[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by ChetanM6

Also, can the new Duke be used for highway touring? Can it do highway speeds without too much of vibration and/or engine being stressed ?

Very effortlessly; the bike reaches and maintains highway speeds at ease. But the narrow seat width won't make it very comfortable.

Originally Posted by bpapache

Also, on the track, some reviewers have said tucking down isn’t convenient due to the limited room on the rider seat.

Yes, it does feel so; it feels limiting at the back.

But what about the view ahead, does the rise TFT display hamper the vision when you’ve tucked in completely?

Not really. The screen is integrated quite well.

Originally Posted by aargee

While an extremely high compression ratio calls for 2 fans, did you get to ride through dry heat pls?

There was rain for just about 10min; so most of the ride otherwise, and the entire track experience was in sultry weather.

In the 10min or so that we got on track where everyone pushed the bike in every sense, and then some dense city traffic, the heat management seemed excellent. I did not feel a lot of heat dissipate on the legs/thighs through the entire ride.

[windiesel]

Any idea when the ADV version of this 399cc Duke can be expected?

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by saikishor

I have some small queries:
What if someone messes around with the suspension settings when the bike is idle? Is there any way the settings can be locked?(I am a noob at suspension adjustment and have absolutely no clue on how the knobs work)
Will the Dominar mirrors make it to the showroom bikes or will they get the new redesigned KTM mirrors?

Sai, suspension settings are fool-proof at least when it comes to setting, hence they've given 5 click front R/C and 10 clicks preload and 5 clicks rebound. In essence, they've made it very intuitively easy so that everyone can get their right setting instead of having 10 settings at each end, now that's one. The mirrors will be the same mirrors as you see now (like the Domis) there's no change in that.

Secondly, can someone fiddle with it? Well, it depends. Inquisitive kids/folks can fiddle with the front suspension as it has the clickers visible, out of curiosity. But again, that shouldn't be a deterrent of a factor. This is why most suspensions have flat head screw type adjustment so that it's not easy to fiddle with. But again, here we're looking at factor over form.

Originally Posted by aargee

While an extremely high compression ratio calls for 2 fans, did you get to ride through dry heat pls? Reason to ask is I see most of shots perhaps may have been through rain & not so hot weather. I would like to get an implication of the 12.6:1 compression ratio pls?

I'm not sure if you've ridden the Duke 390, but in general, in which case irrespective of a fan, on a sunny day or even on a rainy day in chock-a-block traffic, one is sure to feel the residual whiff of the engine over his calves and lower leg. The fiery snort shouldn't be any different for this 2024 considering it's an even more high strung temperamental thumper.

Dissecting it even more. If you've ridden a bike with a radiator fan, a naked at that, when the fan turns on the residual whiff is sure to be felt. I've felt this whiff on my CBR250R many a times during the dry runs here in Ooty, all the while wearing a thick enough jeans and a riding boot. But on the Duke it will simply be a bit more roasting sensation.

So, if it's a naked Duke, expect residual heat.

Originally Posted by bpapache

Is the subframe a bolt on one like in the RC-390?
Also, on the track, some reviewers have said tucking down isn’t convenient due to the limited room on the rider seat. But what about the view ahead, does the rise TFT display hamper the vision when you’ve tucked in completely?

I remember Sagar from Living it Up summing this crouch conundrum perfectly. You have to crouch sliding your butt over to the pillion seat to get that perfect crouched position. It depends from person to person. Guess, not everyone's gonna be a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon kind of rider on a daily basis. Same goes with respect to your view of horizon from the cockpit. The TFT might or might not be a hindrance depending on the vantage point.
Secondly, the subframe is an all new bolt-on one like the RC390 and the 2017+ Dukes.

Originally Posted by windiesel

Any idea when the ADV version of this 399cc Duke can be expected?

You can also expect an Enduro version and the ADV version of it, pretty soon.

Originally Posted by Renaissance Man

Thanks for the excellent Review.

One quick question, do we get a charging port like the 390 ADV on this?

