[Rahulkool]

Its been almost one year when i first though of changing my bike HH ZMA. I always prefer the bike in mad city traffic rather than car. Owning HH bikes has a very good experience for me. I have a 99" CBZ and 07" ZMA. Both are excellent machines and never given me any major trouble, and after sales is good. Never had any issue with the after sales and service.

So when it came to buying the third bike i was really confused. Intially i was thinking about the C500, i even liked it. Rode it for 300kms in a when i went home last holidays, as my brother has one. I liked every bit of it except the maintenance part. I wanted a no nonsense ride with no trip to the service center apart from regular service.

At one point of time i was even thinking of getting Ninja 650 for weekend rides and keeping the ZMA for commuting. somehow i didnt like the full faired bikes like R15 or CBR 250(strictly personal choice no offense to owners). In Ninja 650 it was not only reason because i can live up with the fairing if its a Ninja 650 .

Then i was thinking of getting another ZMA, i know it sounds stupid. But its really a excellent bike for my requirements. doesn't demand any attention if you keep doing the regular service. If it was not for Duke i would have got another ZMA.



Then came the KTM, saw few reviews and stuff online. Then one of the usual lazy sunday i was just roaming around and saw KTM board. Just went inside the showroom to checkout the bike and got a test ride too, being a sunday there was not much crowd. Bike felt very good, specially the riding position and overall quality of the components for the price it was being offered. So then and there made the booking. It was a long wait. The bike was here on 2nd March and i made full payment on 3rd March as instructed by the showroom staff.
After that they were delaying the delivery(not even ready to show me the exact bike from the ones lying in the showroom for delivery) and finally i was told, it will be registered on 7th and delivered on 8th. Called on wednesday 7th evening and they told me couldnt register the bike because of some problems and delivery will be on 9th, didnt said anything on phone. Just told them i will be in showroom tomorrow morning, don't send the bike for registration without calling me. reached showroom next morning and was told that bike is already gone for registration. Anyways after that i called the manager and blasted him left and right. Result was bike was back in showroom after registration at 1PM and delivered to me at 4:30PM.
Overall buying experience was average. Everything was explained to me in detail. Only problem i have is they delayed the delivery without any reason. So far bike is doing good, i have done 150kms as coudnt get the time. Planning to take it out this sunday.




Pros:
Riding position.
Info display like average speed, riding time, km/l etc
Great brakes with linear operation.
Light weight, easy to maneuver in city traffic.
Great looks and attention to detail.
Overall quality of components.
Peppy engine.


Cons:
I hate the all digital speedo, at least they should have given analog rev counter.
Extra wide 150mm rear tyre, IMO its not need for a 25BHP bike.
Brake and gear lever are short.
Engine does not feel very refined, even my 5 year old ZMA feels more refined.
I can see some wires with loose tape and stuff behind the engine, i feel wires should have be properly routed.
Gearbox is really short ratio.



First mod i did was removing the Sari guard and fixing a tank pad.
Riding the bike reminded me of my early day when i got the CBZ and people used to turn around and look and annoy you with lot of questions. In this case its worst as people don't even know what is KTM. i mostly tell them its Bajaj.

Edit: First thing i was to buy is swingarm spools and a kick stand. Please suggest guys what to buy and from where ?

[Ricci]

Congrats Rahul ! Wasn't expecting to see much orange around, but it seems to be catching a lot of attention. I can vouch for the attention on road - I had the first batch Karizma ( 2003 ) , and got lot of attenion !

Swingarm spools and kickstand - try performanceracingstore , Dream Sporting Gear and KRP , but I think this might be a dead end since some such accessories are model specific, you may have to wait until its a little more popular.

PS : what's the white stuff on the crankcase - looks like paint used for walls ?

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by Ricci

Congrats Rahul ! Wasn't expecting to see much orange around, but it seems to be catching a lot of attention. I can vouch for the attention on road - I had the first batch Karizma ( 2003 ) , and got lot of attenion !

Swingarm spools and kickstand - try performanceracingstore , Dream Sporting Gear and KRP , but I think this might be a dead end since some such accessories are model specific, you may have to wait until its a little more popular.

