The street devil is finally let loose. It loses no time in putting an ear-to-ear grin on our face as we hop onto it. The KTM Duke 200 was spotted innumerable times on the NH 4, being tested by Bajaj Auto’s test riders. We saw its pictures too.
The specifications were out last month and they were enough to give us the goose bumps. A 200-cc liquid-cooled engine producing 25 PS of peak power and fitted on a machine that weighs just 136 kg (kerb weight, mind you, not dry) was enough to give one an idea of this machine’s prowess. This month we finally swung a leg over the KTM to figure out what it is all about.
A single look at the motorcycle is enough to give you a highly favourable first impression. The styling is very KTM-ish and the orange-black paint scheme talks proudly of its Austrian genealogy. The edges on its tank, its muscular shoulders, sharp tail and in-the-face headlight show exactly what this KTM is all about – out and out aggressive styling.
Close attention has been paid to the smallest details in the making of this bike, including the belly fairing that gels well with the motorcycle and leaves no room for any design-related complaints. Everything seems to be in the right place and in the correct proportions, making the bike look exceptionally good. The Duke 200 brings with it a motorcycle lingo that is not heard by most Indians – the kind spoken by evil urban naked motorcycles.
Swing a leg over the 200 and you discover the compactness of this machine. The handlebar is fairly wide and the saddle is high. A small, squarish instrument console sits in the front and displays an incredible amount of information, ranging from basic stuff like speed and revs per minute to fuel-efficiency and the kilometre range possible with the remaining fuel. There is also a text display (instead of only LED) for warning messages such as when the side-stand is down. All in all, the multi-info instrument console is definitely something that we haven’t seen on an Indian bike thus far. The mandatory rear wheel hugger and sari-guard are in place and don’t look too odd on this bike. The carved swing-arm with the cross pattern on it has killer looks too.
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Turn the ignition key, press the starter button and the engine comes to life with a mild grunt, something much quieter than what we had expected. But this relative quiescence lasted only until the throttle was not opened.
I started from the pit lane of Bajaj Auto’s test track, taking the bike easy round the first few corners, judging its handling and grip levels before deciding to tax the engine with the throttle wide open. The first impression was that of a small, lightweight machine with a throttle that seemed to be sufficiently responsive to the twist of the wrist.
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Once I got accustomed to the levers and the bike’s ergonomics in general, I decided to go for it. Boy, was I stunned by the acceleration! The Duke 200 is a serious machine and it was evident as soon as I opened the throttle. Outright acceleration is good enough to compete with higher capacity motorcycles. After all 25 PS is a lot of power. And not only is it good in outright acceleration, but also in roll-on acceleration. Thanks to the overall low gearing, the bike pulls superbly from slow speeds in higher gears too. Believe it or not, the Duke 200 doesn’t knock even at 35 km/h in the sixth gear and has a much stronger pull than even a certain higher cc motorcycle. No doubt this kind of rideability will make the Duke one of the best bikes to ride in urban traffic conditions. Just slot it into the fourth or fifth gear and you are well set to roam about the city with no hassles.
However, if this is the story of acceleration, the bike’s top speed is an aspect that did not impress us much. The speedometer showed 140 km/h in the top gear before hitting the limiter and cutting off. Even while cruising at 110 km/h the engine felt a little busy rather than smooth and easy. Nevertheless, the way the bike attains that speed is phenomenal.
The Duke 200 is built on a trellis frame and equipped with WP suspension both at the front and the rear. Upside down (USD) forks in the front and monoshock suspension at the rear have been set up well for Indian conditions – neither too soft, nor too stiff.
As mentioned earlier, we were out testing this motorcycle on the Bajaj Auto test track, which offers a lot of corners with various radii. Every time and round each corner there was enough confidence to push the bike. Though the Duke 200 is not really a supersports bike designed to attack corners, the way it tackled the bends was laudable indeed. No hint of nervousness. The rear tyre is a very wide, 150-mm section one, yet surprisingly offers good flickability, thanks to the narrow rims. MRF has done a good job on the grip front too. The Duke 200 uses Bybre brakes, which function pretty well.
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With over an hour well spent astride the Duke 200, it was time to leave and there were some pleasant revelations as well as some questions yet to be answered. For sure, the Duke 200 is a well-engineered bike. It has a lot of power, nice handling, great rideability and fabulous styling. However, there are a few bits, such as its switches and levers, that do not match up to the quality of the other parts of the bike. I happened to be in Tokyo last month where I saw the Duke 200 and Duke 690 side by side and the difference in quality was evident at once.
Another important question is how this bike will be priced. The company has not disclosed anything yet, but they indicate a “competitive” price that will surprise us if we are comparing it with the Honda CBR 250R. That makes us conjecture that this KTM Duke will be priced at around Rs 1.3 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune).
If KTM are able to price the Duke well, it will indeed be the next big thing in the Indian market of performance bikes.