Unfortunately, as is the case with all Dukes, there isn't a dedicated charger like the ADV.

Originally Posted by jackofsome

Thanks for the review. Well done.

Few questions/ observations:
1. I have found the brakes to be stupendous on the new gen 390s. Could you confirm if they are selling this with the sintered Brembo pads?
2. I see quite a bit of chicken strip at the back tyre which prompts me to ask the question that is the rear wheel overtired like the earlier gens where no matter what you do, you can’t reach the edge of the rear tyre?
3. When you say the M5s are inadequate, at what kinda lean angles do you find it inadequate? Did you try and warm up the tyres before whacking open the throttle at the track? What were the tire pressures you were running? I ask this because I have usually not found these tyres lacking. Are the Apollo alphas better than this?

High Jack, good points. Let me share some color based on my experience.

1. They come with the same Sintered Brembo pads. Brakes were the Achille's Heel esp the older gen 2013-2015. A simple swap of this Brembo to the old braking systems just tranforms confidence at one which can carry speeds through corner. Simply put, the 350 rupees pads were scary and often induces that nevrous giggle each time you come to a halt. Damn! Secondly, right the Duke has a pinched tire profile, meaning like you've said it's over-tired, but the point here is how much of an over-tire and that's not plenty and here's why.

2. The Duke has rounded set of tires which tips over easily at the blink of the thought. Let me give you an example, think of the Pulsar 220s, NS/RS200s the Bajaj N250s etc, they all scrape their pegs even if one wants to or doesn't want to. And you know how easy it to scrape the footpegs on these even for someone who isn't inclined to indule in such carving sensations.
Now the width of the a tire, especially Duke's tire ensures you have the right body movement timing so that you can actually move your body, enjoy a scrape rather than a forceful needless scrape and that's why the feel as you've said, the tire is perenially bigger and doesn't let go off its chicken strips. Chicken strips doesn't necessarily scale the skill of a rider, sometimes a rider might be a safer rider knowing what he's actually doing. If one rides like there's no chicken strips every time, then he/she's absolutely riding it wrong at least with respect to the streets.

3. M5s are very much adequate for the street and basic track riding for a beginner to intermediate. From my experience of riding the M5s in hills, they bring out the MM or Jorge Martin out of one each time on a dry day and to an extent wet surface. But all hell breaks loose if the road is parially wet, gravel, sand, cobblestones, piperunners, one has to be 2x careful as they tend to slip at the slightest throttle input. As long as the tires are warmed up extremly well, belt to belt, they have exceptional grip. I've had the opportunity to ride a Duke 200 shod with Apollo H1s and they are there with the Metz, I don't know how else to gauge it, but that's how I'd picture my experience with the Apollos. Exceptionally good tires at that.

Hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

[bpapache]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

Thanks for the detailed responses sir.

What’s your take on this bike? Is it the best do it all bike under 5 lakhs?

Would be interesting to know your opinion on this vs the rest in the market.

Should a potential buyer with 5 lakhs budget wait for any other launches or no need to look any further?

If you haven’t ridden it yet, I kindly request you to post your opinion in this thread when you do.

[Rocketscience]

How is the stability at triple digit speeds?
I have extensively ridden the previous gen bike and over 100 km/h, that one is just not planted and downright scary (A major issue IMO) when one encounters a slight rough patch or expansion joint, this is true even when leaning forward and your body weight on the handle, it moves left to right on slightest of provocation and with the explosive amount of power on offer which rightly put by you will outlast the road, makes it useless to properly use and enjoy.
My R15v3 is surely and absolutely planted on those exact same situations.

The third bike in our group, the Interceptor 650 is somewhat better than Duke, but not in the league of Yamaha, my friend's G310R, is close though, and comes with dramatically better ride quality while being about as planted, why can't Duke be the same or atleast in that league, keeping in mind the sophistication in the frame, materials and suspension this isn't too much of an ask?