PS : what's the white stuff on the crankcase - looks like paint used for walls ?

Thanks man, the Spools are 10mm and it can be universal if i understand correctly. Regarding kickstand i am not sure but aren't they adjustable. I am thinking about getting these as cleaning and oiling the chain will be a nightmare without the center stand and also in case of a puncture.

That white thing is the holy stuff from the temple hehe ....

[TaurusAl]

Congrats Rahul,

I am in absolutely same dilema as yours. I too had CBZ and now im using a 2006 Karizma which i am absolutely in love with. You cannot get more refined engine than Karizma at that cost IMO. As the bike has started aging now, I was also keen on CL 500. All the horror stories I read about it has kept me away from it till now.

KTM DUKE is a wonderful new option introduced into the market. No doubt it is a very good looking bike. Only the part where I have to take my wife as pillion (She even complains Karizma's seating posture after we took my friends Avenger for a ride) and also wondering if flamboyant color scheme will suit me when I am on my way to work wearing formals and a tie has kept me away from this beautiful machine till now. Decisions Decisions...

Anyway, Ride Safe and do post your views on pillion comfort too. Will help my decision. Hope to see a long term review from you soon.

[baddy]

Rahul, first of all CONGRATS!!! you have just stopped me from posting a similar thread as yours as we both seem to have shared the same experience. I bought my KTM DUKE 200 just 2 days before you did from the same showroom and would like to add my thoughts about the bike till date. Coming first, i have to talk about the buying experience. I have been following about the KTM DUKE since a year now, so buying one was a natural give in. I booked my bike on the 4th of feb due to some personal delay, right from the day of booking the reception at the showroom was never welcoming. I mean, the people selling the bikes are not even enthusiastic about it, which was a real turn off. To worsen the situation, the showroom person sent my bike for registration without informing me, even after clear instructions not to let the serivce station guys ride and take it. And right from the beginning he did not let me select the bike from the lot saying the bikes have been alloted through some ktm website software, which i believe was some nonsense story he made up as he never revealed the chassis or engine number of the bike till the registration was over. Finally i made full cash payment on the 3rd of march and took delivery of the bike on the 7th. The delivery was delayed by a solid 2 hours. So i am forced to say the buying experience was nothing great, and such a business attitude for a new brand in india is not going to help in the long run.
Coming to the bike, this was a proper upgrade for me after riding a modified (la 200cc) 2004 pulsar 150dtsi V1. So in every possible way i am a wholly satisfied customer. On the second day i took the bike for my 100km up and down office commute and struggled to keep the engine from exceeding the run in rpm. This motor is absolute FUN with total practicality. Right now i am in bangalore on a mission to complete the initial 1000kms 1st service limit. Till now my bike has covered 450 kms add another 350~400 on the return trip tomorrow. I have listed few of the things i noticed about the bike during the long ride.

1. POWER PLANT: Brilliant motor!!! The engine feels so flexible it can pull from 35kmph in 6th gear without a glitch all the way to its glorious top end. Having ridden the R15 and CBR 250 which have an almost identical powerplant configuration, iam spell bound by the power spread of this engine. Torque is available almost everywhere and feels totally flat. Out On the highway u barely require anything less than 6th cog, almost feels like an auto transmission. Add to this the short gear ratios, the "Bat out of Hell" phrase showed its true meaning today during the ride. The response of the motor at any rpm is totally unbelievable, superb rideability. Iam still getting used to how quickly the motor drops rev between each gear shift, what a lovely light weight crank.

But the power delivery aside, the motor does feel a little crude at few rpm's and the engine screams so much when you are nearing the higher ends of the power band that it almost scares you of blowing up the engine (could free up after i log some miles). But mistake not, as the motor does not vibrate!!! You do feel pulsing vibes lower down the rev range which is quite characteristic and acceptable. Also, The fuelling/Ignition feels mismatched in a narrow region between 1k to 2k rpm where the motor almost dies off and struggles. So its a pain to ride in bumper to bumper traffic if you are not slipping the clutch. But i feel this could be due to the aggressive Cam timing and there is only so much that you can expect from such a tune.

