[ashwin1224]

Originally Posted by bhavik.1991

Duke 390 is one hell of a beast. Don't want to discourage you or your friend but I suggest not to choose the Duke 390 as his FIRST ride. That's too much of power for a first ride.
I would recommend to start with 150cc segment. If you guys are adamant about getting a KTM, I strongly recommend to get a Duke 200 instead of 250/390.

My Duke 390 was the first bike I rode. I think the 390 or any of the 300cc bikes are great for starting if you are serious about motorcycling. You can get killed riding a 100cc bike and you can equally easily get killed riding a 1000cc bike. So displacement or power doesn't exclusively guarantee that a bike is safe or unsafe.

The 390 comes with metzelers, ABS, phenomenal handling chassis and a very aggressive engine response both while accelerating and decelerating. Let go of the throttle and the bike just wants to come to a standstill instantly, all this IMO makes it even safer still compared to other weaker bikes.

An interesting observation I've made about my riding style after learning to ride on a 390 is that I dont have the urge to upgrade, not very soon. Ive gotten to grips with the 390 and I think it is just perfect for indian roads(the power is what Im talking about). Ive ridden the ninja 650, 600 benellis, striples, tigers and even a CBR fireblade. All of them feel over powered,yet underwhelming because you cannot put that power to good use. The 390 however is satisfying to the core, you've got 44horses and should the time come, you can spank all 44 of them at once hurtling yourself to warp speeds and still stop when you wish to before you hit the scooty girl talking on her phone and turning without giving an indicator.

[The Brutailer]

Will disagree with people saying it can be a first bike. Why? Because, when you're a new rider, you don't have :

• Throttle constraint : You're new to the joys of motorcycling and will wring the throttle fully at every opportunity.

• No skills : You won't know how to emergency stop (ABS is not foolproof, just a safety net). You won't know how to handle the bike well. You go too fast and a corner comes, you're done.

• No skills = No experience = Highly dangerous consequence.

I had a Gixxer 150cc as my first bike. And it helped me hone my skills by leaps and bounds. It was gentle and forgiving. Once I almost hit an auto in front of me in chock-a-block traffic as I was trying to overtake. Almost because I braked in time as the bike wasn't that powerful to accelerate crazily. If it was a duke 390, I would've definitely hit the auto.

Duke 390 maybe a learner's bike abroad because there, the traffic is comparatively sparse and there's proper road etiquette.

But Duke 390 with PTW ratio ~280BHP/tonne + inexperienced new rider + Indian road conditions = Absolute Disaster.

Will highly recommend to upgrade gradually.

[timuseravan]

I think it depends a lot on the person doing the riding. If the rider is aware of his limitations, then D390 can indeed be a first bike. It does come with ABS and the fantastic tyres.
However the only risk is that his expectations with biking will be set soo high that any other bike will disappoint him!

[am1m]

390 as a first bike? Can't really say. I learned to ride (relatively) late. I was 19 when I got my first bike, a Shogun. And boy, was I rash back then. I'm pretty sure that if I had a more powerful bike, I would have killed myself before I hit my middle 20s. On the other hand, a friend with an RD350 and I used to swap bikes occasionally, and while I wasn't necessarily more sedate on that bike, the fact that the RD had better brakes and felt more 'planted' than the Shogun meant that I had fewer scrapes on that bike. So, I really dunno. The 390 has some really great features. But it's undeniably fast. So I guess it all boils down to the person riding the bike.

[sriramv.iyer]

This thread is definitely going off topic. But, I thought I should add my thoughts.

Bikes are dangerous - PERIOD. Esp given our Indian traffic / road conditions.

I've been riding for 17 years. I graduated from 150cc, 223 cc, 250cc to 350 / 390 / 500 and 650cc. I gave away the 650cc recently for some reasons, but I think that it is too risky to ride such bikes without experience and control

I still remember how I brashly took my R15 on a newly built flyover without knowing how the road would turn perpendicularly in a bit. I was sure of hitting the median and falling on the other side of traffic. Thanks to the beautiful chassis of R15, I took an impossible lean and emerged alive without any mishap.

I am really happy I couldn't afford big bikes when I was younger, since I wouldn't be alive to write this post now. I was a very fast rider and I pushed bikes to their very limits whenever I rode.

Duke 390 is a wonderful bike. It is too powerful at 44 BHP - A wrongly timed twist of the throttle by a beginner could really endanger him and others.

Strongly recommend an 150cc / 250cc as first bike, get a hang of it before getting on a Duke 390.