The Duke 200 brings with it a motorcycle lingo that is not heard by most Indians – the kind spoken by evil urban naked motorcycles
Story: Adhish Alawani
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
The GT650N, a naked version of the impressive Hyosung GT650R, is out in the market. We swing a leg over it to see in what ways it differs from the earlier fully faired supersport
With the Japanese name taken off the brand, Hero MotoCorp aim at conquering one of the largest two-wheeler markets with a bold step. We try to find out if they have the right product for it
It’s another Ducati and we’re pleasantly surprised, as always.
For a bike that tall and with weight distribution of 47:53 front as to rear, it was but natural for it to pop wheelies as if it were a backyard game. On the Hypermotard, it absolutely takes no superhuman effort to impress others on the road with antics like riding with the front end floating in the air, shifting up a cog and then popping it once again. To make things even more exciting, I got a pillion on board and realised that keeping the front wheel planted became all the more tough. The stunter in me was highly satisfied after a really long time. The way this bike popped and then the way its forks upfront handled, the landing was phenomenal, so easy yet so exciting! However, it was after all this that the bike started revealing a character that was rather unexpected. I reached the hills and the zigzags invited me to play with them. I was sceptical about leaning this machine, thinking about its tall stance, upright seating position and rear-biased weight distribution. But the Hypermotard handles like a track-focused machine. It was beyond my imagination and my ability to fathom the fact that I could actually go round most of the fast corners with my knee dragging on the tarmac and the bike willing to lean more than I asked it to. This Supermoto defies every assumption about its handling that you may have formed on account of its looks. Point it towards the corner, put a little pressure on the inside bar, throw the bike down and the suspension gives you such precise feedback that you wish you had the courage to lean further. Rock-solid, the HYM negotiates every corner with utter ease. In fact, it inspired so much confidence that I wished I were on a race-track, challenging my own supersport leans. Adding to all this is the set of Pirellis with super soft rubber, which don’t leave the tarmac at all. Every centimetre of their contact patch gripped the road so well that I had a hard time even sliding the bike on purpose.
All about the new R15
It’s sharper and more aggressive in overall styling. This is the result of excellent implementation of the feedback received from the customers. The R15 now takes a number of cues from the R125 and a few from the R6. This basically applies to the new tail-piece that incorporates an LED tail-light and a split seat. There is a wider rear tyre, a radial one from MRF that measures 130/70-R17 and in front an upsized 90/80-R17. There is a new mid-cowl that is wider and suits the wide nose of the R15 better now. There is a new rear tyre hugger and a tinted visor too. As a whole, the bike looks more muscular and aggressive than before.
Yes. An excellent aluminium swing-arm has replaced the basic steel one. The new swing-arm is 55 millimetres longer than the old one, increasing the wheelbase. The seat height has been raised from 790 mm to 800 mm, making the revised R15 a little taller than the original. The bike looks superb with its new tail-piece and split seat, which will attract more attention. But it also entails a lot of pain for the pillion rider, as he/she will sit much higher and on a narrower seat. Yamaha have incorporated a few changes into the R15’s ECU mapping too, and claim better response to the throttle input, making the power and torque delivery linear than before. However, do not expect this to reflect in the output figures, which remain the same at the same revs as the earlier R15. 
TVS are all set to launch the RTR 180 with ABS. Is the new safety feature good enough? Adhish Alawani tries to find it out on a track especially devised to test brakes
To start with, the demonstrators from TVS rode two bikes – one without ABS and the other equipped with the unit – on various wet surfaces. The RTR without ABS had an out-rigger with four support wheels to keep the bike upright whenever it lost traction. Without doubt, the wheels of the one without ABS were bound to lock up and skid and so they did. However, the RTR equipped with the ABS unit showed immense road hold even when a fistful of brake was applied.
To test it myself, I hopped on to the bike with the out-rigger and went out on the various wet surfaces. First, with the ABS off, I slammed the brakes and experienced one of the most fearful things ever on two wheels – the front wheel got locked, the front end went down and there was no chance of recovery. This was on the regular wet tarmac. On the blue basalt it was bad and even worse on the ceramic. After getting a feel of what happens without ABS, I switched on the unit and went in again. To my extreme disbelief, the bike was amazingly composed and stable even with the brakes slammed. I even tried braking at the end of the wet patch and carrying the brakes on to the dry patch. What I found out then was that the wheels, of course, didn’t lock up on the wet. However, when they hit the dry patch, the ABS was still working, but now it knew that the bike was on dry patch and it immediately improved the braking and reduced the stopping distance. Mightily impressed by the ABS unit, I returned to the resting area admiring one of the best upgrades on an Indian bike I had seen. 
TVS say that the ABS system was developed and tested initially at the IDIADA testing facility in Spain under all possible road conditions before fine-tuning it for the Indian environment. Also, the company has stated that when the ABS system was tried on professional racers’ bikes at the Madras Motorsports Club racetrack, they were able to cut down their lap times by over one full second, which showed that not only was the ABS effective in day-to-day use for the average rider, but also boosted the performance riding of the skilled ones.
Yamaha have brought their street weapon to the showrooms in our country. We find out how this new entrant fits in the Indian scene
The long wait is finally over. Though the big bikes arrived in the country long time back, the affordable options were still absent. So, what Kawasaki and Bajaj do? They brought in the Ninja 650R – a pure sports tourer machine with a tag of Rs 4.57 lakh (Ex-Delhi). 
