KTM Duke 250 - Long term Review

You can link this blog to the blog which I wrote approximately three months ago about my test rides of KTM beasts. After the test rides and research, a friend of mine end up buying an orange KTM Duke 250. The motorcycle has completed more than 10000 km on ODO. This seems like a right time to review the motorcycle about its pros and niggles over the period of ownership.

Since the possession, the bike has been taken on the short city rides, daily commute rides and also on a few long highway trips. The day bike was purchased it was completely different than the test ride we did. The gear shifts were notchy and the engine was completely unsmooth. The reason might be because the bike was completely new. We were expecting it to get roused after a few hundred kilometers or after the first service because in that condition it was totally unpleasant to ride. Also due to the short gearing setup, it is extremely difficult to ride at a lower speed in higher gears. You'll have to keep changing the gears or the engine will stall. Even to ride a bike smoothly in 3rd gear, you will have to take it to the speed of 40-50 Kph or you'll hear the "khat-khat" noise from the engine and sprocket. So, you might be thinking what this bike is made for???

After completion of first service and engine run-in period, the motor comes to real life. The engine gets really smooth after the first oil change. Vibration also gets damped after the first service, but still, due to short gearing setup on the motorcycle, you'll have to play with the gears during city rides. As the engine run-in period was completed, we were able to rev this motor up to the red line and feel the power of this motorcycle. The 250 cc single cylinder Fuel injected engine in this motorcycle is rev friendly.

Now let's talk about some the special features of this motorcycle, turn on the ignition and you will be welcomed by "Ready to Race" message on the console, the orange back-lit instrument cluster in this motorcycle serves you tons of information. It includes speedometer, digital RPM meter, time, distance to empty, gear indicator, shift indicator light, odometer, live fuel efficiency and many other different messages which will appear at different occasions. You cannot start the motorcycle if the side stand is down, the instrument cluster will show "can failure" error. This Duke 250 is equipped with a one-touch start, so you don't have to keep cranking the motor to start the engine, just press the start button once and everything will be done by itself. It also has a lean sensor, which automatically shuts the engine down in case of a crash. As per BS4 norms, there isn't any headlight switch provided so the DRL fangs will get turned on as you switch on the ignition.

When we talk about the performance of this motorcycle, its all heaven. It has MRF Metzeler 150 mm section tire at the back and 110 mm section at the front. Tires do a pretty good job on the tarmac, but the power and torque are so enormous that you can feel the tail sliding very often during cornering if the throttle amount is not controlled properly. It also comes with the slipper clutch, which let you do the aggressive downshifts but at the expense of engine braking. You cannot reduce the speed of motorcycle by downshifting in the motorcycle with slipper clutch. It will let the clutch slip and it will eliminate the locking or hopping of the rear tire. The only minus point in this motorcycle is, there is no ABS version available, even as an option. So, you'll have to treat this beast with respect. Acceleration is linear throughout the rev range. Once you cross the 4000 rpm, ohh the way it runs is brutal, also the exhaust becomes so throaty that it can easily turn the heads on the road. Gearbox works so precisely that you can do clutch-less shifts with ease like Formula 1 car. Being a naked bike, you'll have to battle with the wind blasts. But still with helmet and proper riding gear on, one can easily cruise at 100-120 kph for long hours.

At the front, it has upside down fork and a mono shock suspension at the rear. The suspensions are on the stiffer side to increase the cornering confidence but it also does a pretty good job on small bumps and potholes. Riding on this motorcycle, it feels like gliding on the road, you don't feel like you are sitting inside the bike like full fairing sports bike, it's just you on the road. Doing knee down corners are really fun on this motorcycle. It has a large 300 mm disc at the front, which is grabbed by 4-piston Bybre caliper. But the front brake lever has a spongy feel, it is not like the way I felt on the Pulsar 220 or Apache front disc brake. Plus, at the absence of ABS, it reduces the confidence to apply the brakes hard with this spongy effect because you cannot get the proper feedback from the front.

Rider seat on this motorcycle is way better than the RC, but still, I won't say that it is as comfortable as other touring motorcycles, but the pillion seat is way better than the RC.

The 250 cc engine on this motorcycle is well refined and peppy. If we talk about figures, it produces enormous 30 bhp of power and 24 Nm of torque, which is more than enough for the Indian road conditions. This engine gets heat-up pretty soon if you are running in bumper to bumper traffic and the radiator fan will kick in quite often. It provides 25 to 30 kilometers of mileage per liter, which is not bad for the amount of power it is producing.

Overall KTM has deployed this motorcycle at a very right spot and segment in terms of price and practicality. It is available at Rs.1,80,000/- on road Gujarat, which is just 25k more than the Duke 200. Which makes it a perfect choice for the upgrade from a lower segment.