KTM diddy Dukes

[ocatoro]

what's folks experience/opinions of the little ktm duke models, 125/250/390... (did i see there is a 300 too somewhere?)

I've seen them in the shop and they seem like pushbike stature, light, chuckable, and fun.

moving house and it's a bit further away, and also would mean severn bridge every day. so the car's out of the picture as I'm tight fisted and also don't work enough shifts to warrant a "tag". would be 55 mile each way, reckon a diddy duke would be up to the job?

I've got a zzr600 too at the moment, which to be fair I enjoy commuting on. so even the 125 wouldn't be a bad shout as it'd mainly be for around town rather than commuting if I kept the zzr.

but essentially I'd be quite up for selling the car and my bikes to fund a little ktm if was worth it.
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CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None but shed project H100 (first bike )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600

[Polarbear]

Got as good reputation as a Chinese lump of poo!
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Polarbear]

Actually worse

https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=266029&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Raffles]

Post edited as it has been made redundant
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A good loser will always be a loser.

[Rogerborg]

Hahaha.

No.

Should be good, ain't.

[EDIT] Pipped, by god. Well, by Raffles, but the effect is much the same. </Blackadder>
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[McJamweasel]

Listed on the KTM stand at the NEC as 32kw/67bhp.

And no, that's not my typo.
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BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[ocatoro]

oh dear... I was under the impression that these new ktm road bikes were something of a premium product!
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CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None but shed project H100 (first bike )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600

[bikersupermot...]

I had a Ktm duke II , had it 2years and it was a great bike. Not a minutes trouble with it although the riding position took a bit of getting used to.
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tinybikes

[Rogerborg]

[badgermat]

I actually have a Duke 390, and although I haven't had it very long a few things are immediately apparent.

It's light, small, reasonably quick, incredibly easy to chuck around and has ABS. It's epic fun to ride, even in traffic, and from a handling point of view, only a smallish trail bike would make a better commuter.

That said, if you're 6'1" you are going to look pretty silly on it, and probably be uncomfortable too. I'm 5'8" and feel a touch cramped.

The finishing is a bit ordinary, and I'm not sure I'd trust it to last through a proper winter without suffering badly.

By ordinary, I mean that some the materials are a bit cheap (the digital speedo/rev counter is particularly horrid) and the paint feels very fragile (no clearcoat). Some of the fixings aren't very impressive either. Just for cosmetic reasons, I'll probably get a set of stainless bolts for the engine casings. Once again, how the original items would cope with a winter, I don't know.

Overall, quality is on a completely different level from cheap Chinese bikes though. It may not be up to Japanese levels, but it's not an awfully long way behind.

It's hard for me to make any particular comment about reliability as I haven't had mine very long, but I'm not at all sure the deeply gloomy outlook suggested by the thread linked above is entirely justified.

After all, KTM have shipped something like 25,000 of these bikes in the last two years, and if they were as bad as suggested there would be hundreds (not tens) of truly shocking stories.

I reserve the right to change my mind about this if mine blows up though

It's also worth bearing in mind the general issue with on-line reviews and owner comment: people are motivated to comment when things disappoint or irritate them, not so much when they're happy with things. So there is almost always a negative skew. I get told this time and again by the people who do brand tracking research and online sentiment analysis for my clients. And they all get paid shed-loads to quantify that sort of thing.

Anyhow to answer the OP's question, although the baby Dukes are great bikes for larking around, they're probably not ideal as commuters. Particularly if you're 6'1"

bm

[bikersupermot...]

[hmmmnz]

pretty sure the small 4 strokes road bikes are all made in india, rather than china but hey ho,

ive owned a few larger ktm's the sx450 which was stupidly quick for a dirtbike, but used to have a low top end speed because of the 4 speed box, was supposed to be used a moto-x bike,
and an early 500,
both superbly made bikes, easy to work on and as reliable as any other dirt bike ive owned, pretty much had to re-jet straight out of the box,
but easy to do because they were carb'd bikes,

i wouldnt hesitate buying an austrian made ktm again, an indian made one though... probably not
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I kick arse for the lord
Wiring Diagrams BIDNIP it bitches

[Rogerborg]

[bikersupermot...]

[ocatoro]

isn't the new skoda rapid (and soon to follow the new vw "vento" badged, polo saloon) built in india?
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CBT - 17/09/12 * Theory - 23/10/12 * Mod1 - 05/03/13 * Mod2 - 25/03/13 * BOSH!
Current - None but shed project H100 (first bike )
Past - ER5, '93 ZZR600, '92 CB400 SF, ZZR600 (again), yellow Monster 620, Blackbird - black Monster 620ie - '96 ZZR600

[G]

[cbrtrxtdmvfrD...]

I currently ride a KTM Duke 2 with the good ole LC4 625cc engine. I must admit i have only had it since the early part of summer this year but i have covered just over 11,000 miles without a single problem - If you read some of my other posts i do tend to clock up big miles, i usually keep my work bike 5 years which often means around the 80,000 mile mark - This is going to be interesting for a KTM single? (the highest i currently know to be actually true is 36,000)
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Right' O

[MarJay]

Reading between the lines in various bike mag articles it sounds like the 390 duke is a very different proposition to the 125/200. The 125 and 200 are finished entirely in India with Indian tyres, brakes, and suspension.

The 200 has parts manufactured in India, but final assembly is done in Austria and it has WP suspension and OEM tyres from a reputable manufacturer installed. I think the brakes might still be Indian but branded Brembo.

This leads me to think that the 125 and 200 stories don't really apply to the 390, and the 390 could actually be a better proposition in terms of build quality.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Al]

The price difference is only a few hundred quid between the 125/200/390 so factoring in the better parts used on the 390 I'd have thought final assembly means bolting on the forks and wheels.

I asked a KTM dealer at a show and all they could tell me is that they're all assembled to the same high standard, but he basically had no idea where.
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[Fizzer Thou]

Funbikes in small packages

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Always have a 'Plan B'

[badgermat]

[G]

Try some modern sports bikes, then .
After riding a wide variety of different bikes I went for a K6 GSXR1000 for my commute through town with some very tight traffic.

I did plan to get some Chinese fairings so I wouldn't care if I binned it, but never bothered (only crashed once and then a very gentle low side - cold tyres and cold roads, my own stupidity - as cold tyres and warm roads 8 hours before had been ok.)

Manoeuvrability was not compromised. Lock isn't as good as some trail bikes - but actually better than my KTM690. Both bikes would need you to light the rear up for a second to spin it around a really tight bit. The GSXR was significantly lighter and with a very responsive first gear that tops out at over 100mph on the clocks, as well as masses of go, even in the higher gears it could be relaxed and very nippy at the same time, requiring minimum engagement for those half-asleep mornings.