THE AUSTRIAN HOOLIGAN - KTM DUKE 390

Just when everyone thought that KTM did a wonderful job with the Duke 200, along came The Duke 390 and swept us off our feet. Though, it almost looked the same as the mini Duke, it was way apart in terms of performance.

Anyone who ever rode the KTM Duke 390, would only say good things about her, especially the power. The 373 cc engine used to produce 43.5 HP power @ 9500 RPM and gave a superbike like feel when revved hard. The 35 Nm torque was enough to pop wheelies in the first 2 gears with ease.

When we first rode it, we were impressed with the power and torque (obviously) but somehow were not so impressed with the refinement. In India, especially in Delhi, you do not always get open roads, rather the roads are mostly congested with heavy traffic and any motorcycle is ridden with left hand constantly wrestling with the clutch. This implies that refinement is very important for a motorcycle so as to not stress the rider too much.

There were way too much vibrations and the ride quality was both fun and painful at the same time.