[Samarth 619]

I too own the Gen 1 Duke 390, which is being overhauled as we type. Clearly, it will be hard for KTM to impress the early clutchburners in the BS6 era, but this is a good upgrade. And I absolutely don't know why we need Launch control in this, I've done drag races launching it myself, and I've learnt a lot, so I hope the electronics can be disabled.

I'm still not sure but I think I've lost my braking skills due to ABS, but ok, it was switchable.

0-60 times are good. 0-100 times could be better, I've heard 5.6 seconds for my own bike in 2013. And I have no idea how we ended up with a top speed of 155 kmph, whereas the original did 172 on speedo (and around 177 for RC390). Will have to coordinate between the speedo figures and actual figures though, there's often an error.
And sad to see the brakes still being an improvement possibility. Same for Gen 1. The handguards have saved my right hand from damage once, but they seem to be gone now. No big deal, they should be retrofittable I guess.

Overall, a good effort by KTM. After the weight reduction its around 11 kgs heavier than my BS3 Gen 1, which is good enough considering BS6+OBD2.

While the low-end torque has improved by almost 5 Nm, you'll continue to go 3-2-1 on the gears while within the city

What do you mean by this? At which rpm has torque improved by 5NM?
Do you mean peak torque? Peak torque was 37NM anyways in the Gen 2, right?

[Vignesh_N/A]

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

And I have no idea how we ended up with a top speed of 155 kmph, whereas the original did 172 on speedo (and around 177 for RC390). Will have to coordinate between the speedo figures and actual figures though, there's often an error.

I dont remember if it was Shumi, but someone did mention a speedometer indicated 170 Kmph top speed.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

How is the stability at triple digit speeds?
I have extensively ridden the previous gen bike and over 100 km/h, that one is just not planted and downright scary

Stability in the early 100s is pretty decent; however, as you build up speed and move past the 120/130 mark, that's when you feel the rear to bounce a bit on even minor adulations. The above speeds are on track btw; I did not go past ~60-70 km/hr on city roads.

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

I hope the electronics can be disabled.

You can turn off Traction Control but not ABS. Also, Launch Control is available only in Track riding mode; and is optional. You can be in Track mode but without Launch Control.

What do you mean by this? At which rpm has torque improved by 5NM?
Do you mean peak torque? Peak torque was 37NM anyways in the Gen 2, right?

We were shown the torque / power delivery chart; in the low end, there is 5Nm more torque available than the outgoing engine.

Peak torque on this engine is 39 Nm at @ 6.5k rpm.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Stability in the early 100s is pretty decent; however, as you build up speed and move past the 120/130 mark, that's when you feel the rear to bounce a bit on even minor adulations. The above speeds are on track btw; I did not go past ~60-70 km/hr on city roads.

Thank you for the response. I meant on highways, no matter how well built they are, there are some occasional dips, undulations and expansion joints, this is where it used to loose its composure and become scary, the track you guys rode must have been much better paved than even the best of highways, I suppose. (Never been on a race track)

[jackofsome]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

1. They come with the same Sintered Brembo pads. Brakes were the Achille's Heel esp the older gen 2013-2015. A simple swap of this Brembo to the old braking systems just tranforms confidence at one which can carry speeds through corner. Simply put, the 350 rupees pads were scary and often induces that nevrous giggle each time you come to a halt. Damn! Secondly, right the Duke has a pinched tire profile, meaning like you've said it's over-tired, but the point here is how much of an over-tire and that's not plenty and here's why.

2. The Duke has rounded set of tires which tips over easily at the blink of the thought. Let me give you an example, think of the Pulsar 220s, NS/RS200s the Bajaj N250s etc, they all scrape their pegs even if one wants to or doesn't want to. And you know how easy it to scrape the footpegs on these even for someone who isn't inclined to indule in such carving sensations.
Now the width of the a tire, especially Duke's tire ensures you have the right body movement timing so that you can actually move your body, enjoy a scrape rather than a forceful needless scrape and that's why the feel as you've said, the tire is perenially bigger and doesn't let go off its chicken strips. Chicken strips doesn't necessarily scale the skill of a rider, sometimes a rider might be a safer rider knowing what he's actually doing. If one rides like there's no chicken strips every time, then he/she's absolutely riding it wrong at least with respect to the streets.

