It’s always been a relentless quest of the ‘shed’ mechanic. I’m talking about the constant attempt to make a motorcycle, or even a car, boat or caravan (maybe or never), look like the more expensive version of a similar machine. I could even point a finger at humans spending ridiculous sums of money to ‘resemble’, and I mean that very lightly, their film, reality crap show stars or whoever. All in the sad quest of winning the local ‘look-alike’ competition and being rewarded with a bowl of goldfish or something of similar value. But you know where I coming from.
Thankfully in the motorcycle world we don’t have to endure plastic faces and polar white smiles too much. But KTM designers certainly have those Hollywood polar white smiles after releasing the latest version of their very popular 390 Duke. I mean, just look at the thing! After a few pleasant days spent with 2017 390 Duke there’s no doubt in my mind, or anyone else’s for that matter, that it very closely resembles their 1290 Super Duke R. In fact many people thought it was the 1290, so job done regarding that brief then.
But the new 149kg (dry) 390 Duke is far from just a styling exercise because it’s nearly a new motorcycle from one end to the other addressing any issues from the previous model released back in 2013, with a mild update in 2015. So what’s new?
It’s quite a long list so make a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable. Firstly the frame – the exposed rear sub-frame is a bolt-on piece and the swing-arm is new. This reduces the wheelbase by 10mm and the trail is pulled in by 5mm for more agile handling, not that it needed it before but there we go anyway. To complement the chassis changes WP suspension has put their hand in by modifying the 43mm forks and the rear shock, which now has separate gas and oil sections to improve damping when things get warm. Sitting on the trellis frame is a new petrol tank with a bigger capacity, swelling from 11 to 13.4 litres. Behind that is a new higher placed seat by 20mm, which is thinner at the front and wider at the rear, for improved comfort levels and maybe bigger bottoms in the USA market. The footrests are also repositioned to throw more weight onto the front end giving the rider a sportier stance on the bike.
Talking of the front end, many people complained about the old brakes fading and losing their feel so, for this year, they’re bigger and better. The rotor is now 320mm from 300mm and the ByBre (subsidiary of Brembo) four-piston calliper and master-cylinder are more powerful too and it’s one major improvement that’s felt immediately over the 2016 bike.
And so is the engine, regarding torque, where there’s a 6% improvement low down and through the mid-range. KTM claim 44hp from their single-cylinder, 373cc, fuel-injected engine and on our Dynojet dyno it made 42hp @ 9,000rpm. Quite accurate that and it makes you wonder how many others get their figures so far out, especially relating to superbike claims, but that’s another story. The torque figure did indeed rise by around 2Nm throughout the rev range, so that’s far from a lie as well. All these new engine tweaks are delivered, now, through a throttle-by-wire system, again like the 1290 R.
Without doubt though the most obvious similarity to the 1290 Super Duke R is the ‘waspish’ headlight face, virtually identical and that’s what people noticed the most. But look behind that and you’ll also notice the best change of all for 2017, the adoption of that full-colour (1290) TFT clock, where the backlight changes colour as you go from light to dark places, very posh and now the best in class by a mile. That change really does make you feel as if you’re riding one of KTM’s far more expensive models and, to me, the biggest improvement on the bike. You can also Bluetooth them and play music and stuff, or maybe a spot of porn to keep you ‘occupied’ on your travels. Might be hard to explain to your insurance company what you were doing when you ‘rear-end’ someone though, pardon the pun!
With those fancy clocks comes more interaction and easy to access using the left hand buttons. ABS now has three modes that can easily be changed to both wheels active, all off for madness days and motard where only the front wheel has ABS and you can then lock and skid the back wheel until, well, you fall off while showing off, probably. Either way you’ll have hours of fun fiddling with the new dash I’m sure.
That’s what the new 390 Duke (or Baby Beast if the 1290 R is called the Beast) is all about I think and I’m talking about tons of fun and cheeky riding. I was never bored as I raced around and I saw an indicated 180km/h on those TV-like clocks, not bad eh? It encourages you to go very quickly everywhere and the mid-range punch can certainly be felt over last year’s bike, it seems to have a smoother more refined power delivery as well. Actually that’s how the 2017 390 Duke feels – more refined and splashed with more quality parts and KTM’s finish on the entire bike is exemplary for a bike of this size.
A young rider will adore the new 390 with its new gadgets and even the older rider will revel in its quality and brisk personality, I did so there. For R70,999 you get a lot of motorcycle and a truckload of eye candy in the process. The 1290 Super Duke R is R215,000 though, so is the difference worth it – well go ask your dad!
Go to www.radmoto.co.za to book a test ride.
Also visit www.ktm.com to see the full range and specs.
