Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine
In its 2024 avatar, the KTM 390 Duke has received a comprehensive update and now the motorcycle brings back memories of the first-generation hooligan that we loved so much
Story: Azaman Chothia
Photography: Sanjay Raikar
The completely new KTM 990 Duke was unveiled at EICMA 2023 and they’re calling it ”The Sniper” and for a good reason.
We have been exploring the capabilities of the CEAT Zoom Rad X1 tyres with which we shod a KTM 390 Duke. This is the concluding part of the series.
Story: Azaman Chothia
Photography: Apurva Ambep
After being extremely impressed with the KTM 790 Duke last year, we can’t wait to get our hands on the meatier KTM 890 Duke R. Here’s a teaser.
The KTM 390 variants have always run on imported Metzeler tyres, much to our delight, however the bikes are now being shipped with MRF hoops.
Ever since their launch, the KTM 390 Duke and RC 390 have always run on sticky Metzeler Sportec M5 tyres, while the smaller-capacity siblings made do with Indian-made MRF rubber. Now, with the Austrian brand claiming difficulties with importing the German tyres to India, even the KTM 390 Duke and RC are being shipped with the MRF Revs C1 tyres found on their smaller-capacity siblings.
KTM recently announced now liveries for their entire RC range, but swapped out the tyres without any official announcement. Indian import restrictions and supply chain constraints are probably responsible, but there has been no word from the manufacturer about whether this tyre swap is a make-shift arrangement for the time being till they sort out their supply chain issues, or of this is a permanent shift. We expect there has also been quite a bit of cost saved by switching to an Indian tyre manufacturer, but none of this is being passed on to customers, with no price cut being announced.
Expect more info as soon as we have it.
The BS6 KTM 250 Duke is here and gets a few small updates to go with the new-emission-norm-compatible engine. [Read more…]
The third iteration of the KTM 390 Duke is here, boasting BS6-compliance, new colourways and the segment’s only quickshifter. We head out to a top-secret test track and push it to the limit.
The new KTM 1290 Super Duke GT is a long-distance runner to the Super Duke R’s sprinter, the Mo Farah to the R’s Usain Bolt as it were. And now new spy pics have emerged from our friends over at MCN, giving us a glimpse of what to expect in the bike’s 2021 iteration.
