[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by gharika

Thanks to the friendly and informative people on this forum, I went ahead with the purchase of the Duke 390 and got it under me today . This is my fourth bike but this time it was after a gap of 10 years. My last one was a CBZ (1999 make).
This is the second time that the forum has helped me in making my buying decision and I have the confidence in the people here to get me out of any machine trouble. So much so that the first time I rode the Duke was after I purchased it.
The recent discussion on the cooling system of the Duke was fresh on my mind during the ride out of the showroom and I experienced it first hand. I am still in doubt what to do on the traffic stops, the only time I have to stop actually and the speeds come down below 40. The stops range between 30 seconds to 110 seconds. So should I switch it off? Let it idle? Cyrus_the_virus provided good tips, I will follow them in the meantime.

Congrats on your new purchase of D390. Wish you happy/fun and safe riding.

Based on what I understood from Cyrus_the_virus and suggestions from others is that it is better to keep the engine at the signal stops (irrespective of the stop duration). At the max, the stop duration can be around 120 secs.

Even I am waiting for a consolidated list of suggestions or a set of thump rules to be followed while switching on/off the D390.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by gharika

The stops range between 30 seconds to 110 seconds. So should I switch it off? Let it idle? Cyrus_the_virus provided good tips, I will follow them in the meantime.

Personal experience:

Bars at 2 less than max. Had been riding for around 45 minutes with an avg speed of 45 kph

Traffic signal - 90 ish seconds

September Delhi heat - hovering around the 40 deg C mark, or 110 degrees F for those of you on the imperial system

Switched the bike off. "Half thumbed" the starter and the bike came to life.

Repeatability - 100%

Only issue with restarting - you stall the bike when its not up to temp and just as soon as the engine dies, you thumb the starter. It takes a good 5 odd seconds before the bike comes to life

So, has the heating issue been sorted? In my books, its a resounding YES!!!

But please dont take my word for it. Try it for yourself and report back

[shan_ned]

To all the D390 owners, I have few queries which I feel it would helpful for new and prospective owners.

1. I assume most of the D390 owners are amateur bikers in the world of superbikes. D390 being their first entry level super bike, every individual have their own thoughts and perspectives on the riding D390. There can be some percentage of the D390 owners who found touring as one of their new hobbies and passions. For touring, the biggest bottleneck with D390 is the frequent refueling at the petrol pumps. Certain routes do have good petrol pumps and some other routes may either have fewer pump stations or bad stations where the fuel quality is not guaranteed. In such routes, how do the D390 owners manage? Few may be skeptical in getting fuel from unknown pump stations. Some may be looking only for pumps providing premium petrol. So in such routes where there are fewer pumps or fuel quality is unknown, are there any tips or suggestions ? For example, in a couple of posts, I read about a two or three bottles being always carried to store the fuel in order to extend the journey distance by another 100 to 150 kms and there-by giving a very good chance of hitting/re-fuelling at the next available fuel pump which stocks good quality fuel. Would like to hear from the existing D390 owners on how they manage long distance touring. Of course there some issues regarding the space in having the bottles, but I would like to get more details on how things are managed.
   
2. In one of the sections advising on owning a superbike, it suggests the riders to carry a bottle of octane booster just in case the premium fuel is unavailable while touring. Any thoughts on this practice by the D390 owners?
   
3. This question is better answered by a test drive, but I would like to hear from the D390 owners who have the experience of owning and driving other motorcycles. D390 has an excellent mid-range torque in the region between 6000 to 9000 RPM. If one is driving at 100 km/h in the sixth gear, the engine RPM needle should be hovering around 6000RPM. Compared to other bikes, how do you rate the in-gear acceleration of D390 ? Most of the guys will be cruising around 80 to 120 km/h while touring and so how good it is on D390 to have a quick acceleration from the cruising speed for quick overtake of the vehicles on the highways. Being an owner of a Swift petrol car, I always envy how the diesel cars/suvs overtake without breaking a sweat ? Please share your experience about D390's in-gear acceleration in comparison with other bikes on which your have toured.
   

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Frequent refueling issue, Octane booster and Overtaking

I really don't see frequent refueling as an issue. I club the butt break with the fuel break and that evens out the equation. A full tank takes you some where between 200-250 Kms ( depending on the ride style) and that's longer than what most bikers take a break in between.
When in city I use only premium. On highway I look out for decent looking bunk if not I am ok with what ever quality I get. Neither I nor my bike is fastidious about the quality ( that's one good thing about the 390). we both take it in the stride with the knowledge that somewhere soon we get to refill with premium. But that's never the primary concern during long distance riding.
The bike is quick enough for the Indian roads /other vehicles on the highway. So unless you are a speed junkie, the bike has enough in it's reserve to gratify the average joe rider. Further a 390 is not a super bike, it's quick (after riding years on a 100-150 cc bike, obviously this is quicker). It might give you a taste of speed but it's no super bike. so octane booster may be a far fetched idea I guess.
and to answer your third question. It is a breeze ( cool one at that) to overtake the vehicles on the highways. A twist of throttle should do it. Occasionally a down shift may be necessary. But it is always a breeze . Other bikes that I have ridden on long distances are not in the league of a 390. it will be like comparing lemons to apples. rest assured there is no sweat (bike or rider) during an overtaking.

