[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

With the MRA VFlow C type - 145 can be done sitting upright without your head tearing off your torso.

Now that's something. Did you buy blind or were you able to sample it before paying?

Source of purchase?

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Now that's something. Did you buy blind or were you able to sample it before paying?

Source of purchase?

Bought it blind but I did some photoshop work with the different MRA models to see which one suits the bike the best and went with the C Type. there is another BHP-ian here who has got the Z type too. It is a tad shorter than the C type. Since I'm 6ft tall, decided I need every additional centimeter.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

Since I'm 6ft tall, decided I need every additional centimeter.

I too fall in the same height range which means if I am buying one, it should be the same model as yours.

How does this adjust for height? Going by the pictures you've posted, its almost a flush mount around the headlamp console area. Raising it would means bringing a gap at this point. Am I right or wrong?

It still looks out of place on the bike, at least for me. I am willing to let go of this if the benefits far out weigh the cosmetic trade off.

Your purchase source?

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

It still looks out of place on the bike, at least for me. I am willing to let go of this if the benefits far out weigh the cosmetic trade off.

Your purchase source?

Sandeep check out this website. http://www.jvpromoto.com/. It is Mumbai based.
Contact Person. Mr. Vikas Malhotra
Contact number: +91 96198 66133
+91 96198 66144
+91 96197 03590.

These guys appear to be the Windshield guys / distributors around here in India

The cost AFAIK is Rs. 9000 (Inclusive of shipping). During my inquiry I was told that Model MRA VFlow C & Z type are not in stock and has to be ordered. But they seem to have the MRA RNB in stock

and to understand what all this RNB, C,Z means check this page: http://www.bikehps.com/mra/nakedscreens.html
http://www.bikehps.com/acatalog/MRA_...ked_Bikes.html
http://www.mraonline.nl/contents/en-...Screen_C_.html
http://www.mraonline.nl/contents/en-...Screen_Z_.html
http://www.mraonline.nl/contents/en-...ayShield_.html
http://www.mraonline.nl/contents/en-..._Classic_.html

Hope that helps.

[sandeepmohan]

Ride to Renigunta and Madikeri. These are two rides done with a gap of two days in between.

Renigunta is in Andhra Pradesh. A good 250km from my house. There is nothing to highlight about the place apart from the close proximity to the temple in Tirumala. Apart from this, the only thing to speak of is the railway station which is a large junction. Renigunta Junction is an important stop and traction change over point for many trains from the south heading up north and back. I love trains. Tharian (handle) and I have been riding for many years to various locations just to go watch a train. It is a weird hobby to most but this is one easy reason for us to go ride. We both have cars but we prefer to take the motorbike on train spotting trips. We both have a good view of the railway line right from our house too but it is not good enough. We try to combine a ride with some train spotting. It completes the trip. We have been talking about this ride for years but never got to doing it.

It was my Duke with tharain's Enfield 500 from the 90's. I could have taken my 500 but it has been off regular use. I do ride the bike now but only once in a while. The bike has not had a drop of oil filled or replaced in the last five months. I would not venture out with a 500 with stale oil in it.

We set out at 630am. The road to Renigunta offers a good mix of four lane expressway and single lane roads. The ratio of expressway to single lane is something like 30:70. We start off on Old Madras road. As the name suggests, the road heads to Chennai. It is still a popular choice for folks headed to Chennai city. You save nearly Rs. 300 bucks by using this road over the expressway option to Chennai. It is approx 35km shorter too. As long as you careful, don't mind varying speeds, this is the more involving road to drive/ride if you want to go to Chennai. The last 70km brings you back to an expressway which has seen better days in terms of surface quality. Anyway, we are not headed that far. Our turn off point comes at Chitoor town and there is a bypass. From the Bangalore end, Old Madras road starts off as four lane express way to a place called Mulbagal. A good 80km. After this point, it is single lane all the way. The roads are excellent and it is never straight. There are nice sweeping curves and a few sharp ones as well.

