[VW2010]

@Dr

you have amazing patience to explain a losing cause. The moment it was compared with unicorn i should have wrote this to tell you thats its not worth it.

I wish we can pull torque curves and other data to compare but i wouldnt do that when the bike is now compared with unicorn.

I would have said this umpteen number of times but here again. Compared to the 500 the 390 is such a fun bike to cruise. We did literally 320 odd kms to just take a friends bike to service and we hardly sweat. The bike hardly sweat. I am sure for the same distance and same time to cover the distance the 500 would have ensured i took some time to attend her before and after the ride.

[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by mithunvvijayan

I have contacted one of my classmates in my eng college, who has been working at Bajaj R&D division for the past 12 years.

I have presented the unique heat sensitive stalling problem of my bike to him. He said that he will get back to me by tomorrow. Fingers crossed

Are you referring to the stalling problem that you are facing when the engine hasn't heated up ? I remember you saying that was almost solved by switching over to BP petrol. Please correct me if I missed your earlier posts.

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by VW2010

@Dr

you have amazing patience to explain a losing cause. The moment it was compared with unicorn i should have wrote this to tell you thats its not worth it.

I wish we can pull torque curves and other data to compare but i wouldnt do that when the bike is now compared with unicorn.

I think i have ruffled more than a few feathers here when I compared 390 with unicorn. If I have inadvertantly touched some raw nerve, I apologise. I know that all people in this thread are die hard fans of 390, including yours only.

In fact, I have two younger brothers. One has a duke 200 and other has a 200NS. I have advised them to sell their bikes and go for the 390, even if they incur heavy depreciation losses.

And sorry doc for making you fight for a losing cause. I thought we enjoyed the arguments. I respect all of you senior riders who have loads of biking experience and am looking forward for your guidance through this forum.

[basuroy]

Seeing as how Ebonho started the discussion contesting Mithunvvijayan's opinion about ensuring the quality of fuel filled in the bike and then contesting more or less everything he posted but backed up with his own experience so that makes for a good discussion to read and participate in . Being a mature forum , I wish to think we respect civility if not the opinion . I am not having a go at either but the man has been suggested he should have purchased a CBR , an enfield and now he is not worth replying back to and that is not really fair to him.

[Khodays]

I have been using it for daily commute and touring, 600 plus kms are a breeze, recently did a 7hrs ride from goa to blr, this used to be morning to night types ride for me earlier, fill petrol in whatever bunk I see, the thing flies when needed, this bike is a no brainer if you ask me..........

[sharanvenu]

A fellow rider in our KTM WhatsApp group reported low battery warning on his 390 today morning. KTM has agreed to tow it to the showroom to get it fixed. By fixing, please note that they are charging the battery for one full day and returning the bike on the next day, not replacing it immediately. And yes, charging the battery is free, charges have to be borne by the owner for the tow service.
If it fails again, you need to bring it in again. I guess that's what they expect KTM owners to do.
I was about to suggest jump starting the engine with the help of the next door 'batterywalah' when some other member in the group advised to never jump start as it would damage the fuel pump.
I was a little surprised to hear this as this is what we have been doing since ages to start a fuel injected engine when the engine is dead. I have done jump starting on at least half a dozen cars and we never had a problem. Plus, the newer Jump Cables come with a fuse. My view point is, If you can damage your fuel pump while jump starting, you can do the same damage while plugging in a new battery. Please share your inputs.
Another thing that surprised me was that he has completed about 1300kms in a month, which is fair enough, if not great. I smell something fishy here.
Touchwood, my ride has done way less than that ~1100 and its running fine.

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by sharanvenu

A fellow rider in our KTM WhatsApp group reported low battery warning on his 390 today morning. KTM has agreed to tow it to the showroom to get it fixed. By fixing, please note that they are charging the battery for one full day and returning the bike on the next day, not replacing it immediately. And yes, charging the battery is free, charges have to be borne by the owner for the tow service.
If it fails again, you need to bring it in again. I guess that's what they expect KTM owners to do.

Another thing that surprised me was that he has completed about 1300kms in a month, which is fair enough, if not great. I smell something fishy here.
Touchwood, my ride has done way less than that ~1100 and its running fine.

