MY16 Duke 390 Finally Arrived! (The Unboxing)

Yes! My Duke finally made it to Changchun. I waited for what felt like forever to purchase so I could get a black MY16. After a few hours of unpacking, assembling and prepping I finally took her out for about 40 Kilometers.

Things to note:
The seat is insanely hard even though it was upgraded.
The bike feels tiny compared to my other bike so it will take some getting used to.
It feels like it is begging you to do wheelies and rip on the throttle!
It is extremely maneuverable. Thing cuts through traffic like a champ although the handlebars are wider then my
other bike so it can't squeeze through quite as much.
I guess I am really short because I can't flat foot the ground like everyone else said they can.

In the grand scheme of things. It feels like a solid machine that will put a smile on my face for years to come. Now to find someone to ride with here in Changchun!

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A few more pictures to show my excitement.

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Feels like childhood at at Christmas, right?
Ride safe on all your ways

That's a sexy looking bike! :thumbsup:

Wonderful bike!!! Enjoy it and keep us updated with your experiences.

Take care as KTM take always your dark side :-)

Congrats Man! Duke brothers unite! :riding:

After putting almost 200 kilometers on the bike now. I would say it is certainly worth the money. Much more fun then my bikes in the states. I am really happy with everything but the seat. I am looking for a nice soft contoured seat. If anyone knows where, let me know.

FYI I was sandwiched between 2 buses the other day. One buss changed lanes into my lane and the other turned left in front of me all at the same time. Completely boxed me in with no escape route. I was able to almost stop but I cracked the housing for the headlight, shattered the front fender, bent the handlebars and tore the front fork slider off. (and it tore the strap to my new KTM tail bag)

Either way, the bus drivers were from the same company and willingly admitted fault, I got it all on gopro and soon to be up on youtube. The insurance guy for the bus company was cool and said just give them a price and they will cover it all. It is already back on the streets and should look new by next week.

What a crazy start! Mot, can't wait to head south and get some country riding in. What tires did you end up buying?

Ride south young man the driving standard is better ?? I think not !! Just today back in China after 6 months riding in Thailand I have had more close calls today in only 500km then I had with over 20.000 km in Thailand TIC mate bad news about the bike with only 200 km on the baby just be careful with the next 200 km !

I see quite a few KTM 390s on the Dragon US129 in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee and their owners really the bike. They can keep with with the more powerful bikes in the tight sections.

I have been seeing more and more KTM's as summer approaches but they are all the RC390. Not exactly the bike I would pick for China but I guess if they just bought them for a cool bike to cruise around town with then it makes sense.

So after putting 700 kilometers on the bike these are my thoughts.

The gas gauge is horrendous. It will tell you that you are empty with only a few kilometers left but still has about 4 liters in the tank. Drives me insane especially since you have to fill your bike with a teapot and need to know exactly how much to buy.

The hard seat? Well it broke in and is quite comfy to me now. That or I just got used to it.

The ride? The thing is smooth! It has much more comfortable suspension then my Chinese bike and seems to take the crap roads and unavoidable potholes like a champ.

The gear box does not like to go all the way from 1st to second all the time. Oddly it is not about how hard or soft you kick it up either. So several times I thought I was in 2nd and was in neutral. Also, there have been two occasions where I popped it in neutral at a stop light for a moment to stretch my hands and it was not actually in neutral. So you get random false neutrals from time to time.

I lost bolts, maybe from vibration but after my first long ride I looked the bike over and had lost some bolts. I guess I need to be double checking every bolt I can every day or two. Kind of sad. Either way, I bought locktite and from here on out I will try to keep from loosing more.

Overall, I still love riding the thing. Ear to ear grin as I am carving through traffic with ease and I cant wait for my 7 hours of riding on my way to Shenyang on the 26th.

If anyone is local, lets meet and ride!

Great to hear the KTM lives up to your expectation.
Does your bike have a trip counter if so then use that more than your fuel gauge , work out a safe KM with about 2 litters left in the tank then use this measurement as a safe travel range for fuel.
The problems with gear changing is just down to getting used to the gear set up on your bike but sometimes just moving the gear level up or down a bit on the spine could help IMO it needs to go down one so your foot sits down a bit so when you kick up a gear you travel passed the natural position.