We are doing, what I'd like to call "mileage mode" on the Duke. Safe cruising speed on the Enfield is 90Kmph so I am behind tharian all the way. It was getting boring as the Duke's engine speed felt like it was a little above idle. If my riding partner has a slower bike, I still try and stick with my partner visible in the mirror and not blast away. Wind blast is not a issue at this speed. Expressways get boring if you go too slow and it did feel that way. I could not wait for the four lane to end. When it did, it was time to twist the throttle and dump the bike in to one of those sweeping curves. What a feeling, the Duke is built for doing this all day long. I was worried about my shoes scrapping the ground, so each time I was approaching a nice bend, I shift from heel to toe on the foot rest. I found that leaning a little forward gives you a little more confidence when attacking corners.

We continued with a speedo indicated 90-95 kmph where ever we could. After we cleared the Chitoor by pass, some way down, the Enfield felt like it needed a breather so tharian pulled over. There was steam coming out of the oil breather pipe which is directed towards the chain. When we stopped, we noticed the entire rear wheel rim and tire soaked in engine oil. The number plate, knuckle protector and tank fairing on the Duke had traces of the oil being kicked up from the rear tire of the Enfield. I was nowhere near the rear end of the Enfield. On checking the oil dip stick, no trace of oil was seen. We let the engine cool down. It was our priority to find engine oil. It was impossible to find the right grade so we poured whatever four stroke oil and took it easy. By the end of the day, we poured close to 2l of oil and it was only then it started to indicate on the dip stick. That is almost the amount of oil the bike was spitting out. There were traces of it on my lid visor too. We had carried on at 90kmph though temperatures had gone up and this lead to the engine running a little too hot on the Enfield. The problem did not re surface post reduction in speed.

I was going slower on my Duke. Trying to tow an Enfield with a Duke may lead to the front end lifting. However; in this time, it was good to have back up in case something were to go wrong. I've tried riding the Duke at various speeds. I find that there is always some engine vibration that filters to the handle bar. Do others feel the same or is there some rpm where the bike is supposed to feel Honda smooth? This vibration does not bother me and from the overall feel, I know that there is nothing really wrong.

This ride seems to have brought out the best in fuel economy. The bike went on for a good 250km without a low fuel alert. That is impressive for the engine capacity. Engine temperature was well within safe limits. We did quite a few stop starts in the hot afternoon. When you do his frequently, you will notice the engine temperature bar runs up by nine blocks when you re crank. Once you get going again, they drop down to 7-8 bars. Very safe.

At Renigunta outer, we found a nice sardar run dhabba located close to the line. This allowed us to combine some trains spotting and lunch. This was not a good day for trains as nothing much showed up. You have to hand it to the sardar gentleman for coming all the way down here, in the middle of nowhere and start a little joint to take care of truckers needs. Our table neighbors were truckers and local folks. The quality of the food was excellent. I am surely riding here again for the food.

We headed to the railway station post lunch, hung around there a bit and at about 3pm, started our way back to Bangalore. We took it easy till sunset and then raised our speeds. The Enfield was fine when the weather was cooler. The Duke was feeling better too. Engines run better when the air is cooler. The presence of the radiator surely makes life easier on the Duke. There is still no escaping the heat from that fan though. Blasting at the ton, I knew when the radiator fan would kick in as there would be this sudden feel of warmth on my calf muscle. A nice feeling with the weather is cold.

We were riding for a good one hour past sunset. The lights on the motorcycle are really bright and the spread of beam is good. The orange console back light is just right and does not cause any distraction at night. I am not a big fan of riding past sunset. Every vehicle on the road is on high beam and no amount of head lamp power is good enough on a motorcycle. It feels as if every vehicle on the road has the high beam angled right at you. It was a struggle riding back and speeds were low post sunset. We were back home by around 7pm. The last one hour was a drain due to the blinding lights.