From the mileage figure you posted , I assumed the bike was in daily use but I still ask was it standing around for a few days when this warning popped up? A friend once parked his pulsar 220 at my garage for 2 months which I didn't touch and the bike still started on first crank , I understand modern batteries don't discharge so fast so the issue might be something else . How long has he owned the bike now and total mileage if you can guess a rough figure ?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by VW2010

I would have said this umpteen number of times but here again. Compared to the 500 the 390 is such a fun bike to cruise. We did literally 320 odd kms to just take a friends bike to service and we hardly sweat. The bike hardly sweat. I am sure for the same distance and same time to cover the distance the 500 would have ensured i took some time to attend her before and after the ride.

This is exactly it bro. The difference between what ON PAPER is supposed to be a better tourer/cruiser/whatever versus a manic bike which SOME would like to confine/pigeonhole into the narrow role of a stunter/track racer/corner carver.

You ride both over 500 kms, on the same route, same weather, same time of the day, same traffic conditions, carrying the very same load, in the same frame of mind (i.e. fast and faster) and you realise that you reach the destination a lot faster and a lot less fatigued on the "race bike" compared to the "tourer."

So much for theory, bookish knowledge, internet gyaan, and pages of cyber keyboard jockeying.

No offense to anyone meant, but honestly, this is what I feel when I participate in such discussions.

Originally Posted by mithunvvijayan

And sorry doc for making you fight for a losing cause. I thought we enjoyed the arguments. I respect all of you senior riders who have loads of biking experience and am looking forward for your guidance through this forum.

On the contrary, I am sorry if I was brusque in any previous post, in spite of attempting my very best to explain things based on experience on the road and not what I had read or learned somewhere.

You too are a Bullet to Duke convert. Would love to hear your views a few thousand kms into your ownership experience.

Till then, yes, we can agree to disagree. Strongly.

Originally Posted by Khodays

I have been using it for daily commute and touring, 600 plus kms are a breeze, recently did a 7hrs ride from goa to blr, this used to be morning to night types ride for me earlier, fill petrol in whatever bunk I see, the thing flies when needed, this bike is a no brainer if you ask me..........

Another hardcore old school Bulleteer talking here.

I feel you Lepp .....

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Lovely discussion that went on for the last few pages!! And Mithun, good to see that you have presented the problem to your friend. Your update might help the owners who might face this issue or are already facing the issue.

Actually, I gave my bike for first service this morning. I have told them about all the niggles. They assured me that they will rectify it. My friend from Bajaj called me after that. He pointed towards two causes

1. There might be a problem with coolant temperature sensor. He advised me to temporarily disconnect the sensor and ride to see if it makes any difference.

2. Decomp valve. He said there have been issues with decomp valve in early 2014 models. But he is not sure why it is heat sensitive.

And to my utter dismay the bike behaved quite normally this morning before I gave it for the first service. It didn't stall even once. I am not sure if the KTM guys will see the problem at all, or not.

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Are you referring to the stalling problem that you are facing when the engine hasn't heated up ? I remember you saying that was almost solved by switching over to BP petrol. Please correct me if I missed your earlier posts.

No. Nothing changed after changing to BP petrol. And there is no high octane petrol available in Cochin, in my knowledge.

Originally Posted by basuroy

Seeing as how Ebonho started the discussion contesting Mithunvvijayan's opinion about ensuring the quality of fuel filled in the bike and then contesting more or less everything he posted but backed up with his own experience so that makes for a good discussion to read and participate in . Being a mature forum , I wish to think we respect civility if not the opinion . I am not having a go at either but the man has been suggested he should have purchased a CBR , an enfield and now he is not worth replying back to and that is not really fair to him.

In fact I am going to test drive CBR 250 I haven't had the chance to ride it yet.

Originally Posted by ebonho

So much for theory, bookish knowledge, internet gyaan, and pages of cyber keyboard jockeying.

No offense to anyone meant, but honestly, this is what I feel when I participate in such discussions.

On the contrary, I am sorry if I was brusque in any previous post, in spite of attempting my very best to explain things based on experience on the road and not what I had read or learned somewhere.

