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Old 29th April 2019, 20:22   #1
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How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200

Warning: Long post with poor English

Intro:

Exactly 3 years from today i.e. Apr 23, 2016, I visited a KTM showroom in Salem, TN, India for booking a Duke 200 for my nephew. Until then, I thought KTM is a bike by Kawasaki (K~K) and I used to think, why people are so crazy to have orange colour painted on their bike rims. Don't they feel awkward to have a color like that? Argh! After 'observing' this KTM bike closely, I wondered if those who cannot afford a KTM, but loved the bike, painted their bikes' rim in orange!

So, we went to book a Duke 200 for him. My brother was raising questions to the showroom personnel, especially, why KTM bikes end up with a larger number of accidents, on Indian road. The guy's reply was genuine. He replied that it is just a machine and that the riders who take wrong decisions in a fraction of a second make the accidents happen. He also implied that we need to study the bike. That was my first positive impression about that bike.

So, I sat on the bike for some poses. Facebook, showed the memories today (April 23, 2019) and hence I thought of posting this today.

Then another fine day, me and my cousin took the delivery of the bike. Since my nephew was in college, he could not get the bike. We both went on a scooter and while returning, I rode the scooter and my cousin rode the KTM, as I thought that the KTM was too much for me to handle. After the formalities, the bike was handed over to us alone with the only 'free' item, the KTM keychain (I have a grudge over this for another reason, which I will narrate below).

Within the first km, we immediately took the bike back to the showroom and raised an important question, "Is there something wrong with the bike's engine or the noise from exhaust 'usual'?". They would have laughed to themselves, but kept their faces serious and answered that that was the usual music any KTM makes. After that, for some days I watched any KTM bike on road to verify about the noise.

First ride:

After a couple of days, my nephew took the bike for a ride and I was asked to join. I was not interested, but since he asked again I went along with him. After a ride, he asked me to ride the bike. Until then I had ridden only a Splendor+. So, I hesitated to ride the KTM. He then insisted and so with caution I rode the KTM. Believe me, initially I thought the bike is same as my Splendor+ (not engine/torgue/power wise, but according to the sitting posture and the way I hold the handlebar, which were the ones I knew then.

I was telling him that the ride is good (though I was not impressed). Suddenly, for a moment I saw the speedometer, which showed that I was riding at 80 kmph. That was a shocking moment, as I never rode above 60 on my Splendor+ and this bike showed 80 before even I actually thought I was going above 60. So, This is KTM???!!!

Flashbacks:

Days went by. Actually, 3 years went by. Now, since my Splendor+ had a KA registration, since the day I left Bangalore and moved to Chennai and since I did not have a Form 28, now & then, when I got caught by the traffic police, I was paying a 'minimum fine' every time (Chennai-walas knows the meaning of 'minimum fine'). Actually I moved to Chennai, exactly 4 months after I bought my Splendor+. So, for almost the whole Splendor+ life, I had to ride carefully in Chennai. Even though I had insurance, as I lacked Form 28, anyhow I was paying the 'minimum fine'. So, nowadays I don't even insure my bike. I am now using my bike for local use as I know in which places the police would be checking.

Now, this is the 15th year and I had to renew the RC for the bike. For that, I needed an NOC and I was not sure if I could apply for an RC in Chennai for KA bike. So, I thought, this is my moment to change my bike.

For some reason, I did not want to buy a Royal Enfield. It has become a fashion to have one and I read an article, why I should not buy a Bullet. The article had some valid points like, 198 kg kerb weight, which is unnecessary. My next choice was KTM.

And, no Honda Hornet or Apache RTR or Pulsar, as everyone had them.

Fear Factor:

Now the real problem is - I am 41+ and surely the age factor would have impact on riding a bike like a KTM. I could not take my kids on the bike - risky and I am not sure if I could ride a 200cc. I read an article on this forum, where a 50+ person posted about his experience with a KTM Duke.

So, I took a test ride. For the test ride, they gave me a Duke 125 and said everything is the same except the engine power (which was incorrect). During the ride, I realised that I should not go for 125. If I went for it, my Splendor+ would not forgive me.