The thing i hated about the motorcycle has to be the gear shift feel. It makes me look like an idiot everytime i shift a gear, the feedback from the shifter is terrible. I noticed it during the test ride of the demo bike itself, but was told it was a one off problem due to rough usage. But now i dont take that story any more. On my brand new bike the shift does feel bad. The gears do fall in place, but each time you shift, especially during quick down shifting, it misses one or two cogs and most of the time you are left wondering if the gears did synch properly or not. I still love the R15 for its splendid gear shifter feel. I should also mention that the responsive motor which revs down quickly as soon as you shut the throttle for a gear shift may be the reason why i am facing this issue, and yet again may be i should just learn how to use it properly.

2. CHASSIS&SUSPENSION: The space frame feels pretty solid, could not feel any flex, though i can comment more on it only after a ride around the MMSC circuit. The suspension set up is a bit stiff, road bumps and potholes do crash hard especially on the front forks. The damping though is impeccable, long sinuous deformations on the road and smooth bumps through fast corners which would usually unsettle other motorcycles where dealt away with an astounding composure. High speed stability is simply superb!!! The bike does squat prominently while acceleration and almost all the time while riding fast, so it feels rear heavy although it didnt rob feedback from the front end. I encountered few fast corners on the chitoor route to bangalore and would rate the bike high on handling. I just wish the front suspension was more absorbent.

Seating and Ride position have both more than satisfied my expectations. The rear set foot rest, feels super comfy once you get used to them and so does the high set seat. I am 178cms tall and although i could firmly plant my feet on the ground while standing still i did find myself struggling to find ground during few instances of slow speed crawling around traffic signals, so i wonder how difficult it would be for shorter people. The handle Bar falls almost right in front of your chest and is very comfortable on long rides and while attacking corners too. Steering is light and extremely precise.

Brakes are the best part of the whole motorcycle. The fixed 4 piston caliper feels like it belongs on some superbike. I would rate the brake feel and power the best in the country, second comes the ninja 250's unit and may be the R15 third. The rear brakes also feel good though i managed to lock the rear end twice during emergency braking which i think is mainly due to the powerful front brakes robbing load from the rear wheels under heavy retardation.

Few Minor things i noticed during the chennai-bangalore ride today:
The chain keeps making a clunking noise every time you go over a pot hole at about 3 to 4k rpm, gets slack at those rpm's i believe. It took me 3 days and 200kms to figure out where the noise was coming from, really had me worried. Gotta mention that during the service. The engine heated up really bad during the first 100kms in traffic. It was a total thigh burner as the radiator fan kept spewing hot air on to my legs in traffic signals and i could barely manage to sit on the bike. I should say the temperatures have reduced a bit after the highway run.

The bike has given me an average of 40kmpl (Measured physically from tank full to tank full) which includes a totally mixed riding condition. about 50kms of careful slow speed cruise (the display kept showing 58kmpl at a constant 50kmph), 50kms of worst traffic (display:17 to 22kmpl) and a 200kms of high speed cruise read 90 to 100kmph (display: 42kmpl). I am happy as it can tour and that too with a nice fuel efficiency figure.

One small irritant was the foot rest which has its hinge set at an awkward angle, that every time you move your feet to shift gears or apply brakes the footrest also turns above along with your feet. Feels unsafe and quite irritating as well.

Guess that was a loooong report. Hope its a useful review. All in all its a lovely product although with room for improvement. In the end i am a happy customer. waiting to take it to the race track to find its true potential. I will post pictures that i took during the ride as soon as i reach back home in chennai. Thanks for reading

[bigron]

Congratulations on your new ride. Its one of the better scoots we have in our country at this point . I went to take a rest ride a few weeks ago just to understand the whole commotion and was pleasantly surprised by the overall character of the bike. Peppy engine , good fit and finish , very nice brakes and smashing looks. Ride it like you stole it but be safe.