Madikeri, Coorg District.

This ride was with a small thumper group. The Duke had company of a cast iron 500, an avl 350 and a cast iron tci timed 350. The plan was to ride to Madikeri, grab lunch and ride back. Madikeri works out to 260km from Bangalore. You ride to Mysore (don’t enter Mysore city) which is a four lane state highway and then veer off to the Madikeri highway which can also take you to Mangalore. Mysore Madikeri is mostly single lane and a beautiful road. The four lane Bangalore Mysore road is a well surfaced road. This is one road that has not given up in the many years I have been on it. I don’t recall of any patch work being done on this road. It has stayed pot hole free. What has ruined it though is the number of speed breakers. There are over 50 of them for sure in 130km distance to Mysore. If you are new to this road, you have to go easy. The other problem with this road is that it passes through every single town. It is a nightmare on long holiday weekends. In fact, you would not be able to tell if you hit the highway or not. Such is the volume of traffic between Bangalore and Mysore. 130km sounds like two hours easy. That is not the case though. 2.5-3 hours is more like it.

The section between Mysore and Madikeri is the best part. It starts as a four lane road and then narrows down to a nice wide single lane road. You still have speed breakers. The single lane stretch has a lot of lay over area, excellent surface quality, nice bends and the last bit to Madikeri is cornering paradise.

Our plan to leave at 6am did not work out. We left only at around 645. It was an easy ride till Mysore. Traffic was thin and the weather was cool. Post breakfast and this was on the stretch after Mysore, I decided to give the Duke a work out and what a rewarding experience it was. The last 70km was maximum throttle where ever I could. I did see 140 for second. It was too fast for this road. We all know what the Duke 390 is quick to the ton. It is quick even after this. There were some really pissed cars owners who could not digest the fact that they were over taken by a puny motorcycle. I was whizzing past everyone. It was rare that I popped sixth and stayed there. 3rd, 4th and 5th were the most active gears. Drop a gear and slam the throttle all the way. No gears missed. When it was time for a speed breaker, I would think, should I pop down to 1st or 2nd. Heck, roll over the hump in 2nd, whack on the throttle and you are off in a flash. The last few kilometres leading to Madikeri is cornering paradise. This was the first time I pushed the Duke hard. Some of the bends are long and you can’t really see what is coming at you from the other end. As expected, there were buses over taking on my lane and I had to apply the brakes in the middle of a lean. No problem and no panic situation. The chassis communicates really well to the rider on what’s happening on the road. From a tire grip stand point, there is no worry. Better feedback from the rear brakes would be great. The riding posture is new and I have started to like this. It is different and inspires a lot confidence when you blast up a twisty section of road. The last section of the ride was hard acceleration. When I got to Madikeri, it was time to tank up. 9.30l went in to the tank and the trip registered 258km. Tank capacity is an issue, economy is not.

I waited for about 15 minutes for the first thumper to arrive and re grouped with the other two shortly. It was lunch time so we headed to East End Restaurant in Madikeri town. We were early to arrive and were the only ones at the joint. Food turned to be a disappointment. The place is still popular for travellers in the region. By the time we left the restaurant, the place was buzzing with people.

We had to turn around to Bangalore so after a not so nice but relaxing lunch, we hit the highway. The first thing that greets you as you exit Madikeri are those nice bends. The Duke loves this and it ensures the rider is entertained. Powering up hard on reaching the end of a bend is a very satisfying feeling. I slowed down after the bends were over and decided to ride with the group. We returned via Kanakpura Road which is an alternate route to Bangalore. A single lane, well paved road and an absolute delight on a motorcycle. It is best not to do this road by night or post sunset. It is very lonely and you have the usual high beam glare from oncoming vehicles.