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

To all the D390 owners, I have few queries which I feel it would helpful for new and prospective owners.

1. This question is better answered by a test drive, but I would like to hear from the D390 owners who have the experience of owning and driving other motorcycles. D390 has an excellent mid-range torque in the region between 6000 to 9000 RPM. If one is driving at 100 km/h in the sixth gear, the engine RPM needle should be hovering around 6000RPM. Compared to other bikes, how do you rate the in-gear acceleration of D390 ? Most of the guys will be cruising around 80 to 120 km/h while touring and so how good it is on D390 to have a quick acceleration from the cruising speed for quick overtake of the vehicles on the highways. Being an owner of a Swift petrol car, I always envy how the diesel cars/suvs overtake without breaking a sweat ? Please share your experience about D390's in-gear acceleration in comparison with other bikes on which your have toured.
   

Let me explain the duke 390 acceleration under regular riding condition -
regular will be you turn the throttle mildy and the acceleration upto 5k rpm is nothind scary and nothing special either . At 5/6k rpm you now wish to overtake - all you do is twist the throttle a tad fast and you will zoom past pretty much anything on our road by the time you hit 7/8k rpm , the severe engine braking allows for quick speed modulation back to cruising rpm once the overtake has happened .

In short , if you are cruising around 5-7k rpm , you still have ample power left to overtake without braking a sweat . And the acceleration is never ending compared to what we have on roads here in this segment (of course this is a relative statement , a SBK owner will disagree but the bike is scary fast if you twist the throttle hard ) , it starts around 6k rpm and the push then is harder than anything else I have experienced but the push once it hits it power band around 8k rpm is something else - the sound , the intake whoosh , the blurry vision has to be experienced . The bike hits 3 digit speeds in 3rd gear , I mostly find myself in 2nd and 3rd gear within city and often have accelerated so fast without realizing I am doing triple digits on roads ridden with potential hazards , you have to take it easy because the perception of speed(in my case the switch has been from a cast iron enfield where vibrations kept me aware of speed, someone coming from a pulsar 220 for example will feel different from me ) is skewered - today only I was doing 80 in 4th and it felt like 50 , I realized the speed once I had to brake and turn immediately . I have often approached turns only to find I am doing a good 15/25kmph more than I felt resulting in either mid turn braking(or throttle control) or extra lean . Went off road yesterday like a complete newbie to avoid a potential collision because my speed during the turn was higher than I felt hence resulting in either more lean or a bigger radius .

[VW2010]

So, has the heating issue been sorted? In my books, its a resounding YES!!!

What heating issue are you talking about that needed fix in the first place?

I mean, if you are talking about engine shutting off on over heating, it was not an issue but actually a feature.

If the engine is not shutting off at high bars of temperature, then there is an issue.

I am doing ------ on roads ridden with potential hazards , you have to take it easy because the perception of speed(in my case the switch has been from a cast iron enfield where vibrations kept me aware of speed, someone coming from a pulsar 220 for example will feel different from me ) is skewered - today only I was doing 80 in 4th and it felt like 50 , I realized the speed once I had to brake and turn immediately . I have often approached turns only to find I am doing a good 15/25kmph more than I f

Honestly do not trust the machine to do anything that can cause danger to yourself. Overtake when you have enough road length to take evasive actions in case the bike fails and if the question is does the bike has enough in it to do those quick overtakes, yes it does.

The answer should be the bike has enough in it to help you overtake a slow moving vehicle provided you have enough space in front. All other need to overtake a faster vehicle in a short sprint is potentially self destructive and kindly avoid doing so. Mention of high illegal speeds is actually incorrect in this forum. Kindly avoid this mistake which i learnt from my own mistake of posting speeds. In a race track if you are doing such speeds, its still fine to post it here .

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by gharika

Thanks to the friendly and informative people on this forum, I went ahead with the purchase of the Duke 390 and got it under me today . This is my fourth bike but this time it was after a gap of 10 years. My last one was a CBZ (1999 make).
This is the second time that the forum has helped me in making my buying decision and I have the confidence in the people here to get me out of any machine trouble. So much so that the first time I rode the Duke was after I purchased it.

