390 Duke as a custom platform.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 7:39 pm

This looks pretty damn good to me. I can see all sorts of cool mods coming in the future.

http://lanesplitter.jalopnik.com/the-kt ... 1667403605

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 12:12 am

It definitely looks better with less orange paint than the average KTM.
The thumper bikes like the Suzuki S40/Savage and the KTM Duke are great platforms for customizing due to their relative simplicity. My local KTM dealer has no 390s in stock yet.

New2Scoots · Post by **New2Scoots** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 6:04 pm

Those are really nice bikes. I've read road tests on those & they're light, nimble & torquey. Good suspension & decent price too. Looks so much better without all those tacky orange origami graphics. Wonder how this bike would look with a little retro do over, like Yamaha did with the MT-07. Youtube has some good vids on the 390.

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:20 pm

Is that an Autobot or a Decepticon? I guess I'm old fashion, but I don't like it.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:33 pm

I'm thinking a retro/post apocalyptic version would look awesome.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 8:55 pm

I'm thinking, Put that bad boy on a dirt track and hire a pro flat track rider to make a video that nobody will ever forget.

Don't laugh too hard, Honda did exactly that with the first Valkyrie to ignite sales.

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 2:29 pm

"Put that bad boy on a dirt track and hire a pro flat track rider".
Yamaha did that when they introduced the Bolt. Kenny Roberts took it out on the dirt track and rode sideways for a while.

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Sun Sep 13, 2015 8:18 pm

The Yamaha SR400 would also make a nice blank canvas for your customizing art. However, the Yami SR is not nearly as fast as the Duke.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 2:35 pm

The duke390 and other smaller bikes are really nice to see. They're competing for similar space as some of the scoots. Mileage, easy to park/use, and relatively low cost even when new.

I hope it's a trend that continues, our cheap gas won't last indefinitely.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 8:47 pm

skully93 wrote:The duke390 and other smaller bikes are really nice to see. They're competing for similar space as some of the scoots. Mileage, easy to park/use, and relatively low cost even when new.

I hope it's a trend that continues, our cheap gas won't last indefinitely.

Unfortunately, it doesn't get very good mileage. It's somewhere around 55 MPG which is pretty bad for it's displacement class. Much bigger displacement bikes get the same mileage.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 10:49 pm

wheelbender6 wrote:"Put that bad boy on a dirt track and hire a pro flat track rider".
Yamaha did that when they introduced the Bolt. Kenny Roberts took it out on the dirt track and rode sideways for a while.

def: SIDE*WAYS

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:06 am

"Unfortunately, it doesn't get very good mileage. It's somewhere around 55 MPG"
The Yamaha SR 400 gets better MPG but doesn't have near as much power as the 390 Duke. Regardless of displacement, it simply requires more gasoline to make more power.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 1:34 am

wheelbender6 wrote:"Unfortunately, it doesn't get very good mileage. It's somewhere around 55 MPG"
The Yamaha SR 400 gets better MPG but doesn't have near as much power as the 390 Duke. Regardless of displacement, it simply requires more gasoline to make more power.

More RPMs, too.

Seriously, I would be (very) happy to ride either of those machines but I bet I would get tired of the KTM first. I could be wrong, the lack of an electric start is the fly in the ointment for the SR.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 5:39 am

wheelbender6 wrote:"Unfortunately, it doesn't get very good mileage. It's somewhere around 55 MPG"
The Yamaha SR 400 gets better MPG but doesn't have near as much power as the 390 Duke. Regardless of displacement, it simply requires more gasoline to make more power.

Yes, but you could buy a Honda NC700X DCT ABS with a 670cc engine that gets 65 mpg. It has much more power and an auto transmission to boot.

ScooterDave · Post by **ScooterDave** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:07 am

Having ridden a 390 Duke there is only one way to describe it - BADASS!!

wheelbender6 · Post by **wheelbender6** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 3:33 pm

"Having ridden a 390 Duke there is only one way to describe it - BADASS!!"
Pretty high praise coming from a Ducati owner like ScooterDave.

still shifting · Post by **still shifting** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:27 pm

Any pictures of modified units out there? R

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 1:40 pm

I recently stopped by a local shop to get another look at the SR400 and almost literally stumbled onto the KTM Duke 390. I love the looks of the SR400 but just can't bring myself to spend that much on it. The Duke looks more appropriately priced and, after reading and watching some on-line reviews, it looks like a really fun ride. If it could be made to look more Scrambler or Street Tracker like in the photo that the OP posted than I might seriously consider it. My Chetak has just been awesome and I'm so glad I chose it over the other scoots that I could have bought at the time, so the fact that the Duke 390 is actually made by Bajaj doesn't really bother me.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 5:17 pm

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Wed Sep 23, 2015 5:32 pm

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 2:11 pm

Thanks, k1dude! When I first saw these photos I thought, "Are you sh!tting me?" The last two make me shake with desire. Can you tell me more about these? Are they designer concepts only? Is there a company that makes a bolt on kit for these? I mean, hot damn!