PS:- I am so tempted to pick a S1000R, but my only worry is I haven't spent enough time on my 650cc to be confident to buy one. I cannot confidently say I've tamed the 650 as I can say with the 250 and 390.

[b16h22]

If you are patient enough, duke 390 can be your first bike. It was my first bike after riding a scooter for a year. I didn't have the option of getting a smaller bike and then upgrading to a higher capacity later. So i went ahead and bought a used 2013 Duke 390 in 2015. Now two years into the ownership and a lot of touring, i absolutely love the bike.

Duke 390 has a great chassis, very light, less frantic behavior compared to a d200, great tires, proper brakes, and plenty of power to pull out of tricky situations. The newer 390 is even better with slipper clutch, smoother fueling, better brakes and general improvements in refinement. If you take it easy and keep the revs in the low-midrange for a while it can be a very good learner bike. But it can hurt you if you don't respect it enough

[rohitoasis]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

I am sure these minor niggles with the ECU, headlight and display will be fixed with software updates from KTM but considering its dynamic package hasn't improved save for the front forks, 1.6 lakhs for the old model seems too sweet a deal to pass up on. My friend is a shorter guy as well so he would have no difficulty on the saddle of the old 390. Does anyone know if this news is accurate, or if I am missing anything here?

I concur with your confusion in the last statement. With all the tamasha we had on the last 2 days of the previous financial year with the ruling on stoppage of registration of BS3 vehicles. Do you think it would be possible to register the BS3 model? Or am i missing some bit of news. Have they modified bike to suit BS4 requirements in some way? Did your friend inquire about the availability and finally registration possibilities?

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by rohitoasis

Do you think it would be possible to register the BS3 model? Or am i missing some bit of news. Have they modified bike to suit BS4 requirements in some way? Did your friend inquire about the availability and finally registration possibilities?

Basically the government's deadline to the dealers was April 1st I think but if I understand correctly, what the dealers have done is buy unsold stock themselves and register and pay the rto taxes and they are now selling them off as second-hand but brand new bikes.

[neil.jericho]

The xbhp ownership thread for the new D390 is surprisingly rife with complaints from the early adopters. Hopefully KTM is able to get its act together and fix these quality issues sooner rather than later.

[starter]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Basically the government's deadline to the dealers was April 1st I think but if I understand correctly, what the dealers have done is buy unsold stock themselves and register and pay the rto taxes and they are now selling them off as second-hand but brand new bikes.

Yup, true that.
A friend of mine picked up a 200 - BS3 model for 40K discount from the Whitefield (Bangalore) dealer.
It was registered in the name of the dealer already and hence, it becomes a second hand bike.

Cheers,
Deepak

[deepfreak15]

My dealer called stating my bike is ready for delivery. In another forum all owners of the 2017 D390 have complained of issues with the TFT and a couple of them reported rear brake issues. The dealer has accepted there is an issue with the console and is due a software upgrade. Is it a good idea to still go ahead with the purchase? Note: The software upgrade is due shortly and there is no concrete evidence the issues have been sorted out. I am really confused.

[Avinash_R]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

My dealer called stating my bike is ready for delivery. In another forum all owners of the 2017 D390 have complained of issues with the TFT and a couple of them reported rear brake issues. The dealer has accepted there is an issue with the console and is due a software upgrade. Is it a good idea to still go ahead with the purchase? Note: The software upgrade is due shortly and there is no concrete evidence the issues have been sorted out. I am really confused.

Just passing what my friend who bought his 17 D390 a month ago told me on last Friday. He said he had the software updated on 18th and that it fixed the clock and date reset. Stalling - we will know in a couple of days I guess

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

My dealer called stating my bike is ready for delivery. In another forum all owners of the 2017 D390 have complained of issues with the TFT and a couple of them reported rear brake issues. The dealer has accepted there is an issue with the console and is due a software upgrade. Is it a good idea to still go ahead with the purchase? Note: The software upgrade is due shortly and there is no concrete evidence the issues have been sorted out. I am really confused.

What choice do you have, if you want to wait for longer, how would that help. Until it is a mechanical change(Which i am sure all users will get), and you really want this bike, just go ahead. No bike is niggle free, and gets better with time.

[deepfreak15]

Yeah. That's what I just did. Paid in full and should get my bike this week with the software upgraded. Android will not sync with the console post that, but I'm the guy who puts my phone in silent mode when riding so won't be using that feature at all!

[deepfreak15]

Originally Posted by Avinash_R

Stalling - we will know in a couple of days I guess

I had no clue there was a stalling issue But in a true Orange fan boy moment I paid the full amount. Now let's see whats what