Congarts!! I have been comparing all the bikes below 3.5L which is already in India and are also in the pipeline, and this is the fastest, the most powerful and the most fuel efficient bike among all.

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Certain routes do have good petrol pumps and some other routes may either have fewer pump stations or bad stations where the fuel quality is not guaranteed. In such routes, how do the D390 owners manage? Few may be skeptical in getting fuel from unknown pump stations. Some may be looking only for pumps providing premium petrol. So in such routes where there are fewer pumps or fuel quality is unknown, are there any tips or suggestions ? For example, in a couple of posts, I read about a two or three bottles being always carried to store the fuel in order to extend the journey distance by another 100 to 150 kms and there-by giving a very good chance of hitting/re-fuelling at the next available fuel pump which stocks good quality fuel.

The quality of petrol must surely affect the longevity of the engine due to the following

1. The high comp ratio in 390 will increase the tendency for knocking in low octane rated fuel.

2. The high sulfer content in some kerosene diluted petrol offered in remote areas is detrimental to Nikasil coating in the 390 engine.

3. The carbon deposits due to subpar ignition in low quality fuels.

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Compared to other bikes, how do you rate the in-gear acceleration of D390 ? Most of the guys will be cruising around 80 to 120 km/h while touring and so how good it is on D390 to have a quick acceleration from the cruising speed for quick overtake of the vehicles on the highways. Being an owner of a Swift petrol car, I always envy how the diesel cars/suvs overtake without breaking a sweat ?

I can relate to what you feel. I had owned an esteem petrol , before my Getz Diesel and swift Vdi. It is really disappointing when you see a lower power to weight ratio vehicle overtake you.

But in duke's case, the torque from the big single, is sufficient to overtake any vehicle in a breeze. It is almost like a single cylinder two stroke motor.

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Honestly do not trust the machine to do anything that can cause danger to yourself. Overtake when you have enough road length to take evasive actions in case the bike fails and if the question is does the bike has enough in it to do those quick overtakes, yes it does.

The answer should be the bike has enough in it to help you overtake a slow moving vehicle provided you have enough space in front. All other need to overtake a faster vehicle in a short sprint is potentially self destructive and kindly avoid doing so. Mention of high illegal speeds is actually incorrect in this forum. Kindly avoid this mistake which i learnt from my own mistake of posting speeds. In a race track if you are doing such speeds, its still fine to post it here .

I always consciously try to take it easy on bike , average speed indicated after a ride normally is between 30-35 , the point I was trying to make is I don't always realize the speed I am doing - to stress that I mentioned a couple of examples and in none of those cases the speed was intentional . Of course it goes without saying any overtake should be undertaken only if enough road is available to account for any potential hazard not to mention that it doesn't puts the incoming traffic in an uncomfortable position . My point was before overtake i was probably doing 30/40 and within 2-3 seconds I am looking at triple digit which is suddenly scary .
Since the person who asked the question is about to get the bike and hence a complete newbie like me (just 350km on ODO) , I decided to mention the dangerous situations I have found myself in because of speed on this bike . Your point about mentioning speeds is noted , I forgot about it and will not consciously repeat it again . But I do want to put it on record the speed wasn't mentioned as boast but to stress how fast the bike is and how that can affect real word application .


On another note , can wind passing through the radiator fan rotate it and hence make a whoosing sound ? I get this sound sometimes from front and it is incredibly annoying because it is inconsistent and sounds like a flat tire will .

[shan_ned]

Originally Posted by mithunvvijayan

The quality of petrol must surely affect the longevity of the engine due to the following

1. The high comp ratio in 390 will increase the tendency for knocking in low octane rated fuel.

2. The high sulfer content in some kerosene diluted petrol offered in remote areas is detrimental to Nikasil coating in the 390 engine.

3. The carbon deposits due to subpar ignition in low quality fuels.

Pardon my ignorance, but I was told that some of the system internals (something like sensors ???) could take care of preventing engine knocking. Even I am not quite sure how a control unit can prevent the low RON fuel from getting ignited prematurely.

You have listed some of the problems going with low quality fuel. Few may be very much concerned about those problems and so they will be taking some additional precautions for touring. So I (and of course some new owners as well) am more interested in knowing the few good practices/suggestions followed while touring.

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by shan_ned

Pardon my ignorance, but I was told that some of the system internals (something like sensors ???) could take care of preventing engine knocking. Even I am not quite sure how a control unit can prevent the low RON fuel from getting ignited prematurely.

You have listed some of the problems going with low quality fuel. Few may be very much concerned about those problems and so they will be taking some additional precautions for touring. So I (and of course some new owners as well) am more interested in knowing the few good practices/suggestions followed while touring.

