Gone orange...eek!

Last Friday the wifey and I went to a local KTM dealer to look at the new 390 Duke. They have been on hold while the Cali smog police did their thing, and the dealer had just received them. I have been considering this bike for some time; she quit riding her SV650 as it was just too big and heavy for her. Unfortunately, that also includes the new Scrambler so the Strada will be our only Ducati for a while.

Well, she said she liked it so we brought home the black one. On Saturday we rode to the Lookout on Ortega, part of our 'standard' 70 mile loop. It was a hit. She had managed this ride on her '56 Velocette last weekend, first time riding for more than six months, but this was the acid test.

She only had one complaint, and that was the seat - it is slippery in leathers and sloped forward a bit, so it put a lot of weight on her wrists when braking. Well, compared to the Velo it actually has brakes. I've bought some grip tape for the sides of the fuel tank, that should help.

Unfortunately the guys who designed this bike did not intend it for a tall rider with a 34" inseam; my knees just don't fit under the tank bulges. The thicker ergo seat would help this, but wifey can just barely flat foot it now and that is a must-have for her. It takes two minutes to swap the seat, so that would be okay as it's her bike anyway. Heh.

It has some nice stuff on the dash that the Strada lacks. Tells you that the sidestand is down, fuel level, gear selection, and much more. The shift light is two-stage, and is set to ease break-in; starts flashing at 7K. You can set both in 50 rpm increments.

Best of all it was less than half of what the Strada cost, out the door. Looks like a lot of bike for the bucks! Here's a stock photo, will post some pics later.

Paab said:

Sweet little bike! Don't worry, that nice dash will vibrate itself to smithereens in no time. And so will the replacement. LOL. KTM engineers in a ton of stuff that no one is even asking for.

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Do you know of such a problem with this particular model? The bike seems a bit buzzy below 6k but quite smooth above that. Of course, I'm used to singles; it vibrates less than any of my Velocettes or my many Yamathumpers.

I disagree about asking for these features; they are very useful, especially for a new rider. The fuel gauge, for instance. Or the "miles to empty" reading. I am more offended by all the empty threaded holes in the swingarm...so I made some spools and found some plastic hole plugs for the rest. Turns out they are for the rear hugger on the Cup.

Paab said:

I get the sense you will disagree with whatever I say. LOL. I don't think the 390 has been out long enough to tell, but I went through 3 instrument clusters on my 690, and one on my MuZ (yamaha single). It's no big deal, but something to expect out of a street going single.

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I am just asking about your experience with your KTM. Did your 690 have a fully electronic dash like the 390 or our 821s? Another member of this forum has complained about his 690's "constant state of brokeness."

I feel some of your pain already...we have had a MuZ Traveller since 1998, and the instruments on it are bargain basement stuff at best. (But I love the clock, so Bauhaus simple.) It looks like the electronics on the 390 are a bit more modern than that. Like most of us, I still have that semi-naive hope that our new bike won't have those problems.

The forum I've joined seems to show not much problem in this area, unlike the loose clutch fasteners and electrical problems that seem to be connector or sensor related. These bikes have been out for nearly two years now, so they are not all that new. And I suspect that riders in India endure much worse fuel, road, and climate issues than we do here.

Paab said:

The 690 dash was a hybrid. Needle tach/LCD speedo/clock/etc. The problem wasn't related to the needle though. The actual circuit board would come apart, rendering the lcd display useless as well as the faceplate assembly wearing in such a way that created a plastic dust that obscured the screen.

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I've never ridden a 690, but I suspect it shakes quite a bit more than this little 374 cc thing. It's the smoothest single I've ever tried, and getting better as it breaks in. I've seen other posts that mentioned poor reliability on the Austrian made bikes, wonder how much worse the Indian ones could be. Guess I'll find out.

It is a noob move to kill the engine by trying to take off with the stand down. Very embarrassing in front of 20 riders at our local hangout! I figure that new riders need all the help they can get. Could do without the "Ready To Race" display at startup, though. Race this thing? Really?

My riding buddy and I trucked the baby Duke and our '56 Velocette up to Napa last weekend for a VOCNA ride. We rode gnarly, bumpy back roads, and I went a bit insane coming down 128 from Lake Berryessa to Napa. Honestly, we flew. Passed a blocker in a VW Phaeton and left him for dead! Also a trio of ADV bikes going slowly on some gravel sections next to the lake. ******s.

I led on the Velo, which has been hot-rodded quite a bit now. It's 380cc, and probably makes 25 HP at it's 6500-ish redline (it's got a 96mm stroke!) The little Duke was not far from that at a similar RPM (for break-in), so the two bikes were a good match. On that last stretch I gapped the KTM a bit, my buddy admitted that he was having trouble keeping up. This ended up as one of the most memorable rides I've ever had. I'd post a pic but they might still be looking for me.

When we got back my ribs were sore from the bumps and the steering effort. My buddy admitted that he could not have gone nearly that fast on his R6. He could not stop raving about the KTM, said it was the perfect bike for those roads. I could not agree more. It really brings out the hooligan in me, even more than the Strada. It's a keeper.

One last laugh...when we got back, he told his GF about how hard it was chasing me on the Velo...her response was "On that old thing?" Hee hee hee...

Velocette. World 350 GP champions 1949 and 1950. That's one more GP championship than our boys from Borgo Panigale...

Paab said:

I do tend to think the electronics are the weakest link in the KTM. But that's just my experience.

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Sounds a lot like our 821s!