[Rahulkool]

Did 200kms on ECR today, kept the bike restricted to 65-70kmph, it was tough lol. Handling is really brilliant so does the brakes. The engine feels lot more refined now, vibes have reduced a lot. It showed 52kmpl all the way. In the city it varies between 43-48kmpl with very light throttle. I am really surprised by this, i was expected something like 35-40kmpl with this kind of riding. I guess with hard riding it should return 35kmpl.

Few things i have noticed
Headlamp stays on for few secs if you switch off the engine through kill switch.
Another thing is if you push the bike with headlamps on and ignition on, headlamp will be turned on in 2-3 secs and switches off 2-3 secs after stopping. I noticed this while coming very late yesterday night was just getting the bike inside as everyone was asleep, didnt wanted to distubed so didnt start the bike pushed it inside while ignition and headlamp was in on position.
The coolant cap is at wrong position and anyone can open it, it should have been inside not visible.
The lower rubber coolant pipe can be easily damaged, they should have been covered with metal pipes.
Front shocks are a lot stiffer that ZMA.
Front shock have some texture on it, it really gives quality feel. just touch it and you will know what i am talking about.
If you have more than one error the yellow triangle warning light starts flashing.

Originally Posted by TaurusAl

Congrats Rahul,

I am in absolutely same dilema as yours. I too had CBZ and now im using a 2006 Karizma which i am absolutely in love with. You cannot get more refined engine than Karizma at that cost IMO. As the bike has started aging now, I was also keen on CL 500. All the horror stories I read about it has kept me away from it till now. KTM DUKE is a wonderful new option introduced into the market. No doubt it is a very good looking bike. Only the part where I have to take my wife as pillion (She even complains Karizma's seating posture after we took my friends Avenger for a ride) and also wondering if flamboyant color scheme will suit me when I am on my way to work wearing formals and a tie has kept me away from this beautiful machine till now. Decisions Decisions...

Anyway, Ride Safe and do post your views on pillion comfort too. Will help my decision. Hope to see a long term review from you soon.

Ya seating posture can be problem for a pillion but in my case it was fine

Originally Posted by baddy

Rahul, first of all CONGRATS!!! you have just stopped me from posting a similar thread as yours as we both seem to have shared the same experience. I bought my KTM DUKE 200 just 2 days before you did from the same showroom and would like to add my thoughts about the bike till date. Coming first, i have to talk about the buying experience. I have been following about the KTM DUKE since a year now, so buying one was a natural give in. I booked my bike on the 4th of feb due to some personal delay, right from the day of booking the reception at the showroom was never welcoming. I mean, the people selling the bikes are not even enthusiastic about it, which was a real turn off. To worsen the situation, the showroom person sent my bike for registration without informing me, even after clear instructions not to let the serivce station guys ride and take it. And right from the beginning he did not let me select the bike from the lot saying the bikes have been alloted through some ktm website software, which i believe was some nonsense story he made up as he never revealed the chassis or engine number of the bike till the registration was over. Finally i made full cash payment on the 3rd of march and took delivery of the bike on the 7th. The delivery was delayed by a solid 2 hours. So i am forced to say the buying experience was nothing great, and such a business attitude for a new brand in india is not going to help in the long run.

Thanks man. Ya that what worries me, if they treat the customer like this before buying then god help us with the after sales and service. i had mentioned the same to them on the day of delivery and they assured me the service will be handled properly and they have also given contact nos of KTM service persons, i hope everyone got that. The manager over there Mr. Karthick was very apologetic in the end and accepted his mistake. He even called the showroom owner while delivery and he was aware of whole problem and told it will not happen again. At one point of time i did mention to the manager that i will call Bajaj and make and complain and it will not go unnoticed, maybe because of this they were scared.

Originally Posted by baddy

Coming to the bike, this was a proper upgrade for me after riding a modified (la 200cc) 2004 pulsar 150dtsi V1. So in every possible way i am a wholly satisfied customer. On the second day i took the bike for my 100km up and down office commute and struggled to keep the engine from exceeding the run in rpm. This motor is absolute FUN with total practicality. Right now i am in bangalore on a mission to complete the initial 1000kms 1st service limit. Till now my bike has covered 450 kms add another 350~400 on the return trip tomorrow. I have listed few of the things i noticed about the bike during the long ride.

