Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands

New KTM 250 Duke First Ride Review: The Duke Challenges for the 250 Throne

February 28, 2017 by Anosh Khumbatta Leave a Comment

_DSC5770

India gets a third Duke! These are our thoughts after a few laps around Bajaj’s test track

Story: Anosh Khumbatta
Photography: Saurabh Botre

When KTM entered the Indian market back in 2012, the Orange firm from Austria created an uproar among the Indian biking fraternity. We finally had affordable performance-oriented bikes, after years of longing for faster imported machinery. Since their launch, the 200 Duke and 390 Duke have been the enthusiasts’ choice for fast, nimble street bikes, and now KTM have gone ahead and introduced a 250-cc Duke to fill the void between the two previous models.

_DSC5812 Web
Launched alongside the 2017 200 Duke and 390, the 250 Duke is a completely new machine to our market, and seems ideally placed for the customer who wants a little more power than what the 200 offers, while not spending the premium that the 390 demands. Better fuel economy than the 390 could also be a deciding factor in our mileage-obsessed market. To give you an idea of where the 250 Duke stands, it makes 30 PS at 9,000 RPM, which is 5 PS more than the 200 makes at 10,000 RPM and 13.5 PS less than the 390 makes, also at 9,000 RPM, and while the 200 Duke makes 19.2 Nm of torque at 8,000 RPM, the 250 makes 24 Nm at 7,500 RPM, which is 12 less than the 36 Nm made by the 390 at 7,000 RPM.

_DSC5839 Web

Standing in the pit lane at the Bajaj test track outside Pune, most of us journos couldn’t keep our eyes off the new bike. The 250 Duke looks almost identical to the 2017 390 Duke, with both models sharing the large sculpted tank with stretched-forward tank shrouds, wider and more comfortable seats, tail section, side-mounted Euro 4 exhaust, new handlebar, and wide rear-view mirrors. The 250 also gets the added convenience of a slipper clutch, which will eliminate rear wheel hop during aggressive downshifting. The sharply raked headlight adds an aggressive character to the frontal visage of the bike, while the split trellis frame is powder-coated black up front, with the rear sub frame is KTM Orange. The bike gets an updated version of the old instrument panel, with the inclusion of real-time fuel economy, but unfortunately we don’t get the 390’s TFT screen and larger 320-mm disc up front, while the lack of ABS seems like a glaring omission. The 250 also misses out on the reach-adjustable brake and clutch levers that do duty on the 2017 390 Duke, but these can be retrofitted if you are not happy with the stock lever reach.

_DSC5838 Web

 

More on page 2>

a.khumbatta@nextgenpublishing.net'

Believes that happiness can be found mid-corner.

Anosh Khumbatta – who has written 298 posts on Bike India.


Email

Related posts:

2023 Triumph Street Triple 765 R and RS First Ride Review
Reise Moto TrailR Tyre Test
Ducati Diavel V4 Review – Devil of the Mountain
Pages: 1 2

Filed Under: First Ride, Review Tagged With: 250, austria, bike, duke, First, India, KTM, latest, launched, new, Orange, Ride, Track

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


MARCH 2023

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

17TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Anniversary Ride to the Isle of Man with Freddie Spencer and Sid Lal

TVS Ntorq Ncounters I – Navigating the Night

BMW G 310 GS Explores Nagaland

SPECIAL Featured Story

Yamaha MT-10 SP – Ready for Road, Track, and Touring

Yamaha MT-10 SP – Ready for Road, Track, and Touring

In recent years, however, the MT-10 has begun to show its age, especially in terms of technology and rider aids. It was always on the thirsty side, too, and, by modern standards, the brakes were lacking. It was time for an update, which is why for 2022 Yamaha introduced a new MT-10 earlier this year.

More about this.

Car India and Bike India Awards 2019

Recent Posts

  • Royal Enfield 650 Twins Get Cast Alloy Wheels and Other Updates
  • Bajaj Pulsar NS200 And NS160 Gets USD Forks
  • MARCH 2023
  • Hero MotoCorp And Zero Motorcycles Collaborate For Premium Electric Motorcycles

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Latest News

Royal Enfield 650 Twins Get Cast Alloy Wheels and Other Updates

Bajaj Pulsar NS200 And NS160 Gets USD Forks

Hero MotoCorp And Zero Motorcycles Collaborate For Premium Electric Motorcycles

Massive New Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle 135 Crate Engines

Subscribe to Car India

Subscribe to our Car India Magazine

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2023 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·