Duke 390 2017 vs Duke 390 2015 Comparison Review
Duke 390 2017 vs Duke 390 2015 Comparison Review
First Duke 390 was launch in mid of 2013 in India, but that was not a perfect product hence KTM relaunched it with betterments in mid 2015. And just two year from then again KTM wants to upgrade its Duke 390. The Duke is the most radical motorcycle in the category till now in India, we should not forget the Yamaha's legendary RD350.
The current Duke 390 is offered with slipper clutch, USD forks, honeycombe design cast aluminum rear swing arm, on-board fuel economy and day running lamps.
The new 2017 Duke 390 is equipped with hell of new features and refinement has been taken at higher levels. Starting with, the front USD forks travel has been reduced to 142mm against 150mm. The rear suspension travel remain the same, this time Duke 390 2017 fuel tank is made from metal with plastic quarter panels, the fuel tanks also has higher capacity which is 13.5 ltrs against 11 ltrs, which means you would be able to go another 50 odd kms. The wheeelbase of the bike has also reduced now by about 10mm, this change is a surprise as the current Duke 390 already had a lesser wheelbase of around 1367mm. Higher the wheelbase higher the stability and lower the wheelbase higher the agility isn't it. Current Duke 390 had a balance of both.
One more surprise on the Duke 390 2017 is the rider seat height, the rider sits at 830mm now, which is 30mm higher than the current Duke 390. Even the Himalayan has a seat height of 800mm, we don't understand why the hell we need so much of seat height for a street fighter, hope the rear suspensions is soft and CG of the bike gets lowered when rider is seated. It actually sums up more due to the 10mm increased ground clearance as well on the Duke 390 2017, what is KTM trying to do remains a question until we get our hands on it.
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Another major change is made at the front end of the bike, the headlamp and overall styling resembles to that of the Duke 1290 2017 version. The Duke 390 2017 also gets adjustable clutch and front brake lever finally.
The Speedo cluster of the Duke 390 2017 has lot much to offer than the current motorcycle, the new display is an TFT screen which can be synced with the riders mobile and used for navigation as well. The best part about the Duke 390 2017 is that it comes with switchable rider modes that means changeable maps for the ECU, the rider can switch through depending on the road conditions and his liking. The Duke 390 2017 is equipped with drive-by-wire that means the throttle not mechanically controlled anymore. Lets hope the Duke 390 2017 is not prices too high similar to the competition and all the features shown in the media vehicle come in as reality on the production intent machine.