I realised that the 200 did not seem to be a tough one for 40+. I rode an Apache RTR for a while. So, in fact, I could even go for a 250, but, cost wise, I settled for the 200. It's about how you ride and handle the situation. If you have control, you need not worry. And, I needed to make sure that I don't make fellow riders panic.

Immediately I booked a KTM Duke 200 white with ABS. I insisted on white. But not sure why the showroom guy didn't explicitly mention the colour and I had to force him to note that down, repeatedly.

Within a couple of weeks, I got a call that my bike was ready. I did an IMPS and I was told I would get my bike in 2 days.

My bike:

They explained the usual points about the bike, service schedule, coolant level, etc.

After all the formalities for a new bike, like pooja were done, I rode and enjoyed being with the bike.

I was expecting at least a keychain with a KTM logo. I am still holding the grudge that they hadn't even given a keychain. Since then, I have been looking online for a good genuine keychain that tells that I have a KTM.

I waited 45 days to give my bike a fast ride after the first service. But, unknowingly, me along with my cousin took the bike for an hour's ride to touch 100 kmph. Not sure the implication of that until now.

Shock:

Every Sunday early morning, I used to take my kids to Tennis class. That day, when I came down @ 5:30 am, the place where I park my bike was empty. My pulse raced immediately. I am not sure if I took my bike somewhere and left it. This happened a couple of times with my Splendor+. But, I remembered that I parked the bike the previous day @ around 7 pm.

I was shocked and not sure what to do. I informed my in-laws to take my kids to the classes, without telling about what happened. I also found that the side lock was broken and I see the broken piece on the floor. So, it was a theft.

My legs started walking blindly towards the main road to check if I could find my bike somewhere.

In my apartment, we do not lock the gates thinking the police would be doing their rounds and had a blind faith in them. The road is a dead end and so there will not be many intruders. No CCTV cameras. Every point failed at that moment.

I went up to the main road. Now, my mind thought about the proceedings.

Took the phone and Googled for the procedure. The common procedure is to file a FIR and then the proceedings to get my insured amount, which was Rs. 35,000 lesser than the actual cost and would take minimum 90 days. Importantly, I found an interesting point which said that if some amateur steals a costlier bike like these, they will definitely have a doubt if the bike has a tracker. So, to test, they abandon the bike somewhere in the neighborhood within a 2 km radius and keep a watch if the owner comes for the bike. This seems to be a genuine point.

So, first, I went for a check on one of the routes. Came back. In the mean time, I called my neighbour who called the surveillance police. They came and got some details.

Then I lost hope that I will get it. After we decided to go to the police station around 9:30. Since it was Sunday and the police were busy with election duty, I knew the proceedings would be harder.

Voila:

After that, I went to the class to take the kids back or to check what they were doing. On the way, I met my father-in-law with my kids. He was returning from the class. I stopped him at that 'point' and explained to him that the bike was stolen. He was shocked too. Then, I took a U-turn to return to my house, wait...is that my bike there? Voila.

For any normal person it will take at least 2 seconds to realise that it is his bike. But, since the day that I bought the bike, whenever I left it at any place, especially in my office parking and whenever I crossed the place, I used to check if it was safe. This become a serious disease after my helmet was stolen from my KTM (same way - laziness/careless/lockless). I found my helmet was again on my bike in the same evening. Someone who stole it would have returned it thinking there would be a CCTV camera or probably he just borrowed it for while because he did not have his own.

Coming back to U-turn part. I noted that it was my bike in a fraction of a second, because my bike's picture was jpeg-ed in my mind due to the disease. Immediately, I murdered that my bike is here and without seeing my in-law's reaction, I rode my Splendor+ near my re-born KTM, "Beric Dondarrion".

I found that the bike was abandoned there. Was someone watching? May be. The bike was not fully hidden, not fully exposed, but kept it in such a way that anyone who actually looking for it can find it.

I went nearby, checked for damages. The side lock was broken, obviously. Apart from that there was not even a single scratch in my bike. My in-law and kids were happy.

I called my neighbour who was helping me with the legal proceedings. Asked him to come walking so that he could ride my Splendor+ back, while I rode my "Beric Dondarrion".