The long wait is finally over. Though the big bikes arrived in the country long time back, the affordable options were still absent. So, what Kawasaki and Bajaj do? They brought in the Ninja 650R – a pure sports tourer machine with a tag of Rs 4.57 lakh (Ex-Delhi).Now that is what we call as the smartest move one could have made in a market like ours. Here’re the first ride impressions of the Kawasaki Ninja 650R that has blown us off with its potential and price!
Put the bike around corners and the handling of the Ninja will continue to impress you. Though the softer suspension doesn’t give a solid feel when leaned over, it doesn’t make the bike nervous in any case. The monoshock is seven-step adjustable for preload giving you an option for a slightly stiffer ride too. Also, with the monoshock connected directly to the swingarm without any linkages, there is hardly any flex. 
Ducati’s Multistrada is supposed to be an all-rounder. Adhish Alawani swings his leg over one to find out how
At a first glance, this Ducati looks a little weird; difficult to suit my taste of styling. I love the way Ducati styles their bikes otherwise. In fact, why me, the whole world loves them. The 916 revolutionized motorcycle designing. And of course, we love the new age 1198 or the Monster or the Streetfighter. But the Multistrada is something whose styling has not been talked about much; and there are reasons for that. Being a dual-purpose machine, it definitely is tall with long suspension travel, raised handlebar and high seat – which is all perfectly fine. But look at the front end and the beak coming out from under the cross-eyed headlamps. It’s ugly. And weird. At the rear, is a sharp tail topped with grab-rails that double up as a base platform for your luggage. The twin slim exhaust pipes on the right hand side look a little small for the size of this bike. Actually, the Multistrada, as a whole, isn’t a bad looking bike. It’s good, but does not live up to the standards of art that Ducati has otherwise set and that’s mostly just because of that front end which reminds me vaguely of Uncle Scrooge from Duck Tales.
The Multistrada 1200 is powered with an 1198cc 90-degree v-twin engine borrowed from the 1198 superbike. The difference is that this one is detuned to 150PS from 170PS of the 1198 – now that’s not much of detuning and for a dual-purpose bike, it’s a lot of power too. With 150 horses available for unleashing at the twist of the right wrist, the Multistrada was getting to be a lot more fun than expected. Manoeuvrability through the city traffic was easy but the v-twin was irritating a bit with its jerky response every time the throttle was opened or shut. I knew about the electronics that govern this motorcycle and decided to play with them a bit to see if this issue can be addressed. Going through the big, white backlit digital instrumentation console, which displays a lot of data, I reached out to the ride mode setting. Toggling through the modes, I shifted from Sport to Urban and experienced something that I hadn’t imagined. I had read a lot about the greatness of the electronics on the Multistrada but experiencing is believing and it was really very hard to digest the kind of change these electronics had brought about. The throttle response got retarded and power came gradually enough to give a very smooth ride in the city traffic. The sudden engine braking on throttle roll-off disappeared.
The Multistrada had become way more sane and manageable now. So how does this work? Basically, the Multistrada has four riding modes – Sport, Touring, Urban, and Enduro. The ride-by-wire engine management offers four different mappings for these four different modes. The throttle response is quickest in the Sport setting and goes on decreasing gradually in the consecutive modes. To make it even more complicated, the maps vary the throttle response all the way through the rev range and also with the gear selection and engine load. The peak power output in Sport and Touring is the same at 150PS but it has been slashed down to as low as 100PS for Urban and Enduro modes. And it doesn’t end there. The Multistrada comes with DTC (Ducati Traction Control). Of course, there is an option to switch the DTC on or off. But the real fun is in the way the DTC synchronizes itself with the modes that we discussed 
earlier. For the first three modes, the DTC works on the same setting. However, in Enduro mode, the DTC modifies itself in a way so as to allow you the slides in the dirt to some extent without completely switching itself off. It’s like an optimum balance between letting you slide the bike without the electronics losing control over the bike. Impressive to the nth degree.
DTC senses the front wheel popping up in the air, it cuts off the power just enough to keep the bike planted on the ground. The DTC also senses rear wheelspins and manages power delivery to the rear wheel accordingly so as to make sure that you don’t lose traction. Switch off the DTC and you have all the access to the stunts you intend to do.
techno-polymer section that contributes to its strength. The suspension comprises 50mm USD Marzocchips up front and a multi-adjustable Sachs rear shock with a remote preload knob. The higher version of Multistrada, that is the 1200S, replaces these with Ohlins, which are completely electronically adjustable suspensions giving you an additional option of raising or decreasing the ride height as suited for the road and ride conditions. The Multistrada comes equipped with Pirelli Scorpion Trail tyres that have been developed specially for this bike and are suitable for road as well as dirt. However, they aren’t good enough for hardcore off-roading.
from the rider’s chest to a great extent. Off the road, the bike is brilliant too, with 170mm suspension travel and traction control that allows you slides but keeps the bike well under control. The 189 kilos of dry weight is on the lighter side on tarmac but is slightly heavier for Enduro riding. Maybe, that’s also because I am personally not used to doing a lot of off-roading.
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