[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana

Thank you!
It is a pre-worshipped (BHPian's) KTM Duke 390

Congratulations Prasanna, looking forward to your ownership thread.

Originally Posted by nitninja

Prasanna, congrats on the new acquisition. In my 35k kms of ownership, duke 390 has been very unreliable. It has always left me stranded whenever I take my bike out. Every time I hit the highway, tires get punctured, engine had fallen from the bike more than thrice, once even the piston came out and hit a fellow biker, luckily he survived since the piston is of low quality. The list goes on but KTM covered everything under warranty! I'm thinking of going back to cbr 250r. Your views would be appreciated.

The reputed build quality of KTMs is so bad that it really is hard to tell whether you are trying to be sarcastic or if these things actually happened to you!

[nitninja]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The reputed build quality of KTMs is so bad that it really is hard to tell whether you are trying to be sarcastic or if these things actually happened to you!

Yes, after 35k kms of riding the duke, i feel the bike has terrible build quality, just terrible. This bike is a domestically maufactured missile, which can kill someone, not with the power but the piston. Man, If you felt my post to be sarcastic, kudos. If not, then double kudos !

[VW2010]

If I get in little deeper here, things are 100% sure to turn ugly, so I left that part of R&D to folks whoever are interested to find that

Doesnt look like the intention was to simply say spares are not an issue. Even now you claim that spares prices are cheaper or costlier for reasons only you know, You should enlighten than make a blanket statement.

Please read post above for your R&D seems half baked to assume it will turn ugly and for bhp sake start typing CBR and not CPR. I hope we are talking about CBR

[2000rpm]

Guys, how much should a 2011 CBR cost (without ABS model). 20k run, decent condition. Any idea?

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Guys, how much should a 2011 CBR cost (without ABS model). 20k run, decent condition. Any idea?

It should go for 55-60k tops!

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Guys, how much should a 2011 CBR cost (without ABS model). 20k run, decent condition. Any idea?

If it's Bangalore, add another 15-20K due to the higher taxes.

[bevivek]

Thanks Prasanna for this great thread and since many months have passed, hope you are having a blast on the KTM. Had also gone through Aargee's and the recent IAmAHunter's ownership review threads of the CBR 250 R. While it was unexpected, the spicy exchanges at the end of this thread were also interesting. It did point to spare availability being a problem in some places (while not in others) and also showed how passionate people are about their CBR.

A little prelude and I hope I am not hijacking the thread.

Mods: If I am, please do point me towards either opening a new thread or the right thread to post this in.

I am returning to biking after a 2 decade hiatus during which I switched to cars (garage given in signature). It was both exhilarating and shocking to see how much the biking world had changed from the 100 CC machines I mainly rode on. A friend of mine loaned me his Dominar 400 for a month and which turned out to be a good way of literally coming up to speed. I will be writing about my re-entry experience and some thoughts on bike seat height and weight in new threads.

In casting about for a bike for moi, I was somewhat in the position of Prasanna since it would be bought mostly for the experience and not for any particular need. I plan to use it for touring (weekends and 3-4 long / annum) and local convenience shopping. I was also in the happy position that as bikes are much cheaper to cars, most sub 10 L were within my purchase power. So in the past month I have tried everything from the HD Street 750 at the upper end, through Ninja 300, Interceptor / Conti GT 650, CBR 250R, UM Renegade Commando, D400 (of course) and the Yam FZ 25. I tried hard for an R3 but no one in Pune seems to have a test ride bike.

What I have realised is that jumping straight to a twin / high CC machine from the 100 CC prior experience would be a mistake for me. My body and mind need time to adjust to the far higher power, to driving on two wheels in Pune's crazy traffic and as I am coming from cars, the feeling that you are again at the bottom of the vehicular food chain on the roads. This relates to a point I think GTO also made as the 16th point in Crazy Driver's useful post on the 15 things a SBK owner needs to be aware of.

Which brings me to the point that after all the exploration, the 'boring' Honda CBR 250 R, the 2018 version out there seems probably the right bike for me to get going again. It seems to tick the boxes of reliability, solid engine, great build, planted feeling on the road, dual channel ABS, good enough power to cruise at 100+ on our roads all day and very important to me, with a low enough seat that I can plant both feet on the ground.

I checked with BU Bhandari, Pune on spare availability and they say they are sorted on this front. If any Pune CBR 250 R owners following this thread can comment on this, will be great.

Perhaps I missed it in the ownership threads but I would also like comment from past / present CBR owners on the ride experience of the machine on the occasional pot holed / almost kaccha roads we occasionally have to drive on.

[dreamseller]

I agree that the CBR is a good starting point: fuss-free engine, (relatively) calm power delivery and acceptable levels of overall quality.

Originally Posted by bevivek

Perhaps I missed it in the ownership threads but I would also like comment from past / present CBR owners on the ride experience of the machine on the occasional pot holed / almost kaccha roads we occasionally have to drive on.

In stock settings (10W oil in front, 3rd click on the rear), the suspension works well for me on Bangalore roads. I normally keep a steady throttle, stand a bit on the footpegs, and let the motorcycle glide over potholes/broken roads. But if you're planning to go corner carving on the ghats, it might not be as confidence inspiring.
On a related note, changing from stock tires to Michelins has also increased my confidence while riding on less than ideal roads.