Someone abandoned my bike there. Possible reasons:

1. They couldn't start it. I saw someone had tried to cut the wires.

2. If they started it, they could not ride it for more than 20 km. Because, the petrol was in reserve and I had ridden almost 8 km after it had touched reserve. I usually fill my tank as the last job of the weekend, i.e. on Sunday evenings.

3. GPS tracker factor.

A couple of weeks before this incident, I saw a news, where a guy's Suzuki bike (around 1.25L) was stolen in Chennai. The guy had a GPS installed and it had given a warning during the theft, but the guy was sleeping. In the morning, he noticed it, went to Police station and they were casual in lodging the complaint. Since he had the GPS he was able to track the bike which the amateur thieves had ridden almost 150 km to Pondicherry. There, since they could not open the petrol tank, they did not know what to do. The police then contacted the local police and tracked the thieves. Since, the guy single-handedly recovered it. It was shown on news channels.

So, these guys could have abandoned my bike because of the petrol factor. And, they could not even tow, as there are police checks in Chennai, which in turn makes Chennai have a lower crime rate compared to other cities.

Opposite my flat, there are some immigrants working at a construction site. Some of the guys sleep where they can actually see and hear what is happening in my apartment. I am sure they would have seen something. But they denied knowing anything.

We asked them repeatedly because we knew what would happen next. I would file an FIR. The police would investigate using nearby CCTV. And, they would definitely question the maistry and the other workers. The police would not be polite with the immigrant workers. We knew how TN police would interrogate. That is the reason we asked them repeatedly if they knew something, but they denied.

Fortunately, since I recovered the bike, I did not file a complaint, which another policeman wanted me not to do. So, I have to go a day in this week.

After that, I took the bike to the service center and informed about the drama that happened. They asked for the original RC, because I could steal someone else's bike, tell this story and ask them to repair it. Genuine reason. After the formalities, they took a day. They completely changed the lock set. The part and labour costs came Rs. 1,700+.

Now, some changes have been made. Locking the gate has been made mandatory. I have temporarily, put a chain lock and ordered a heavy chain lock - awaiting it. I am checking online for a better GPS tracker. But, for a GPS tracker, apart from the device cost, I have to spend at least 1K per year for support, excluding the SIM card charges. Also, if I install the GPS, this will void the warranty of the bike.

How I ended up here?

As soon as I decided to buy a new bike, I Googled for details, especially on forums. I found very good posts about many bikes here. Really wonderful to see the expert opinions about machines.

Then I signed up for becoming a member. After some rejections, finally my request was approved.

Yay!!!
Attached Thumbnails
How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200-whatsapp-image-20190414-1.33.04-pm.jpeg  


Last edited by Aditya : 2nd May 2019 at 12:19. Reason: Typos, language, grammar
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Old 29th April 2019, 22:18   #2
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re: How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200

Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear that you've recovered your stolen bike. Guess having an almost empty tank is good that way.

Regarding your Splendor Plus, I'd request you to please get it insured, at the very least. Riding an uninsured vehicle on public roads is a criminal offence, and Team-BHP is extremely strict about following rules.

Getting your bike's fitness renewed isn't a tough task either. Since you hadn't taken an NOC when you changed states, you could simply take your bike back to the original RTO and get the fitness renewed. It's only a day's job, and is mostly hassle-free.

Enjoy your time on Team-BHP!
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Old 29th April 2019, 23:34   #3
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re: How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200

Quote:
Originally Posted by boniver View Post

Regarding your Splendor Plus, I'd request you to please get it insured, at the very least. Riding an uninsured vehicle on public roads is a criminal offence, and Team-BHP is extremely strict about following rules.
Thanks. I have already finalized selling it to my friend in B'lore.
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Old 30th April 2019, 00:02   #4
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re: How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200

Quote:
Originally Posted by cnu77 View Post
Thanks. I have already finalized selling it to my friend in B'lore.
Transfer of ownership won't take place without insurance. Also, since your bike is 15+ years old and fitness hasn't been renewed, you'll first have to get your insurance done, then the fitness renewed, and then you can apply for transfer of ownership. Hope this helps.

Regards.
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Old 1st May 2019, 05:11   #5
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Re: How I lost and recovered my KTM Duke 200

Nice long post but very interesting. If you did file anything with police for loss then you also have to report about having found. Else you could be in trouble later on.
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