[black12rr]

Wanted something more powerful than my pulsar 180.First came ninja , more expensive ,3 lakhs for 250cc was overkill ,parts and service equally expensive .CBR 250 wanted to book on first day ,but some how did not feel like .Down the line now we can see service issues
,parts quality issues ,reliability issues ,no decision good decision .R15 ,pulsar 220 were not even considered .Wanted to pick up a 650r or liter bike ,but that was overkill and even looked for a BUSA , but I think ,it has to wait until next year .

Then came KTM ,naked bike, upside forks ,mono shock ,25 bhp ,twin discs , DOHC ,FI . Everything I wanted was there and also a light weight bike .Booking opened on Feb 1 ,reached there at 10 am and was given a number within 50 .Got to know ppl were waiting from 5am ! .Paid 20 k and booked .BTW the pulsar stays along with KTM.

Got delivery on march 3rd week after full payment .PDI was ok ok ,there was metal chipping on clutch case cover .Not good .Not sure how this escaped the PDI .Brought this to notice of Karthik service advisor (Indiranagar probiking showroom,blore). He said it will be fixed in fist service ,don't know what they will do .Apart from this ,they did not give the first aid kit , they said I can collect it later .One thing those guys were forcing is to sign the gate pass even without me seeing the bike . I firmly told I will not sign it until I see the bike .

Have covered 500+kms till then and bike seems to be holding good .

Good points -

-Bike is fast
-Light weight
-Brakes are good .
-Acceleration is good .
-LED lights .
-Headlight is DC and has good spread .
-Digital display has lots of info
-Stable ride .


Pain points .

-Front suspension is damn hard .Under no load (on stand), the front shocks are uncompressed fully. But as soon as one sits on the bike
,the suspension goes inwards taking almost half the length of suspension travel .This leaves only few inches of travel under riding and
hence its very hard . May be it needs a longer springs inside ,so that even at load conditions the suspension has enough travel distance .

-Rear suspension is ok, but even that needs to be softer .

-Need a tall windscreen/windshield .My neck was paining after doing a 300 kms round trip ride .Cannot go beyond 90kmph comfortably .Did a small mod ,need to see how this works ,other wise will get a bigger screen from other bikes .

-Foot pegs are at rear compared to my pulsar . Not comfortable at all for touring .Needs to be at the place where pulsars are there .Knees ,thighs start paining after some time .Looking to bring this at front ,any mods here?

-Rider seat is a like a flat bench , needs more cushioning .Same for pillion seat .Cannot travel more than 50 kms on stock seat .

-The chain was touching the slider ( as many of them complained ). Sorted this out by cutting out a piece of rubber .No more taarrrrr tarrrrr sound on deceleration .

-The bike heats up on traffic , but this is expected from a liquid cooled .

-Coolant seems to go down everyday .Just one week into getting bike , the coolant is from between min and max to below min level .Need to get this checked up .

-All the electrical connectors are exposed and looks like a crude job .

-10 liter fuel tank is very less. There is a 18 liter optional fuel tank on KTM website .KTM/Bajaj should offer this as optional .

-Under hard riding ,the brake oil from rear brake reservoir was leaking and falling on exhaust , causing smoke :O .



Mileage ,had not checked ,but should be around 40kmpl . will check after first service .

Will update ,ask any questions if needed .

PS -Some of the questions asked .

How much ? , x amount , then how much mileage ,only that much ?
Is it jumping bike ?
Is it petrol?
Security guard , sar main stand dhalo ? (put main stand )
Security guard , diknese he bhaut dar lagtha hai ( By looking it self its dangerous ) .
which company ?
Is it automatic ?
Racing bike ?
Why the rear is empty ?
How will some one sit at back ?

New bike


Chain slider before mod


After mod .


Puslar 180 windshield ,I had a spare .


Other angle.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by black12rr

-Front suspension is damn hard .Under no load (on stand), the front shocks are uncompressed fully. But as soon as one sits on the bike, the suspension goes inwards taking almost half the length of suspension travel .This leaves only few inches of travel under riding and
hence its very hard . May be it needs a longer springs inside ,so that even at load conditions the suspension has enough travel distance .