1. POWER PLANT: Brilliant motor!!! The engine feels so flexible it can pull from 35kmph in 6th gear without a glitch all the way to its glorious top end. Having ridden the R15 and CBR 250 which have an almost identical powerplant configuration, iam spell bound by the power spread of this engine. Torque is available almost everywhere and feels totally flat. Out On the highway u barely require anything less than 6th cog, almost feels like an auto transmission. Add to this the short gear ratios, the "Bat out of Hell" phrase showed its true meaning today during the ride. The response of the motor at any rpm is totally unbelievable, superb rideability. Iam still getting used to how quickly the motor drops rev between each gear shift, what a lovely light weight crank. But the power delivery aside, the motor does feel a little crude at few rpm's and the engine screams so much when you are nearing the higher ends of the power band that it almost scares you of blowing up the engine (could free up after i log some miles). But mistake not, as the motor does not vibrate!!! You do feel pulsing vibes lower down the rev range which is quite characteristic and acceptable. Also, The fuelling/Ignition feels mismatched in a narrow region between 1k to 2k rpm where the motor almost dies off and struggles. So its a pain to ride in bumper to bumper traffic if you are not slipping the clutch. But i feel this could be due to the aggressive Cam timing and there is only so much that you can expect from such a tune.

I am keeping the engine restricted at 4.5-5k rpm max. After todays ride engine feels much smoother and after 70kmph it really feels better. ya i was talking about the pulsating vibe. Stalling problem has reduced a lot and past two days it didnt happened even once.

Originally Posted by baddy

The thing i hated about the motorcycle has to be the gear shift feel. It makes me look like an idiot everytime i shift a gear, the feedback from the shifter is terrible. I noticed it during the test ride of the demo bike itself, but was told it was a one off problem due to rough usage. But now i dont take that story any more. On my brand new bike the shift does feel bad. The gears do fall in place, but each time you shift, especially during quick down shifting, it misses one or two cogs and most of the time you are left wondering if the gears did synch properly or not. I still love the R15 for its splendid gear shifter feel. I should also mention that the responsive motor which revs down quickly as soon as you shut the throttle for a gear shift may be the reason why i am facing this issue, and yet again may be i should just learn how to use it properly.

Ya gear shift takes some time to getting used to, initially i had some problems but now its perfect, downshifts are very good and smooth. I had problem in upshifting which again takes some time to getting used to.

Originally Posted by baddy

2. CHASSIS&SUSPENSION: The space frame feels pretty solid, could not feel any flex, though i can comment more on it only after a ride around the MMSC circuit. The suspension set up is a bit stiff, road bumps and potholes do crash hard especially on the front forks. The damping though is impeccable, long sinuous deformations on the road and smooth bumps through fast corners which would usually unsettle other motorcycles where dealt away with an astounding composure. High speed stability is simply superb!!! The bike does squat prominently while acceleration and almost all the time while riding fast, so it feels rear heavy although it didnt rob feedback from the front end. I encountered few fast corners on the chitoor route to bangalore and would rate the bike high on handling. I just wish the front suspension was more absorbent.

Seating and Ride position have both more than satisfied my expectations. The rear set foot rest, feels super comfy once you get used to them and so does the high set seat. I am 178cms tall and although i could firmly plant my feet on the ground while standing still i did find myself struggling to find ground during few instances of slow speed crawling around traffic signals, so i wonder how difficult it would be for shorter people. The handle Bar falls almost right in front of your chest and is very comfortable on long rides and while attacking corners too. Steering is light and extremely precise. Brakes are the best part of the whole motorcycle. The fixed 4 piston caliper feels like it belongs on some superbike. I would rate the brake feel and power the best in the country, second comes the ninja 250's unit and may be the R15 third. The rear brakes also feel good though i managed to lock the rear end twice during emergency braking which i think is mainly due to the powerful front brakes robbing load from the rear wheels under heavy retardation.

