How many bikes do you know of that immediately turn you into some mental youth trying to prove a point from the first time you ride it? You know, the type of bike that feels so right, small and therefore not intimidating, feisty to another level, loads of fun and looks as cute as kitten in a teacup.
Well, if haven’t ridden anything in your mundane life that ticks all the criteria mentioned above then you obviously haven’t torn up the road astride the new KTM 390 Duke, and I can tell you that the experience will live on longer than the first venture into the opposite sex’s underwear behind the school bike shed. I’m not too sure that KTM will use that metaphor in their latest brochure though, but if they ask me nicely they may.
Moving on from interfering hands I bet you’d now like to know more, much more, right? So, you all know, or should, that the first ‘baby’ Duke was and still is the 125. Then came the 200 version, which I raved on about and you can still find the report in our test section if you’d like to reboot your head. But now we have the mini-mighty 390 speed junky option – yeehaaar….
The 390’s physical dimensions are basically the same as the 125 and 200, which is quite an amazing feat by KTM to have stuffed this big-ish motor into such a small chassis. The 125 is claimed to make 15hp, the 200 26hp and this 373cc (don’t know why it’s a 390 then) chugs out a startling 44hp on the spec sheet. KTM claim that their 390 is THE most powerful four-stroke single under 400cc ever crammed into a production bike and I’m certainly not going to argue with that.
It’s a similarly impressive story with the weight, the 125 is 127kgs, 200 130kgs and the 390 is a mere 139kgs. KTM arrogantly state this figure is without fuel only in a ‘Ready to Race’ state and not some devious figure from other manufacturers but more about that just now. So of course my first port of call was the Dynojet dyno. As mentioned KTM claim 44hp and guess what, it makes 43hp at the wheel – WOW! How come KTM are spot on and ‘others’ can be up to 40hp out with their projected superbike horsepower figures, wankers! Anyway, to put that into perspective that’s exactly the same as a BMW 650 Rotax single cylinder engine and only 1hp less that Yamaha’s Minarreli engine XT660 range. Great PR for KTM but slightly embarrassing for the rest. Obviously these ‘bigger’ engines produce more torque but, for once, I don’t care. If you ever come across any of these ‘bigger singles’ on the road you’ll leave them for dead, believe me I’ve done it and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, and the 390 is at least 50kgs (or more) lighter. Now you see where the ‘Hooligan’s choice’ is coming from, but it gets even better.
Everyone knows that Bajaj from India owns 50% of KTM and build all three of the Dukes I’m talking about. Nothing wrong with that because it’s all under license and scrutiny by KTM engineers and it keeps the cost down because of far lower labour rates than you’d find throughout Europe. And I really liked the way Bajaj used matching orange cable-ties on the steel trellis frame and their signature backlight switchgear (like a car), which I’ve never seen on any other bike. One walk around this 390 lets you appreciate the outstanding build quality and I much prefer this white option to the black as well, but that’s me.
One of Bajaj’s bits is the Bybree brakes, which look like Brembos and stop in a similar fashion. If you say ‘Bybree’ with an Indian accent it does sound a bit like Brembo anyway, so perhaps that’s where the name comes from? They work great but coming down from an indicated 169km/h (on the rev limiter, so that’s as fast as it goes with this gearing), they can feel like they need more, maybe two 300mm discs. But, from anything below 120, they’re well up to the job, and so is the suspension. ABS is there as well for the ‘girlie’ brakers scared of locking the wheel, but if you’re an Alpha-male, like me, you can turn it off for some sideways action.
To complement these Bybree brakes KTM’s WP suspension is on the 390 with 43mm forks up front and a chunky white-springed shock at the back. Needless to say these components are way above anything else in their class and then some, perfect for even a track day as well as rapid road riding, or wappid-woad-widing if you’re talking like Elma Fudd (old cartoon character if you’re scratching yer head).
So the 390 goes very fast, handles very sweetly, looks gorgeous and I bet you want one. The only negative points I discovered were the gearbox can be a bit ‘sticky’ at times but fancy oil might cure that. It also runs hot when worked hard but with a high compression ratio of over 12.5 to 1 (wouldn’t you?) and that’s about it.
But I’ve saved the best ‘till last because all this will only cost you R56,999, which makes the KTM 390 Duke THE best value ‘mad-thing’ on the market and well worth the outlay if you’re after a different style of hooliganism, er sorry, I meant commuting.
Bike available from www.radmoto.co.za and they’ll set up a test ride as well. Also visit www.ktm.com to see their entire exciting new range of bikes.
