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-   -   The KTM Duke 390 Ownership Experience Thread (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/138082-ktm-duke-390-ownership-experience-thread-266.html)

Here are the upgrades on the 2015 KTM Duke 390 -

1) Slipper clutch
2) Change in the front fender design
3) Rear fender gets better structural material
4) Sealed indicators to avoid water seepage
5) Heating dissipation to the bottom with radiator fan assembly changed
6) Rear shock absorber with dust cover (the visible metal part inside the spring is covered with a plastic casing)
7) Rear spring gets flap protector
8) Stiffened front seat assembly to avoid touching air filter housing
9) Changes in Speedometer logic to avoid abrupt zero position on the run and accommodates new service interval of 7500 kms
10) RH switch changed to accommodate the new throttle grip angle effectively
11) Rear mud cover wider in size like on the RC
12) Chain cover height increased to prevent slapping of chain
13) Changes in belly pan mounts
14) New hand grips carried over from the RC series
15) Silencer mounting rubber damper changed to reduce vibrations
16) Spark plug gap has been decreased to 0.8 mm from 1 mm
17) Connecting rod now gets a bush at the small end for added strength
18) New sealed bearings to avoid oil leakage at the output shaft
19) New collar sprocket
20) Increase in oil seal output shaft diameter from 25 to 26 to accommodate new collar

PLEASE SEE THE 9TH POINT. Maybe you can replace the console with a 2015 model.

For once, keep aside all these fears and take off on a long ride. If possible solo. I am sure that your perspective of the bike will change. Leave aside your concern for roads, alloys, 'reputed' petrol pumps and chart a route that you want to do and not the bike forces you to do! I am sure that your confidence on the bike will improve. And take my word on it. You DO NOT have to baby this bike. It can take far more torture than you can imagine.

Agreed that some bikes have fork seals with sensitivity of a woman! But not every one of them. I have put my bike's chassis through the constant torture of potholes and light off roadings at stupid speeds in the past 1 year and 16k Kms. I wont even try to brake for a late spotted pothole! Still everything supposed to stay straight is straight, round is round and oil is staying in the places where it is supposed to be. Except the one time I had to replace the rear shock under warranty! Oh.. This calls for a Touchwood.

I think this is the second time this technique has been suggested on the 390, just because it has abs.
Wonder what is taught in the riding schools abroad? (where abs equipped bikes are not uncommon).

Regards
Sutripta

End of the day ABS is a safety net. It is an electromechanical component and that can fail you one bad day. No way can this be the way to drive ! ABS saves you when it's beyond you to handle the situation IMO.

Regarding braking techniques, did some googling-

Shortest braking distance is best achieved with progressive hard braking+downshifting with throttle blip.

ABS actually increases braking distance but does it safely without locking up.
So ABS is reserved as a safety net.

PS- Ofcourse I don't always try and braking in shortest possible , I just practice it once in a while I empty roads to keep myself calm during heavy braking and avoid panicing.

O boy! Your post is reassuring, but it is more to do with my character than my finding excuses to not to try. Not that I don't go WOT (to massage my ego and to teach some a lesson), but normally I am a sedate rider, enjoying the 6th in highways more than the 3rd in twists. And to be honest, my mind drifts towards the engine noises, thuds and rattles more often than not that I sometimes am not able to enjoy a ride at all. I hate clunky shifts, suspension thuds, and weezes. The way I gingerly ride on un even roads always provoke other people behind me.

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Even though I do not own the 390 but have the 200 I have to agree with you. I drove my D200 from Delhi to Dehradun (240 kms) with just one fuel stop in flat out 4 hours (started at 0600 hours and reached at 1000 hours, door to door) . Never once did I feel that I need to slow it down, once in top gear it feels like bliss and seems as if you are just cruising.

No oil leaks or issues with late spotted pot holes or braking. The dukes are built to be driven like crazy without worrying too much.

The only major damages I have had with the bike are a failed pump and a non-working radiator fan. The bike is a Feb 2012 model.

I received this video as a WhatsApp forward from SunnyBoi. It shows, what looks like a Duke 390, bursting into flames for no apparent reason while refuelling.

Does anyone have any more info?

For the above mentioned traits, that you confess, looks like you have got yourself the wrong bike and you are posting your concerns on the wrong thread with the wrong kind of readers responding (me).

Hope you get the drift: Enjoy what you can, and share your joy. If that is not possible, then you will never enjoy this machine, but do forgive (spare maybe?) those who are enjoying it inspite of all it's shortcomings, and prefer to follow the first line of this para (2nd para to be precise).
Regards.


Schakravarty: The bike seems to be catching flames just as the fuel pipe is being pulled out. I think what may have happenend is that the attendant over filled the tank and some of the fuel spilled out and went down from the tank, catching fire as it hit the very hot parts. The bike is tilted to the rider's left side and that is where the flames show up, first.

I suspect a mobile phone usage while refuelling. Also, why have I not read about this anywhere else ?

Thank you for opening my eyes.:) You can also go ahead and help me with selling my bike and buying another. :D

Highly unlikely, If my understanding is right, its the petrol vapor that is highly combustible and that too only with a spark or a flame. It will not ignite if it is still in liquid form. I remember reading an interesting experiment long ago about cracking the myth about the cliche movie scene in which the villain tosses a cigar to a puddle of petrol and everything explodes! It just doesn't happen! They even poured petrol into a vessel and boiled it using some electric stove and the petrol simply evaporated off!

Even I tried finding a newspaper report on this. I saw in one FB post that this happened in Kancheepuram, TN.

I suspect mobile phone usage, as both of the rider's hands are behind the tank and his head is tilted down, something many of us do to check messages at say, a traffic signal.

Another reason can be that the attendant dropped some amount of fuel outside the tank and came in contact with the flaming hot pipe, which is on the rider's left side. Happened with me once in Shell, and within seconds two of the attendants cleaned up the entire fuel tank and engine casing with a cloth.

I feel it's a D200 with orange rims. Might be wrong here. It just doesn't look 390-ish to me.

Yeah, i make it a point to not take the phone out while I am still on the bike.
If there is a repeated call coming in, I stop, take my helmet off and then talk.

More importantly, always smarter to get down from your vehicle while filling in (Shell pumps insist). I normally keep the bike straight with hands while standing beside it and ask the fuel guy to not over fill to make a whole figure of rupees !!!

Anyone here has any information on the service interval change , I mean do we old bike owners also need to get it serviced at 7.5k interval now or still at 5k ?