On the highway, the bike performs really well and the addition of the cruise control is a god-send.
BHPian lobojames9 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
It’s been a little over a month since I got my Duke 390. I thought I’d pen down my buying experience and my initial riding experience so far.
An unlikely purchase:
A Duke 390 was never on the cards for me. Right from the time it was launched in 2012, I never really gravitated towards the Duke. Even when I was in the market then for a bike, I chose the more calm and linear CBR250 over the hooligan that was the Duke 200.
Cut to 2023, I had ridden the CBR250 for ten years and as issues started creeping in, and parts started demanding a longer wait period, I decided to look for a new bike. I was on a budget, but at the same time was looking for a decent upgrade over the trusty 250. At that time, I tried the Himalayan and the Interceptor, but finally settled on the Dominar 400, which seemed the right balance between an upgrade and my pocket.
I rode the Dominar 400 for roughly two years and just about 6000 kms. Once the initial excitement died down, unfortunately, I never felt an attachment to the bike like I did with my CBR. The bike is good, great value for money and did well on highways. But in the back of my head, I always rode with the feeling that this was not the bike for me. The little things like even moving the bike out of a tight parking spot that I have at home was tedious and I feel that these little things over time made me want to make a switch. A testament to that were the low kilometers done over two years and actually finding it hard to even find a proper picture of the bike
After convincing my better half that I could no longer deal with the Dominar. I started looking for a replacement. For someone who keeps vehicles for a long time, this was a rather premature switch. While, I was doing my research and going for test rides, my wife advised me to look for a bike that was light, easy to ride to and from work and was generally easy to manage. My poor track record of doing long rides over the last two years convinced her that my primary focus should be to find a good bike for the city…. I could worry about a tourer down the line.
So my search started and l looked at the following bikes:
Triumph Scrambler 400 & Street 400
Test rode both the bikes, but just found that something was missing. While I did not like the seating position on the Street, the Scrambler with its height for a short rider (5″6) like me would have been a chore in day-to-day traffic. So while initially, looking at the specs, I was quite sure that I would want to get one of the Triumphs, I ended up not really liking both.
Himalayan 450
Ever since it’s launch I have always liked the Himalayan. Took it for a test ride a couple of times and was floored by its plush suspension. While the suspension was great, again was not convinced by the weight of the bike and the height… While we don’t think of the smaller aspects while buying a bike, I did not want a situation where just the morning task of removing the bike from the parking becomes a chore and not a source of excitement.
And then came some unlikely advice. I was speaking to a friend who had recently toured on the Scrambler 400, and he asked me to go test the Duke 390. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but as the new Adventure was also launched and I was interested to go try that out, I decided to go to the KTM showroom near my house, to test ride both.
KTM Adventure 390 X
While the ‘S’ was not in my budget, I did test ride the Adv 390 X and was pleasantly surprised by how well the bike performed on a few potholed roads. The bike felt light and nimble, easy to maneuver. Only issue would be the height, but it wasn’t too bad to be honest, given the bike isn’t very top heavy.
KTM Duke 390
And then I tested the Duke. It was a revelation for me. All these years, I had avoided the Duke and now with just one test ride, it had totally changed my mind. I believe the poor image the bike has on social media, was part of the reason I had developed an aversion to the bike. For some reason, I had an image in my head, where the riding experience would be rough, the engine would be gruff and I wouldn’t enjoy the bike at all. But, it wasn’t so, the test ride bike was relatively well maintained and the engine was smooth. Acceleration was furious and put a smile on my face. Coming from the Dominar, this felt feather-light and compact and the suspension was relatively adept at tackling our bad roads. In addition to this, KTM had just launched cruise control on the bike, all for the same price, and this made it a very interesting proposition.
So it was settled, it was between the Adventure 390 X and the Duke 390. The more I thought about it, the more I leaned towards the Duke 390. Cannot explain it in words, but I knew I would enjoy the bike and I guess sometimes going with how you feel is the best way to make a decision.
Purchase experience
Was dealing with KTM Indiranagar for the test rides and decided to go ahead and buy the bike there. The buying experience was relatively smooth. Got the loan and made payments on a Thursday and the bike was ready to deliver on Friday.
After the bike was delivered, I did have to follow up constantly with the showroom to pay the registration amount at the earliest. They gave numerous excuses to delay the process from holidays, to HDFC not providing the stamp for hypothecation, to the stamp being in some other showroom. It was quite annoying and they took a good week before they paid the registration amount.
Experience so far
It has been a great experience so far with the bike and I look for excuses to ride the bike. It’s just been a month and a couple of days as I am writing this post, and I’ve already completed more than 1000 kms on the bike.
In the city, the bike is super light and compact, even more so as it has an underbelly exhaust. Squeezing into tight spaces, parking and moving the bike around is a breeze. No fatigue or back aches there. The acceleration is addictive and it takes a lot not to wring the throttle at every opportunity. However, unlike what I see a lot of people suggest online, it is possible to ride the bike sedately – the bottom end isn’t very bad and the bike is quite tractable.
A Saturday morning ride to the outskirts of Bangalore with a fellow Duke owner.
On the highway, the bike performs really well and the addition of the cruise control is a god-send. I really didn’t think that it would make a big difference, but it takes so much load of the right hand while just cruising on the highways. Having the option to increase and reduce speed using the lever, helps as well. I have used the cruise control quite a bit on the morning rides I have been doing every weekend, and it really works well – faced no issues till now.
The seat is not very soft, but I did not find it to be too bad on the highways. With periodic breaks, it is manageable. Being a naked, the windblast is something that I’ll need getting used to. But at the moment, I am avoiding adding any accessories like a windshield, till I get a feel for what I really need.
In terms of niggles, my front fork needed tightening during the first service. And my front brake has started making a noise when stopping hard (will have to get this checked).
Overall, super happy with the purchase. I look forward to riding every day!
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