Aaah confusion solved - its a terminology thing! Excessive sag, as is what you are describing, is a sign of a soft suspension, not hard. You don't need longer springs, but stiffer ones + re-valving, and/or thicker fork oil.

Did a small mod ,need to see how this works ,other wise will get a bigger screen from other bikes .

Nice to see the first screen mod - congrats! Used the number plate mounting?

-The chain was touching the slider ( as many of them complained ). Sorted this out by cutting out a piece of rubber .No more taarrrrr tarrrrr sound on deceleration .

Not sure if cutting the rubber slider is a good idea. Its a directional guard, and you've actually cut off the part that when worn indicates the slider needs replacement (as per the manual).

If your bike is amongst the first 100, then get the modified slider fitted. If not, adjust chain slack and rear suspension sag/stiffness as per your body weight.

It should be at #4 for anyone 70+ kilos. #5 with luggage or someone heavier (i.e. 90+ kilos). Manual says "full payload is 6 clicks" - but manual does not say/define what "full payload" is?

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by ebonho

You don't need longer springs, but stiffer ones + re-valving, and/or thicker fork oil.

Nice to see the first screen mod - congrats! Used the number plate mounting?

Not sure if cutting the rubber slider is a good idea.

Ho ok , now have to wait for bajaj replaces the front springs to stiffer ones . I like the both front and rear suspension to be super soft and plush ,so that I can hammer any kind of bad roads ,I don't need a track oriented setup .
Windshield is temporary .It works for now ,need a bigger one .Yes using number plate mounting points.

Cutting slider , no issues , the noise is no where now . Could not wait till the first service , will get the modified chain slider(if available ) replaced at first service .

You also noticed about front suspension ?

Few more points I missed out .The roar of the exhaust very addictive .The bike has plenty of potential for the price point it offers .Hope bajaj fixes these minor issues as soon as possible .

[Rahulkool]

Congrats man, thats one awesome bike you have got .

regarding the chain, after getting it adjusted, the sound is not there on my bike. Did you took it to service center ? Ya exhaust is really addictive, and the way it revs feels like 2 stroke. Blipping the throttle while down shifting sounds great

[deetee]

Congrats Man. Black orange combo with that aggressive tank shrouds does look threatening . No wonder your security guard is scared
Pardon my ignorance :
1. Is Duke available only in KTM orange color?
2. Is that Visor mode, you made, fiber glass or plastic? Doesn't it squeak/bend with opposing wind? Reason I asked is I didn't see any supporting rod or frame in the upper part of it.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by deetee

Congrats Man. B

1. Is Duke available only in KTM orange color?
2. Is that Visor mode, you made, fiber glass or plastic? Doesn't it squeak/bend with opposing wind? Reason I asked is I didn't see any supporting rod or frame in the upper part of it.

Thanks .No need to feel bad ,not one person knows everything , even if it is very simple ,better to ask than be ignorant .

1.Yes unfortunately only orange color . After few days or months mine will become all black .

2.The Shield is straight from pulsar 180 ,I had one in spare at home.Its secured by the number plate mounting .It feels solid for now .

[black12rr]

The coolant was below min , visited the pro biking showroom and topped it up.Also adjusted the chain and sprayed the chain lube .

The Windshield is below the neck , need a wider and taller one .Will replace the stock one in evening .

[ebonho]

Black, there was a bike by LML, Energy FX, whose small-ish fairing was shaped quite well and could gel with the front looks of the Duke much better. Just a suggestion!

Its not so much the size of the fairing as the angle of air deflection that's important. Even a small one could be angled to deflect the wind above the helmet. Bikes like the BMW have mechanisms to alter and customize the fairing angle to match rider height.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Black, there was a bike by LML, Energy FX, whose small-ish fairing was shaped quite well and could gel with the front looks of the Duke much better. Just a suggestion!

Its not so much the size of the fairing as the angle of air deflection that's important. Even a small one could be angled to deflect the wind above the helmet. Bikes like the BMW have mechanisms to alter and customize the fairing angle to match rider height.

Thanks ,let me check. I rode the Ninja 650 R last week and it had a big windscreen and it did its job superbly.May be that itself .