We got back at around 830pm. The problem with Kanakpura road is it cuts right through the city and all of us live at the other end. Traffic was bad. My rear had seen enough time on that Duke seat for one day. This problem could be specific to me. The medical condition I have just recovered from does not allow me to sit for very long on anything that’s on the firmer side.

Both the rides involved a lot of single carriage way roads and there was a lot of overtaking. This is the easiest thing to do on the Duke 390. If you want to go the lazy route, open the throttle a little more in 6th, and you are past the vehicle in front. A better way to do it and make it eventful would be to come down a gear or two and blast past the vehicle up front. I like. The engine has a different character and note past 7000rpm. It makes you want to go there each time you wring the throttle. A concern that I have is the fuel gauge. It is not the most accurate. The gauge went down by only two bars in 140km. It felt good from an economy point of view. Post breakfast pit stop and re cranking, the bars were down by another 2 more steps. Ideally; I should have seen this earlier. I can live with this slow refresh problem. It is safer to have an idea on the distance you’ve run and play it safe on fuel consumption.

The stock suspension set up works really well. I don’t find it too hard or soft. No wallowing or insecure feeling even when your speeds a shade over the ton. Much faster will require firming up.

Wind blast poses a serious problem only if you are well past the ton. I can live with it till around 110kmph. My comfort zone for speed is around this much. Higher sustained speeds make me nervous. Can't make up my mind if I should plonk nine big one's on a windscreen.

Some questions on the bike;

With the bike parked on the side stand, is engine oil supposed to be visible in the port hole? I see oil filling in the port hole only if the bike is levelled.

Washing the bike. I use a 3M kitchen wipe to do this. Dip it in a bucket of water and wipe down. Excluding the engine area, is it safe to hose down the bike?

I experience some pain on my right knee after prolonged periods on the saddle. Have to stretch my legs for the pain to go away. I prefer pulling over and doing this instead of stretch while riding. Thoughts?

Filling fuel. I've had a couple of over fills as the auto stop did not cut off in time. It is also quite difficult to see how much fuel is there, as it reaches the brim and if you in a sheltered gas pump. Most gas pumps today are sheltered. Where does the fuel fall or spill?

When riding under uneven tree cover, there is some glare coming off the meter console. I tend to look at it wondering if some alert flashed or if the back light died.

Tharian (handle) loaned the bike for a 800km round trip. Observed that the bike sways when taking turns. If the road has patches, both the tires shift on a curve and during acceleration. It is more pronounced at lower speeds. Not a concern at higher speeds. I attribute this to the slick tires. Views on this will be great.

Couple of pictures from the Renigunta ride.
Breakfast pit stop



At Renigunta Junction outer. The freight standing is on the by pass line. Yes; there are by pass lines for trains too.

[ashkamath]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Some questions on the bike;

With the bike parked on the side stand, is engine oil supposed to be visible in the port hole? I see oil filling in the port hole only if the bike is levelled.

Sandeepmohan, the engine oil is visible in the port hole only when the bike is levelled. When parked on side stand, the oil level may not be accurate or not visible at all. This is so with all bikes.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Washing the bike. I use a 3M kitchen wipe to do this. Dip it in a bucket of water and wipe down. Excluding the engine area, is it safe to hose down the bike?

I have heard ( not done it myself) that it is alright to hose down the bike with low pressure and very gently at the radiator area. This is because any high pressure in the radiator area could distort the fins. and also be careful not to hose under the seat after removing the pillion seat. there are some electricals there. Rest is normal washing and polishing to keep the bike spic and span.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I experience some pain on my right knee after prolonged periods on the saddle. Have to stretch my legs for the pain to go away. I prefer pulling over and doing this instead of stretch while riding. Thoughts?

I guess that is because of the positioning of the brake -foot rest. A prolonged maintaining the ankle bent in a slightly backward position results in ankle pain. Happens with me too. Stretching the legs while riding should releive the pain a bit.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Filling fuel. I've had a couple of over fills as the auto stop did not cut off in time. It is also quite difficult to see how much fuel is there, as it reaches the brim and if you in a sheltered gas pump. Most gas pumps today are sheltered. Where does the fuel fall or spill?

