Thursday 9 June 2016

KTM 200 DUKE: The Urban Warrior

      The KTM Duke 200 is another name synonymous to performance in Indian motorcylce market. It  has been wholely built and designed at Chakan, Pune.












It is undoubtedly the best looking naked street bike in it's class.

The headlamp, the short seat, rear fender sitting atop the mono-shock suspension, tank decals and sharp lines makes it looks aggressive and hard edged.

Engine and Performance:
This is a liquid cooled, 200cc block producing 25bhp of power mated to 6 speed gearbox and weighs just 136kg, by far these numbers are best in the industry








It's a shortstroke engine that begs for high revs before you find serious power. The enthusiastic 200 Duke engine displays a flowing, sweet revving character that adds a lot to riding pleasure. The throttle response is crisp higher in the 3000 powerband. Once past this hurdle, the 200 Duke engine feels pretty much flawless, power building smoothly anywhere post 4500rpm, and surging ahead strongly with a vibe free nature into the meat of it. The clutch is well weighted, and works to get enough progression.  It’s quick for a 200cc bike, taking an impressive 9.52secs to pass 100kph after launch while 0-60 comes up in around 4secs.




The Duke exhaust is located below the engine and on the go, the KTM 200 Duke exhaust sounds delightful and healthy for a single. 



 Ride and Handling:- 
The Duke has a sporty riding position and the footrests are located far behind

Wide handlebars with superior leverage makes maneuvering the Duke through crowded city traffic simple. The 200 Duke comes with firm ride quality that helps keep the bike planted when slicing up corners. It flicks quickly from upright and safe to well beyond dicey lean angles, at which point you start to appreciate its low-profile, MRF radial front and rear tyres. Although the aggressively rounded rear with its limited contact patch did sometimes slip a wee bit when pushing over the limit, overall grip levels felt good. If you are looking for performance, this bike will never upset you.






 The the fuel-injected KTM gearchanges are quick and crisp when you want to vroom ahead. The liquid-cooled four valve DOHC single builds up revband like it’s is on fire and in full performance testing. If you want to extract good acceleration times from the KTM then it is more about timing your shifts than your throttle work in the lower gears.
The Brembo brakes are the best in the category with great stopping power.


The KTM is like sitting on a hard surface, your butt will beg for mercy on long rides. The seat can feel like a plank when ridden back to back and though the stiffness does wonders in the corners, the KTM gets very cross with bad roads. The wheels  offer phenomenal grip level on tarmac but slightly struggles on gravel.

The KTM Duke 200 is a premium motorcycle. It is features loaded from the ones in its all-digital instruments to various chassis and engine aggregates. It has the more powerful motor, lighter weight plus crucial bits like sticky radial tyres and that hard-to-clean aluminium swingarm which make their presence felt. It’s a marvelously quick motorcycle and brilliant around corners. 

Buy this if you want a fast performance naked street bike and want to stay ahead in the race. The KTM won't upset you.




Special Thanks to my buddy Dr. Sainath for lending his bike for the test and Suhas Maga for the brilliant photos.


The whole thing is written in just under a hour and I know their is a lot to improve which will be reflected in upcoming posts. Stay tuned.


RIDE SAFE FOLKS.

Comments and suggestions are most welcome.

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