One thing, the dashboard changes the settings to show only kilometers left in the tank when it thinks it's low on gas. So once it thinks it is low I have no tripometer access :( very frustrating

FYI the one weak link on the duke or RC 390 seems to be the head gasket. It might have already been addressed and fixed by now but over at the KTM forum lots of people were blowing head gaskets around 4000-5000km's. If doing any modifications such as air filter, exhaust, or turbo etc it would definitely be worth it to upgrade to a thicker copper head gasket. Shouldn't be too hard considering it's a single cylinder. For the seat I suggest getting a corbin. They make memory foam type seats for all bikes and are the best seats money can buy. I also saw the duke's throttle has a lot of play, this also might be worth changing out. That would be my first 3 recommendations of upgrades for the duke, corbin seat, copper head gasket, new throttle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RyanDuke390

FYI the one weak link on the duke or RC 390 seems to be the head gasket. It might have already been addressed and fixed by now but over at the KTM forum lots of people were blowing head gaskets around 4000-5000km's. If doing any modifications such as air filter, exhaust, or turbo etc it would definitely be worth it to upgrade to a thicker copper head gasket. Shouldn't be too hard considering it's a single cylinder. For the seat I suggest getting a corbin. They make memory foam type seats for all bikes and are the best seats money can buy. I also saw the duke's throttle has a lot of play, this also might be worth changing out. That would be my first 3 recommendations of upgrades for the duke, corbin seat, copper head gasket, new throttle.

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Yes, on the MY2015 and newer Dukes they replaced the throttle with a shorter throw throttle. Also, in MY 2015 they fixed the gasket problems, oil leak, radiator heat issue, put guards on the suspension, new seals in the front forks, new seat, slightly different slipper clutch, new emission program so it runs smoother, fixed some dash issues, thicker break disks, different stronger alloy for the wheels and slightly modified engine allowing for wider service intervals. At least this is what I have read.

I started with an accident so before i make two many modifications I still need to get it in 100% working order. I decided I would kiss a bus. Right now I have no front mud guard, my gauge is glitching from likely crossed wires or something and the entire head light assembly is taped on. Not to mention the front forks are scraped to all hell so I am sure it will tear the seals soon. Either way, it will all be replaced and be like new on the 28th.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Asymptomatic

...The gas gauge is horrendous. It will tell you that you are empty with only a few kilometers left but still has about 4 liters in the tank. Drives me insane especially since you have to fill your bike with a teapot and need to know exactly how much to buy.

The hard seat? Well it broke in and is quite comfy to me now. That or I just got used to it.

The ride? The thing is smooth! It has much more comfortable suspension then my Chinese bike and seems to take the crap roads and unavoidable potholes like a champ.

The gear box does not like to go all the way from 1st to second all the time. Oddly it is not about how hard or soft you kick it up either. So several times I thought I was in 2nd and was in neutral. Also, there have been two occasions where I popped it in neutral at a stop light for a moment to stretch my hands and it was not actually in neutral. So you get random false neutrals from time to time.

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I'll second all of these, especially the suspension. Tons of speed bumps in my area, big ones, speed bumps that feel like driving over downed telephone pole in the car/bus. The Duke just soaks them up, completely composed, even in a slight lean. No bounce, no hop. You can continue at speed, no blink, no fuss, no need to even raise up off the seat.

However, I am switching to the comfort seat. After riding mountain trails all afternoon several days in a row I noticed some tenderness in a sensitive area. I don't want to damage any nerves or vessels down there :uhoh:

lol @ the teapot. They'll pump it straight in the tank here, so I haven't had to calculate how much fuel to buy. At one-fuel stop I watched as this petite girl, probably fresh out of highschool and cute as a button, struggling with both hands wrestle the hose and nozzle up and over the tank. Being the gentleman that I am :naughty: I reached over to hold the gas lid open for her. She didn't get the nozzle all the way in and I was promptly sprayed, fuel slopping down the bike onto the hot exhaust. After a quick birdbath in the bathroom I rode away to discover tank wasn't even full. :rolleyes1:

My experience with the fuel gauge is its very slow to react. Sometimes it takes several minutes to recognize the tank is full, a second engine restart typically resets it right away, annoying but harmless. Also after running the fuel down, 2 of the last 3 bars of fuel or so on the gauge can disappear suddenly after a restart. I assumed it was a smoothing algorithm to keep the gauge level from bouncing around and the restart resets everything with a clean sheet calculation.

However, I have found the initial "43 KM remaining" warning was spot on. The majority of these rural gas stations are only open 7-7 and I've been caught out twice coming back from a long ride to watch the sunrise or sunset up in the mountains. Both times the bike coasted to a stop 45km after the warning.

The follow-on estimates were useless as it hovers at 43 for a bit then quickly drops to "0 KM remaining"