Please see the attached Photos. There is a rain water drain cock -pipe attached just underneath the fuel lid. Generally during washing or monsoon period water tends to seep inside. In your case it could be some extra fuel. It just drains down and is wasted. ( check for a pipe dangling free down somewhere in the engine bay area). Further there are instances the drain cock is clogged / blocked due to dirt and stuff. then the fuel / water will overflow in the 1" gap between the actual fuel tank and the outer Fibre tank cover. and seeps out ( though that is a very remote possibility to happen that way)

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

When riding under uneven tree cover, there is some glare coming off the meter console. I tend to look at it wondering if some alert flashed or if the back light died.

No idea about this.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Tharian (handle) loaned the bike for a 800km round trip. Observed that the bike sways when taking turns. If the road has patches, both the tires shift on a curve and during acceleration. It is more pronounced at lower speeds. Not a concern at higher speeds. I attribute this to the slick tires. Views on this will be great.

check if you have filled the right air pressure. a higher air pressure in the tyre could sway due to lesser contact patch. also if one used fully loaded side lugging saddle bags in the pillion that could also contribute to swaying. then there is cross winds too. and yes may be slick tires are you said. I have had one or two instances of bike swaying during turns and I have wondered if the tyre tread is waning away too fast.

and let me thank you for the wonderful trip logs. You had a great time with those rides and I had a great time reliving your experience through your post. Nice. Thanks

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I too fall in the same height range which means if I am buying one, it should be the same model as yours.

How does this adjust for height? Going by the pictures you've posted, its almost a flush mount around the headlamp console area. Raising it would means bringing a gap at this point. Am I right or wrong?

It still looks out of place on the bike, at least for me. I am willing to let go of this if the benefits far out weigh the cosmetic trade off.

Your purchase source?

Originally Posted by ashkamath

Sandeep check out this website. http://www.jvpromoto.com/. .

This is the link that helped me make my decision. It has almost all the MRA screens on different bikes. Looks like there is now an 2 exclusive ones for the duke! It looks proportionate and good! Damn! If only it was available when I bought the VFlow!!

http://goo.gl/e91LcW

[Mafia]

Hey,
Nice review.
I have one question, it is about the wind blast at high speeds.
As far as I know the seating position on the bullet and the duke are upright. Would not the wind blast be the same on both the bikes?

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Mafia

Hey,
Nice review.
I have one question, it is about the wind blast at high speeds.
As far as I know the seating position on the bullet and the duke are upright. Would not the wind blast be the same on both the bikes?

Yes it would, for the same speed. Even though the Duke is more aerodynamic than the Bullet because of its front mudguard leg shrouds, its mini fairing in front of the speedo display, and its flared tank shrouds that cover the knees completely as they tuck neatly into the recesses just behind.

But the Bullet tops out at 120-130 kmph. While the Dukes top out at 140-180 kmph. That is a huge jump, and the wind blast would be considerably more as the speeds increase.

[tharian]

A short report on a 800kms round trip on the 390 I did last week.

It was an planned trip, but not on the 390. Some last minute changes resulted in using Sandeepmohans 390 which was a good choice for this trip to North Kerala via Mangalore. I gave my CI500 a miss as I had two 500km trips just the week before this and it was on its way to hanging its highway boots and moreover it was a wedding I was headed to and did not want to end up there at some odd times looking like I came after a World War.

This road has a mix of high speed expressways, ghats and winding dual carriageways and some typical Kerala highways. Perfect to ride the 390 on.
The onward journey was quite fast, as is always when compared to the return leg. The Nelamangala to Hassan 4 laning is fully done now and is low on traffic, so the ride was quite peaceful. Since it was a sudden trip, I used a shoulder bag or a laptop bag which I rested on the pillion seat while it was on my shoulder. And the water bag in the front, neither of which put a toll on me.

