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My KTM Duke 390: 20000 km service, detailing & other updates

The tank pads I installed definitely help grip the bike better with your inner thighs, especially when braking hard and leaning into a corner.

BHPian arjpillai recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Serviced the Duke recently, and it's nearing the 20K mark. Replaced the factory-spec front brake pad with the same sintered ByBre unit, costing Rs 2.6k now. Though expensive, it's alright considering the originals lasted for over 5 years and nearly 20k km.

The rest of the service was routine, except I also flushed the coolant and brake fluids. Aiming for a more full-fledged service the next time with fork oil replacement, valve clearance checks, injector and spark plug cleaning/inspection (I don't know if this is required), and wheel bearings replacement/re-greasing.

Also, went in for some cosmetic TLC for the bike at a local car detailing studio. Costed Rs 1.1k, but the end result is quite something. After the detailing, slapped on a pair of tank pads and fork seal covers from MotoTrendz. The tank pads definitely help grip the bike better with your inner thighs, especially when braking hard and leaning into a corner. Correctly aligning them, however, was a pain and I spent a few anxious moments before deciding to stick them on.

Lastly, as you can see from the below picture clicked at the studio, I had mounted the Maddog Delta to the indicator light bolts using an L-plate mount from Lluvia Industries (yes, the indicator bolts bore the entire load). This set-up is perfectly alright for smaller lights and those weighing less than 300gm.

The Deltas are neither of those with each light cube measuring 3.5x3x3 inches and weighing close to 600gm, with the angle adjustment holder attached. This meant that every time I jumped a speed breaker or hit some mild trails, the lights would shake just a bit too much, making me fear that they'd just snap the indicator bolts and fall. Adding to this fear was the fact these indicator bolts are of the hollow variety as the wiring runs within them.

Fed up with this anxiety, I bought the Maddog fork mount for Rs 1.6k, only to realise the Duke's tank shrouds wouldn't allow me to use them, no matter which angle I tried. Dejected, I was almost on the verge of dumping these lights altogether when I decided to try my luck with a custom mount, albeit one that used the Maddog's C-clamp mounts. Meaning, I'd be discarding the Maddog mounts' platforms/plates while using only their fork clamps.

Went to a local auto fabricator and got this made after a couple of hours of measuring and adjusting. Initially, the bracket was too tall, causing the lights to be mounted almost entirely further ahead of the Duke's headlight. After bringing it in a bit, we realised the bracket plate was too wide and brushing against the headlight shrouds (they're already scuffed up ). So, we angled it up a bit and when the result still wasn't satisfactory, made a cut in the bracket as per the shrouds while also using a couple of washers.

The final result, after painting, is not too bad considering the looks and final cost of Rs 650. I know I've compromised the lights' spread by mounting them so close together. But I really didn't want to mount them on the crash guards. So, this is something I can live with. The entire assembly, brackets+both lights, weighs close to 1.8kg. However, I can't tell a huge difference in the steering's behaviour, in terms of flickability. On the plus side, the lights sit rock solid, come jumps, rumblers, speadbreakers, potholes, and what not. Looking forward to test it some more as I hit the trails next week.

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