You have said it all man, corner are lot more fun , brakes are amazing. Its the high seating which is not very comfortable for me, feels like i am riding a dirt bike.

Originally Posted by baddy

Few Minor things i noticed during the chennai-bangalore ride today:The chain keeps making a clunking noise every time you go over a pot hole at about 3 to 4k rpm, gets slack at those rpm's i believe. It took me 3 days and 200kms to figure out where the noise was coming from, really had me worried. Gotta mention that during the service. The engine heated up really bad during the first 100kms in traffic. It was a total thigh burner as the radiator fan kept spewing hot air on to my legs in traffic signals and i could barely manage to sit on the bike. I should say the temperatures have reduced a bit after the highway run.The bike has given me an average of 40kmpl (Measured physically from tank full to tank full) which includes a totally mixed riding condition. about 50kms of careful slow speed cruise (the display kept showing 58kmpl at a constant 50kmph), 50kms of worst traffic (display:17 to 22kmpl) and a 200kms of high speed cruise read 90 to 100kmph (display: 42kmpl). I am happy as it can tour and that too with a nice fuel efficiency figure.

One small irritant was the foot rest which has its hinge set at an awkward angle, that every time you move your feet to shift gears or apply brakes the footrest also turns above along with your feet. Feels unsafe and quite irritating as well.

Chain noise is there in my bike too, have to get it sorted. Planning to do a oil change at 400kms, will get it done at that time. Yes radiator fan switch on few times in traffic but doesn't bothers me much.

Originally Posted by baddy

Guess that was a loooong report. Hope its a useful review. All in all its a lovely product although with room for improvement. In the end i am a happy customer. waiting to take it to the race track to find its true potential. I will post pictures that i took during the ride as soon as i reach back home in chennai. Thanks for reading

Really amazing review buddy, thanks a lot for sharing. hope we can catch up sometime in chennai

Originally Posted by bigron

Congratulations on your new ride. Its one of the better scoots we have in our country at this point . I went to take a rest ride a few weeks ago just to understand the whole commotion and was pleasantly surprised by the overall character of the bike. Peppy engine , good fit and finish , very nice brakes and smashing looks. Ride it like you stole it but be safe.

Thanks man.

[Rahulkool]

Attaching some pics which i clicked today.











Full resolution images here KTM Duke 200 - a set on Flickr

[n_aditya]

Congrats on the Duke Rahul. Wishing you many years of happy and safe rides.

The chain sound is due to the chain hitting the swingarm as per the ownership threads here. A rubber bush apparently has resolved the issue.

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Congrats on the Duke Rahul. Wishing you many years of happy and safe rides.

The chain sound is due to the chain hitting the swingarm as per the ownership threads here. A rubber bush apparently has resolved the issue.

Rahul -- Congrats on the Duke! Wish you many many hassle free miles on it!

Aditya - The chain hitting the swing arm was fixed by tightening the chain a bit for me. Can you please point me to the "rubber bush" solution?

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Congrats on the Duke Rahul. Wishing you many years of happy and safe rides.

The chain sound is due to the chain hitting the swingarm as per the ownership threads here. A rubber bush apparently has resolved the issue.

Thanks man, after long time went on a long ride, feels good. Ya chain noise is annoying specially because the bike is new. Will go to the service center this week and get it sorted out. You they have to install a new rubber bush or change existing one ?

Originally Posted by Shubz

Rahul -- Congrats on the Duke! Wish you many many hassle free miles on it!

Aditya - The chain hitting the swing arm was fixed by tightening the chain a bit for me. Can you please point me to the "rubber bush" solution?

Thanks Shubz, howz your bike doing ?

[rk_sans]

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[anachronix]

Congrats Rahul! Ride safe

So the red beast is getting a much needed break now

[black12rr]

Congrats Rahul, the bike looks neat .Don't ride it like you drive the red one .The tank pad big ,serves the purpose .How much ?
BTW is it easy to pull wheelies ?

[Shubz]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

Thanks Shubz, howz your bike doing ?

Bike's doing good so far! a few niggles though but nothing to complain/crib about.

Just waiting to get through with the first service and then report really nagging issues if any.