I had ridden the same bike for a short distance on the expressways as well as on winding state highways on the outskirts and it was quite painful the first time. But, this time around, it was very different and the only sore part I returned with was my backside.
I decided to keep a steady speed on the 4 lane knowing that even a normal speed on the 390 will let me reach my destination faster than doing a higher speed on my 96' 500.
So I let it settle at 105 or thereabouts and the funny part being it felt quite like crusing on a cast iron Bullet. Except the cruise speed was almost 20kmh higher. I dont know if its just me, the vibes and fact that the 390 too is a big single made me feel there is a similarity in feeling.

I tried 125kmh for a couple of kms and dropped it down to 100 as I could feel my neck muscles starting to ache. Put my chin down and I was comfortable doing high speeds, but couldnt sit like that for 800 kms.
The 390 is the best and most enjoyable on dual carriageways with curves and ups and downs. From Hassan to Saklespur, a distance of 40kms is pure bliss on this bike. Coffee estates on either sides and shady roads and the bike and rider are in their element doing speeds in region of 90 without realizing it.
I topped out up when ever the fuel guage bars went down by three and all the while I gave me 28kmpl tankful to tankful which is more or less the same I get from riding my 500 at 90kmh. But then in this case, I had so much power left in hand which was a good feeling.
To be on the safe side and more so because the horn is actually not one on the 390, I let the headlights on through the journey so people on the road mainly as well as other vehicles notice me and the speed.
I must say, the 390 without the ABS is death on wheels. The ABS helped me in a couple of instances of animal crossing and animal standing still on the road.
Back to the trip, on the onward journey, I took the Shiradi ghats which is as good as no roads. I was at the extreme edge on the fine sand with either bushes or a drop on one side, and sharp stones on the right. That was quite painful , since constant braking and accelerating ends up with aching palms and wrists.

The road after the ghats to Mangalore is something like from the Isle of Man. Its perfect for this bike, the roads are wide, well paved, hardly and straight stretches and lots of ups and down. Perfect to get to know the 390.
The one thing I loved about the 390 is the reserve power . Whatever speeds I was doing, I always had so much more power left to use for whatever situations. Just down a gear, especially if your in 6th and it was like the bike had a turbo engine. There was that power pull kicking in later in the rev band which was so addictive.

On the way back, I took a different route to avoid the bad section on the ghats. This road was even better for this bike. It was via the Charmadi ghats and Belur. It was my first time on this road and was just told that I would enjoy it and what better to way to than on the 390 which was made for roads like these. The cut off is around 20 kms from Mangalore and as soon as the cut off is taken, the roads narrow down and the traffic reduces. This road is all about sharp turns with changes in the gradient in the middle of the curves. Perfect place to check the grips .
Becuase of the constant turns and shifting on the seat, my backside started to annoy me a bit and had to stop for few minutes. I normally don't like stopping and end up riding for 3-4 hours , so these stops were annoying to me. So to escape this, whenever I had to stop, I instead slowed down, stood on the foot pegs for few seconds which helped a lot.

Back to the ride. Since traffic was low, I could do decent speeds on these roads. On one of the sharp hairpin bends , I was taking a left on the inside at around 20 when the front slipped on the wet tar, yes I managed that. But that was the only instance of loosing grip and it was a combination of speed and the climb I guess that led to it.
It was these ghats that I got a taste of the bikes power. After a hairpin, I let it rev to around 5-6k rpm and felt that super power surge, it was just like a turbo kicking in.
Once the ghats were done, it was a ride through coffee estates and winding roads. Long curves are felt best on this bike. From Belur to Hassan is a well paved road again with high end cars zipping past .

By the time I reached Hassan, it was dusk and it did not matter much since from there it was 4 laned road all the way to Bangalore.
Must say the spread of the headlamp is good, and a brighter lamp will make it better for night riding.
Got a chance to put my head down and do some good speeds,the bike felt stable with no hint of nervousness at all.

