because of heating. Pretty embarrassing.4) my own bike has starting problem from very first day. Even after servicing parts.5) seat is rock hard. Up to 60-70 speed you will feel almost every pebble on the road. Shock-absorber is non existent up to those speeds. So barely you can sit on it little more than an hour.6) there is some issue with fuel pumps. They do not last long and they will cost around 4000 rs. Now about positive points 1) mind boggling acceleration. If you are not strong and fit, this is not the bike for you. In traffic signals, when light goes green, few times i twisted the throttle to full and every other bikes, cars faded away, every time. 2) gearing ratio is ok. Although first gear is too short, almost never used it. In third gear you can leave the throttle, eat pizza and roam around the city at ~25 kph. Cruising is possible fourth gear at 40 kph , in fifth gear 50 kph and in 6th gear 60 kph.In 6th gear from 60 to 100-110 kph vibration is minimum, you can cruise for long hours (only the hard seat will not let you), although not as good as a perfect cruiser but manageable.3) if you can ride a bicycle then with this you can hit the corners like motogp racers (that is the feeling you will have). This is the thing, i guess the bike is made for,4) the engine braking along with actual braking is decent enough and it saved my life few times. 5) mileage - !!! yes it is mileage. In city i consistently got 26 kpl. And in highway tour, which i have made only one, i have got more than 37 kpl. But this is from calculation, not exact reading (reading gave 32 kpl in last 100 km, in that i believe 40 km was inside city and rest on highway).This is a damn good engine for touring. That is what exactly bajaj did, they made dominiar 400 with this engine.Just an advice- if you own a car or a bike, you need to treat it as a living being and take care accordingly.

About the Reviewer

The ktm duke 390 is a good bike an all-round performer. Light, agile, versatile, and super strong, the ktm duke 390 is the all-around perfect choice i ever made it is comfortable on the road, even at high speeds. It's too much fun when the road gets twisty because of all that power from the engine and the grip from the tires.

About the Reviewer

I have owned a passion & pulsar 180 before the duke 390.. After the pulsar, i wanted to upgrade, back then i always saw myself as a guy who would prefer a laid-back cruiser and just glide around.. :d and an obvious choice then was the 'thunderbird' (not surprised are you? ;) ) i got to know of the duke 390 from my friends who had it then (those were the ones w/o the slipper clutch) and during one of those "orange rides" (which ktms organize) i got a chance to ride both the duke 390 and the rc 390.. I was in awe of that power which i wasn't used to and that adrenaline rush, it took me a while to get used to that.. Let me honest, it did freak me out... Second encounter was during one of the rides to hp (shoja), i was on my pulsar 180 and the two friends of mine on their duke 390s; riding at an easy pace towards chd, those guys making sure i am on their trail.. But the moment we hit the himalayan expressway the two dukes took off like rockets dropping me like a stone..!!! it felt humiliating (face-palm)... That was the moment when i decided to buy this mean machine and nothing else.. Bought it in 2015 (that's when the slipper clutch came) and been riding it since.. Most of the kms clocked on the odo are from rides..

The bike is very agile and light… and has the go-to-anywhere ability.. I have pushed the bike to its limit and what it does is takes me to my destinations in one piece… i had never imagined me leaning on the curves/apexes, but the duke 390 taught me those (courtesy those metzelers) and with each and every ride, i can feel i am getting confident.. The servicing – maintenance of the bike after such rides does not burn a big hole in your pocket at all, even when i have had certain incidents.. A major plus point.. I know how many times i have breath sigh of relief after seeing the bill.. The power delivery is spot on, that 43 bhp power is enough to give you goosebumps.. Even in traffic one can easily navigate at lower speeds..

It’s a very distinct bike.. The ‘orange’ on it and the ‘sputtering firing’ catches everyone’s attention and people actually turn their heads to see.. On most of my rides, the locals come upto me enquiring about the bike, the tech specs and even asked to have their picture clicked with the bike.. Hahaha.. On a recent trip to mana (the last indian village in uttarakhand); one of the local boys excitedly comes to me and asks, “bhaiya kya ye duke waali bike hain?? maine suna hai iske baare me” (“is this bike the duke? i have heard about this bike!!”)

The flip side what i can think of on the top of my mind would be the space for the pillion.. It’s a little too cramped.. So riding with a pillion would be slightly uncomfortable and other issue is the heat from the engine especially when you are in traffic, you can feel the heat coming onto your legs.. If you can look past that, nothing to worry about.. That’s all i can think off.. Summing it up, those who want an adventure machine, which will take you to almost everywhere without having to worry what damage it will do this is the machine to buy.. Most importantly all the goodies packed into this and at the price it’s at makes it totally a “value for money” buy..

Happy riding! :)

About the Reviewer

The buying experience was really good. They delivered the bike within a day. Speaking about the riding experience the bike has got lot of power. What i feel is that the initial torque should have been better. Its jerky at lower rpms. Its a little pain to ride in the city at lower rpm. The bike comes alive only after 5000rpm. 7500rpm is the sweet spot. After 7.5k rpm the real pocket rocket pulls you. The seat is really hard. After riding for more than 2 hours you feel that you are sitting on a rock. The metzelers give awesome grip. But for Indian road i feel michelins are better. The bike is light weight so its pretty easy to maneuver in the city. If it has good low end torque it would have been awesome to ride in the city. Braking department is good. But not that good. It lacks the initial bite. I guess they should have added a option of dual disc brakes since this crosses 150+kmph easily. The abs gives good confidence to brake hard in any conditions . There have been some problems in my bike. 1) engine oil leaking. 2) fuel leaking from the fuel filter. Servicing the bike is easy. Just change the engine oil, oil filter, fuel filter , air filter, spark plug that's it. You can even do it at home. I had recently serviced my friends duke 200 by myself. 5000kms more to go for my bike to get serviced. The average mileage you get is around 22-25kmpl. My bike has done almost 3000kms and I've been continuously monitoring the mileage. I ride in both highway and city mixed. After third service ie once i cross 16k kms. I will be installing power tronic ecu. They say the bike gets smoother and will have good low end torque. It also unlocks the rpm limit.

Pros: good mid and top end torque

nice looks

abs standard

sticky metzelers

digital instrument cluster

Cons: vibrations

low end torque

About the Reviewer

It’s a great bike and the popular name ‘rocket’ suits so well. May not be a daily commute in mumbai and delhi kinda traffic but a great bike for fun ride on some days. Gets hot if driven with frequent brakes and slow moving traffic and radiator’s voice is uncomfortable at times. Bike is fun to ride on free roads and very safe because of awesome abs brakes. Stops like a tamed elephant. Super pick up and smooth gear shifts. Seat a bit better than previous version but still hard for long commutes. Over all good bike.

About the Reviewer