Knock sensor works by advancing the timing of the ignition. This is done after the sensor detects knocks. But spark advance decreases the efficiency of the duel burn, and is not as good as the absence of knocking all together.

In plain english, prevention is better than cure. And I don't know if there is a knock sensor in duke 390.

Duke 390 with its 11 litres tank and low bottom end torque is not designed for touring. If the fuel quality has to be ensured, you might have to carry it along in bottles, as someone mentioned in an earlier post.

[ArizonaJim]

This is only my opinion but it is based on my having ridden several water cooled motorcycles.

Ride your new motorcycle like you must without doing anything special to avoid the supposed heating issue. Do not shut off the engine at prolonged waits at the traffic lights. Do not pamper or baby it (except during break in).
Just let it do "its thing". It "knows" what is happening and will do the appropriate thing.

The engineers who designed your motorcycle fully understand the riding conditions you face and they have engineered the bike to handle the engines temperature under all of the conditions (and more) that you and it will face.

I have seen a lot of speculation on this topic, much of which are just opinions on how and when the cooling fan should operate, how high the temperature indicator should rise and when it should fall but, when all is said and done they are only speculations.

Speculating is fun to do but for the most part, it is not based on engineering facts.

I have seen little to indicate that this temperature issue is bad except for those who seem to feel the engine heat is too high for bare (unprotected) legs to withstand. I have yet to hear of even those people who complain about the heat "cooking their legs" say they suffered any actual physical burns from the heat of the air coming off of the radiator (heat exchanger).
No one has mentioned getting home after a hot ride and hearing the wife say, "Oh! I hope your fathers legs aren't overcooked. I was planning them for dinner."

As for the high readings on the temperature guage, internal combustion engines are most efficient at temperatures around 95-98 degrees C which seems to be about the range that the cooling fan starts to operate.

Perhaps I missed it but I don't recall reading of anyone stranded by the roadside with their Duke blowing steam into the surrounding air and refusing to operate. If I did, my apologies for not remembering.

[pisthpeeps]

Would you guys recommend duke 390 if its just for daily commute inside city (Chennai) ? The daily commute is during non peak hours. I have two route options 1. Can be through city roads for 19 kms one way.
2. Can take a mix of city(8 kms) and 6 lane tolled highway(20kms) for 28 kms one way.

I don't see me doing long weekend trips on 390. For my above needs would you recommend 390? Or 200 will suffice? 390 tempts me for its abs, tyres and slightly lower seat height when compared to 200.

[mithunvvijayan]

Originally Posted by pisthpeeps

Would you guys recommend duke 390 if its just for daily commute inside city (Chennai) ? The daily commute is during non peak hours. I have two route options 1. Can be through city roads for 19 kms one way.
2. Can take a mix of city(8 kms) and 6 lane tolled highway(20kms) for 28 kms one way.

I don't see me doing long weekend trips on 390. For my above needs would you recommend 390? Or 200 will suffice? 390 tempts me for its abs, tyres and slightly lower seat height when compared to 200.

I commute daily through heavy traffic in my 390. Its easy to rude in traffic.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by mithunvvijayan

Knock sensor works by advancing the timing of the ignition. This is done after the sensor detects knocks. But spark advance decreases the efficiency of the duel burn, and is not as good as the absence of knocking all together.

In plain english, prevention is better than cure. And I don't know if there is a knock sensor in duke 390.

Duke 390 with its 11 litres tank and low bottom end torque is not designed for touring. If the fuel quality has to be ensured, you might have to carry it along in bottles, as someone mentioned in an earlier post.

Bro, what are you saying?

390s are riding the length and breadth of the country on regular highway pump fuel.

390s are riding to Ladakh, often using the fuel by the wayside sold in bottles and from drums and jerry cans.

And the 390 is not built for touring? Why?

Its got an engine, its got two wheels, it can tour. How far depends on the rider. How fast depends on the machine.

[GreaseMonk]

Originally Posted by pisthpeeps

Would you guys recommend duke 390 if its just for daily commute inside city (Chennai) ? The daily commute is during non peak hours. I have two route options 1. Can be through city roads for 19 kms one way.
2. Can take a mix of city(8 kms) and 6 lane tolled highway(20kms) for 28 kms one way.

I don't see me doing long weekend trips on 390. For my above needs would you recommend 390? Or 200 will suffice? 390 tempts me for its abs, tyres and slightly lower seat height when compared to 200.

If its non-peak hours, I'd say go for the 390.

If its peak hour traffic, then I would say test ride both in bad traffic and decide if you are OK with the 390's low rpm characteristics.

I have a daily commute on the 390 during non-peak hours and thoroughly enjoy it.