3. M5s are very much adequate for the street and basic track riding for a beginner to intermediate. From my experience of riding the M5s in hills, they bring out the MM or Jorge Martin out of one each time on a dry day and to an extent wet surface. But all hell breaks loose if the road is parially wet, gravel, sand, cobblestones, piperunners, one has to be 2x careful as they tend to slip at the slightest throttle input. As long as the tires are warmed up extremly well, belt to belt, they have exceptional grip. I've had the opportunity to ride a Duke 200 shod with Apollo H1s and they are there with the Metz, I don't know how else to gauge it, but that's how I'd picture my experience with the Apollos. Exceptionally good tires at that.

Hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

The review mentioned the brakes are not that great. Which led to this question. I run a RC390 BS4 and with KTM supplied brembo pads and ABS switched off, the brakes are amazing. The 2023 RC390 has even sharper brakes. So not sure on the review. Hence my question.

On the tyre, the more rounded the profile, the heavier is the tip in. Like Metz vs Pirellis. Pirellis have a V kinda profile and turn ins are much faster. But then it has got nothing to do with footpegs scraping. Footpegs scrape because they are usually lower in street bikes. Question was why the Duke is perennially overtyred at the rear. Or even the RC. The problem with this is at the track, the edge does not fold to give fantastic grip. For example i run a 140 rear. Otherwise the front goes till the edge while the rear still has chicken strips. Should be the other way round. Always. So its baffling why they would supply with a narrow rim. Coming to grip- i think the metzelers are far superior in dry and I think in the review it was said that it looses traction. So i was surprised.

As i have not ridden the new Duke i am still looking for those answers

[caveman969]

Hows the seat? The pillion seat looks quite big, will it be comfortable?

Also how fun is this to ride at slow speeds (30-60) in the city?

[alphamike_1612]

This might be a mundane question to ask, but is the new engine E20 compliant? Is there a max E rating for the engine?
Considering the current Ethanol blending craze, I wouldn't be surprised if E30 and E45 come along sooner rather than later and I don't want to change a well cared for machine, just because of fuel mismatch.

[vishal.jayakuma]

I just received a call from an SA at KTM Ambattur, Chennai. Apparently, they are going to increase the on-road price due to an increase in tax from 8% to 12%. He didn't specify why or when it was going to happen; just sounded like a sales strategy to me, to receive pre-bookings for the Duke 390.

I hadn't even test-ridden the new Duke as it was not available due to RTO issues. I had just made an inquiry and approached the showroom to check out the bike in the flesh. As of now, the 2024 Duke 390 retails for INR 3,70,000 on-road Chennai.

The bike is absolutely fantastic to look at and to sit on. I feel it's a lot better and more premium than the previous one. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

[Balaji31582]

Originally Posted by vishal.jayakuma

I just received a call from an SA at KTM Ambattur, Chennai. Apparently, they are going to increase the on-road price due to an increase in tax from 8% to 12%. He didn't specify why or when it was going to happen; just sounded like a sales strategy to me, to receive pre-bookings for the Duke 390.

sorry for the OT. This tax increase seems to be true. Life tax is increased in TN.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...le67407471.ece

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Samarth 619

I too own the Gen 1 Duke 390, which is being overhauled as we type.

After the weight reduction its around 11 kgs heavier than my BS3 Gen 1, which is good enough considering BS6+OBD2.

Thanks. This is the data point that I went through the entire thread for. I'm still uncertain though. Reports claiming Gen 3 to have the highest bhp per tonne of the 3 generations. While most purists are unanimous that the original Gen 1 is still the undisputed King there. Do you have the exact bhp and weight figures of the 3 generations please? I too own and ride a Gen 1, that like yours just had a post hibernation resurrection.

Also, with rhe fuel issues I faced, the plastic tank was actually a huge boon. I'm not sure how switching that now to a metal tank is a plus.

Cheers, Doc