The 650 just pulls and pulls, a perfect tourer at a elevated cost.

Will make this duke a superb tourer ,that's for sure.

[black12rr]

Coolant was below minimum . Topped it up and chain spray .

I removed the 1 foot plus intake pipe attached to airfilter box .The first 3 gears and a pleasure to ride now , no more jerking in first 3 gears , the throttle response is crisp and the roar is just too much .

[baddy]

@Black: Good to know u removed the intake pipe, i was just trying to peep under the seat last weekend, when i found the long intake pipe, was even thinking of removing it, but didnt have a properly illuminated place and i cudnt see how the fitting was. Will give it a try this weekend for sure. Pls attach a picture of the removed pipe showing the part that goes inside the filter box if possible. wud be very helpful. And i will also be doing a windscreen project tomo, will update with pictures once done.

P.S- how do u find the engines response off the line. like does it require higher revs to move??? How is the behaviour when the engine gets hot, to be precise, the low speed fuelling issue! is there any improvement on it.

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by baddy

@Black: Good to know u removed the intake pipe, i was just trying to peep under the seat last weekend, when i found the long intake pipe, was even thinking of removing it, but didnt have a properly illuminated place and i cudnt see how the fitting was. Will give it a try this weekend for sure. Pls attach a picture of the removed pipe showing the part that goes inside the filter box if possible. wud be very helpful. And i will also be doing a windscreen project tomo, will update with pictures once done.

P.S- how do u find the engines response off the line. like does it require higher revs to move??? How is the behaviour when the engine gets hot, to be precise, the low speed fuelling issue! is there any improvement on it.

Its easy to remove .But at the back , it is attached to a hook at the back , just move from the hook with your fingers .Now the air box cover is out , just with force remove the long intake pipe .Its glued to box with some silicon sealant type ,It will come off .

I rode for one day without intake pipe , the roar is just mad , its very loud . .People get scared .

I now attached it back ,but I cut 80 % of the pipe with a hack saw frame and only 2-3 inches of it comes out of the box , now there is no noise /roar . safe .

Now with this setup , the roll ons are crisp , no lag in first 3 gears , it picks up smoothly . I dint understand why they wanted 1 foot + length intake pipe.The bike does not breath at all with such a long pipe .Now its breathing fine .

PS : I removed the pulsar windshield , back to stock screen . search is on !

[baddy]

Originally Posted by black12rr

Its easy to remove .But at the back , it is attached to a hook at the back , just move from the hook with your fingers .Now the air box cover is out , just with force remove the long intake pipe .Its glued to box with some silicon sealant type ,It will come off .

I rode for one day without intake pipe , the roar is just mad , its very loud . .People get scared .

I now attached it back ,but I cut 80 % of the pipe with a hack saw frame and only 2-3 inches of it comes out of the box , now there is no noise /roar . safe .

Now with this setup , the roll ons are crisp , no lag in first 3 gears , it picks up smoothly . I dint understand why they wanted 1 foot + length intake pipe.The bike does not breath at all with such a long pipe .Now its breathing fine .

PS : I removed the pulsar windshield , back to stock screen . search is on !

Good to know that. About the silicon sealant i precisely wanted to ask you about that when i meant about fitment, is that reuseable, if u need to put the pipe back in place. BTW, wouldnt your warranty get affected if you modify the intake??
The long pipe may be the result of a calculated intake length keeping in mind the overall performance & emission requirement of the engine. Never remove the snorkel entirely unless the cross section is too narrow, the sharp edges around the air intake would cause unwanted turbulence and abrubtly stop intake flow at certain engine speeds (I've done quite an extensive intake experiment on my modified pulsar) Its always better to have a nice and smooth bell mouth intake.

[baddy]

Also came across this airfilter DNA - High Performance Filters. Huge gains in the flow numbers, looks quite promising. Though this is for the duke 125!!!

[black12rr]

Originally Posted by baddy

BTW, wouldnt your warranty get affected if you modify the intake??
The long pipe may be the result of a calculated intake length keeping in mind the overall performance & emission requirement of the engine.

No I don't think so . It only air intake ,more over , the air is again blocked/filtered at air filter .