Ref: The Duke200
My impression of it hasnt changed much since I got it.
For reference. Im 175 cm (5 foot 9 inches) high with an inseam of about 86 cm (32 inches) weight is 98 kilo.
This bike fits me perfectly.
Reference bikes: On my 2 previous BMW F650GS's I used to get discomfort in knees and ass when riding longer distances even with a modded seat (300-750 kms a day)
I dont get anywhere near that discomfort level on the Duke200. The seat is thinly padded compared to a BMW seat, but Im finding that for longer rides a harder seat is preferable for me. No sore ass on the Duke 200 for me so far.
Only ridden around 4800 kms on it so far due to lots of work lately, but its a great fun city bike that can tour as well. My longest trip so far has been from Chiang Mai to Mae Sai on a visarun, up and back in a day, and it handled it fine.
Im not a racer kind of guy, 110-120 is the max I will ride and then only on clear long straight stretches with good visibility and the 200 handles that easily with my weight on it.
It loves high revs; 7000 RPM and up to 10000 it pulls nicely.
The plastics or any other finish I have no complaint about, havent broken anything yet.
Had my chain tightened at around 3500 kms.
If I should criticise anything it would be the slippy tires. I have had the rear slide out on me several times and Darryl tried my bike one day when we met at the X-Center, while I was doing the Samoeng loop and he had it slide out on him too.
Im going to order Dunlop Alpha 12s for it tomorrow as the MT-60's dont come in the front wheel size according to Pirellis website.
Also that in my opinion the first two gears are set a bit low. You run through 1-4 very quickly if youre sprinting off a stop light for instance.
For the riding that I do, its a great fun bike, most likely the most fun bike I have ever ridden, but the amount of bikes I have experience with is low compared to many on this forum.
It is light and easy to maneuver and quick enough, but to compare it to a DRZ400SM (Or 440 for that matter) or a Husky 450SMR is not fair, it is a 200 cc bike, dont expect a beast like those bikes. Trees dont grow into heaven after all.
It would be better to compare it to the other bikes in its class, like the 150-250 Honda CBR's etc.
Im happy with it and will keep it for a long time.
Also thinking that 3 people I know have died in motorbike accidents in the last 5 months(Last one on sunday in Denmark) makes me think, I might not need a bigger or faster bike.
Edited to add: The bike is a looker, a headturner.
Everywhere I park it, even with lots of other bikes around, people will stop and look at the Duke 200, ignoring the others.
Sat at Riders last week with LivinLOS, the bike parked outside and a Thai guy stopped his car and took lots of pictures of it.