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 5:43 pm

Scotter wrote:Thanks, k1dude! When I first saw these photos I thought, "Are you sh!tting me?" The last two make me shake with desire. Can you tell me more about these? Are they designer concepts only? Is there a company that makes a bolt on kit for these? I mean, hot damn!

They're concepts from some famous designers for the time being. It's surprising how much the 390 Duke has inspired designers and custom shops. The interest in the bike as a custom platform is intense. Probably because it has good bones, it's easy to modify, and it's relatively inexpensive compared to other production candidates. There's also a renewed interest in small displacement bikes after decades of inflationary displacements. I expect many of these concepts will become reality in the next few years.

The picture in the original post would be fairly easy to do with a stock bike by simply repainting most of the bike with Black and Gunmetal Gray Plasti Dip and removing the rear fender. If you decide to revert back to the stock paint job at a later date, simply pull off the Plasti Dip that you sprayed on.

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 8:57 pm

k1dude wrote:They're concepts from some famous designers for the time being. It's surprising how much the 390 Duke has inspired designers and custom shops. The interest in the bike as a custom platform is intense. Probably because it has good bones, it's easy to modify, and it's relatively inexpensive compared to other production candidates. There's also a renewed interest in small displacement bikes after decades of inflationary displacements. I expect many of these concepts will become reality in the next few years.

Yeah, I read that BMW is working on a less than 500cc bike. Though I also read that Tai-umph has since shelved their small displacement bike. I do like the looks of the Sym Wolf SB300's one of which is sold with Cafe Racer effects.

k1dude wrote:The picture in the original post would be fairly easy to do with a stock bike by simply repainting most of the bike with Black and Gunmetal Gray Plasti Dip and removing the rear fender. If you decide to revert back to the stock paint job at a later date, simply pull off the Plasti Dip that you sprayed on.

The KTM Duke 390 reminds me of a Honda Grom on steroids. All that orange is a little much but if I were a Tennessee fan I'd probably love it. I could envision PlastiDipping all the orange with red though...

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Thu Sep 24, 2015 9:25 pm

k1dude,

Can you post links to more information on those 390 mods?

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:23 am

http://motorbikewriter.com/scrambler-st ... big-thing/

http://www.cartoq.com/5-beautifully-mod ... torcycles/

http://motorcycleraw.com/index.php/cust ... 9-dragster

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:25 am

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 12:27 pm

k1dude, dude. I mean, Dude!

Thanks for the links. Now you've officially made me want a KTM Duke 390, damnit.

The third link appears to be exquisite Engrish. It's brilliantly written if I pretend that I have dyslexia.

Abide.

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:21 pm

Scotter wrote:k1dude, dude. I mean, Dude!

Thanks for the links. Now you've officially made me want a KTM Duke 390, damnit.

The third link appears to be exquisite Engrish. It's brilliantly written if I pretend that I have dyslexia.

Abide.

The Duke 390 is a world bike. So info on mods are coming from all over. I think that writer is probably from Indonesia. His Engrish is a heck of a lot better than my Bahasa.

Scotter · Post by **Scotter** » Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:16 pm

k1dude wrote:
The Duke 390 is a world bike. So info on mods are coming from all over. I think that writer is probably from Indonesia. His Engrish is a heck of a lot better than my Bahasa.

Good point. I really like all that the KTM Duke 390 has to offer but I keep coming back to how much I dislike the looks of the stock bike. The SR400 with it's swept back seat just feels right to me. When sitting in the stock Duke 390 seat I feel pushed forward onto the tank and the pegs are swept a little too far back for me. A bench style seat would improve the ergonomics for me.

jrsjr wrote: More RPMs, too. Seriously, I would be (very) happy to ride either of those machines but I bet I would get tired of the KTM first. I could be wrong, the lack of an electric start is the fly in the ointment for the SR.

I respect your opinion here. Could you elaborate a little on why you think you would get tired of the KTM first compared to the SR400?

New2Scoots · Post by **New2Scoots** » Fri Oct 02, 2015 2:02 am

Not to highjack the thread but check out these retro concept Groms. Not sure if Honda plans on making these to sell. http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/ ... lery_1.jpg Back to the KTM: Good specs. 306 pounds, about 40 hp & $4,999.