All in all, I cannot compare this bike at this price to any other bike that was sold in India. It is a first in every department and it is exactly what a biker wanted except for few seating issues for both rider and pillion.

If the Enduro/Adventure version is released, I am in line for it.

[alisajid]

Dear Sandeep,

Thank you or giving us such a detailed review, I appreciate the fact that you actually spent so much time in detailing everything. I enjoyed each bit of it. I had a question for all of you enthusiasts, please help me. I want to purchase KTM i test rode 390 but honestly its out of budget for me. I was not able to test ride ktm 200 but guys with your experience will 200 have the same fun element you are describing here.I have budget for 200, and will it suit me for regular commuting for about 35 kms. Apologies if its out of topic but please help me.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by alisajid

Dear Sandeep,

Thank you or giving us such a detailed review, I appreciate the fact that you actually spent so much time in detailing everything. I enjoyed each bit of it. I had a question for all of you enthusiasts, please help me. I want to purchase KTM i test rode 390 but honestly its out of budget for me. I was not able to test ride ktm 200 but guys with your experience will 200 have the same fun element you are describing here.I have budget for 200, and will it suit me for regular commuting for about 35 kms. Apologies if its out of topic but please help me.

The only thing similar about the 200 and the 390 is the design. Everything else is different and these 2 bikes are no way the same in any other aspect. So, please do not buy a 200 expecting it to be a toned down version of the 390. The 200 has a different flavour of it's own and is in now way bad.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by alisajid

I want to purchase KTM i test rode 390 but honestly its out of budget for me. I was not able to test ride ktm 200 but guys with your experience will 200 have the same fun element you are describing here.I have budget for 200, and will it suit me for regular commuting for about 35 kms.

I understand that if you have a budget constraint, there is not much you can do. I'd say wait it out a few months, save up and get the Duke 390. It is not just for the acceleration and power. The 390 is so much more value for money. The additional 70k also gets you a nice safety net like the ABS and tires and trust me, you need every bit of it on this bike.

You will be satisfied with the Duke 200 for as long as you don't ride or experience an extended session with the 390. Once you ride a 390, that 200 will be ejaculated like how a paanwala does when he spits his paan from the side of his mouth.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by alisajid

Dear Sandeep,

Thank you or giving us such a detailed review, I appreciate the fact that you actually spent so much time in detailing everything. I enjoyed each bit of it. I had a question for all of you enthusiasts, please help me. I want to purchase KTM i test rode 390 but honestly its out of budget for me. I was not able to test ride ktm 200 but guys with your experience will 200 have the same fun element you are describing here.I have budget for 200, and will it suit me for regular commuting for about 35 kms. Apologies if its out of topic but please help me.

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

The only thing similar about the 200 and the 390 is the design. Everything else is different and these 2 bikes are no way the same in any other aspect. So, please do not buy a 200 expecting it to be a toned down version of the 390. The 200 has a different flavour of it's own and is in now way bad.

Simply said, and very personally (and not because I own one), the 200 is a LOT more FUN to ride than the 390.

The 390 though is a lot more bike. But is not as fun, and definitely missing the "two stroke" character of the manic lil sister. The 390 is a proper fast big-gish 4 stroke single thumper.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

You will be satisfied with the Duke 200 for as long as you don't ride or experience an extended session with the 390. Once you ride a 390, that 200 will be ejaculated like how a paanwala does when he spits his paan from the side of his mouth.

Couldn't disagree more with you Sandeep.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

The only thing similar about the 200 and the 390 is the design. Everything else is different and these 2 bikes are no way the same in any other aspect. So, please do not buy a 200 expecting it to be a toned down version of the 390. The 200 has a different flavour of it's own and is in now way bad.

Correction: I meant to say no way bad which means it's good.