You too are a Bullet to Duke convert. Would love to hear your views a few thousand kms into your ownership experience.

Till then, yes, we can agree to disagree. Strongly.

No problem Doc. I would like to know how you guys meet up. Is there a team bhp meet?. And isn't Orange Day state specific?

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by VW2010

....distance the 500 would have ensured i took some time to attend her before and after the ride.

Not to mention searching for bolts and nuts that magically disappeared or went on their own way during the ride! I used to keep note on hardware stores I spot because I was almost sure that I will have to pay them a visit on my way back!

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by mithunvvijayan

In fact I am going to test drive CBR 250 I haven't had the chance to ride it yet.

Test ride.

You drive a car.

Your ride a bike.

Let us know whether it felt better than the 390, any second thoughts, etc. Maybe try out the TBTS500 and Harley 750 as well .....

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by ebonho

This is exactly it bro. The difference between what ON PAPER is supposed to be a better tourer/cruiser/whatever versus a manic bike which SOME would like to confine/pigeonhole into the narrow role of a stunter/track racer/corner carver.

You ride both over 500 kms, on the same route, same weather, same time of the day, same traffic conditions, carrying the very same load, in the same frame of mind (i.e. fast and faster) and you realise that you reach the destination a lot faster and a lot less fatigued on the "race bike" compared to the "tourer."

So much for theory, bookish knowledge, internet gyaan, and pages of cyber keyboard jockeying.

No offense to anyone meant, but honestly, this is what I feel when I participate in such discussions.

Why participate then ? When someone mentions carrying jerry can is advisable for long trips , why suggest roadside shacks selling out of drums just because it has been done ? When the same bike after a year needs a throttle body replacement or cleaning , this forum itself will once again defend the bike by vehemently blaming quality of fuel poured .

The forum and your very own suggestion to me once about trying out the duke (in the street threads back then , can also relate to your an enfield owner taking to the bike so easily - I still have some adaptability issues with forward stanced bike but this felt like a breeze ) played a big part in me purchasing the bike , this ownership thread which I have dredged through for 400+ pages helped too even though the complaints as per norm exceeds the praises because me included only ever frequent the site when we need something fixed or to understand some behavior . I don't think an owner if he posts something he feels as a shortcoming and that too in a certain situation or towards a certain purpose be aggressively put down in this manner , it is counter productive towards one of the the purpose this thread as I see it serves and that is motivating potential new owners to purchase the bike after being made aware of the shortcomings and issues - that is the strength of the product which is not perfect as it stands but still is a very attractive package all thing considered .

@mithunvvijayan
Don't go out of your way to do , it looks somewhat bland and rides bland too - a good bike but just doesn't do it for you the way duke does . Also depending on the person , it can be more uncomfortable as the riding stance is relatively more aggressive and will stress out your wrist initially a lot until you adapt to the bike .

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by basuroy

Why participate then ?

Good question.

I find myself asking the same after being online on a variety on internet biker forums and hearing it all a thousand times before over the past 14 odd years ......

Maybe perversely I just like the aggravation.

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Good question.

I find myself asking the same after being online on a variety on internet biker forums and hearing it all a thousand times before over the past 14 odd years ......

Maybe perversely I just like the aggravation.

I can relate to that last sentiment seeing as how I am guilty of that myself just now , it is in good faith Sir and I do realize I am complete newbie compared to everyone else

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Test ride.

You drive a car.

Your ride a bike.

Let us know whether it felt better than the 390, any second thoughts, etc. Maybe try out the TBTS500 and Harley 750 as well .....

Originally Posted by basuroy

@mithunvvijayan
Don't go out of your way to do , it looks somewhat bland and rides bland too - a good bike but just doesn't do it for you the way duke does . Also depending on the person , it can be more uncomfortable as the riding stance is relatively more aggressive and will stress out your wrist initially a lot until you adapt to the bike .

hmm, and bonnie as well. Sure but I think there is no point in comparing them, price point wise and other wise.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Good question.

I find myself asking the same after being online on a variety on internet biker forums and hearing it all a thousand times before over the past 14 odd years ......

Maybe perversely I just like the aggravation.