My 2012 KTM Duke 200

[Lightemup]

Ok, so since there is no owners thread of the KTM Duke 200 here yet, I wanted to create my own to give my impression of it.
I've posted random bits in other threads, but wanted one place where it all came together.
And since I am, so far, the only Farang in Chiang Mai, who has bought one and there is very little on the internet aside from Indians posting rave reviews I thought it was about time.
So on with it.

About a year after my accident, I thought it was about time to get on a bike again.
So I went to the KTM shop in Chiang Mai in early January 2013 and had a test ride on the Duke 200.

Instant love.

I asked Khun Eak, who runs the shop if they had any in stock, ready to go.
He replied they had 3 bikes in stock now.
Next day, I came back, put down 230.000 baht for the bike and rode it away.
They gave me free registration, cumpulsory insurance and the bike came with a 2 year warranty and free service (But pay for oils, fluids etc.)
At the time, he said he had sold 17 Duke 200's and I was the first Farang to buy one from him.

Hand over of the bike.
The bike is a 2012 KTM Duke 200

TECHNICAL DETAILS

ENGINE

Design	Single-cylinder, 4-stroke, spark-ignition engine, liquid-cooled
Displacement	200 cm³
Bore	72 mm
Stroke	49 mm
Performance	19 kW (25 hp)
Starting aid	Electric starter
Transmission	6-speed, claw shifted
Engine lubrication	Forced oil lubrication with 1 rotor pump
Primary gear ratio	22:72
Secondary gear ratio	14:43
Cooling system	Liquid cooling system, continuous circulation of cooling liquid with water pump
Clutch	Clutch in oil bath / mechanically operated
Ignition system	Contactless, controlled, fully electronic ignition system with digital ignition timing adjustment

CHASSIS

Frame	Tubular space frame made from steel tubes, powder-coated
Fork	WP Suspension 4357
Shock absorber	WP Suspension 4618 EM
Suspension travel Front	150 mm
Suspension travel Rear	150 mm
Brake system Front	Disc brake with four-pot brake caliper
Brake system Rear	Disc brake with one-pot brake caliper, floating brake discs
Brake discs - diameter front	300 mm
Brake discs - diameter rear	230 mm
Chain	5/8 x 1/4” (520) O‑Ring
Steering head angle	65°
Wheel base	1,367±15 mm
Ground clearance (unloaded)	170 mm
Seat height (unloaded)	800 mm
Total fuel tank capacity approx.	11 l Unleaded premium fuel (95 RON)
Weight without fuel approx.	129.5 kg

More to follow....

 

[Lightemup]

From the KTM 390 thread:
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.

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.

-------------------------

Also people look unconvinced when I tell them its only a 200cc bike. It looks to be much more powerful.

 

[Lightemup]

So in typical KTM style, they offer various Power Parts for the Duke 200 so its easy to personalize it.

I got the tank protectors from KTM CNX for free, when I bought the bike. Talked them into it, they didnt offer it right away...
I ordered R&G frame slide protectors on Ebay plus crash bobbers front and rear and KTM CNX put them on for free (Im kind of a knob with tools and they said free service after all)
KTM Power Parts Handlebar protectors were bought and mounted at KTM CNX.



KTM Power Parts Tank Protectors

R&G frame slide protectors

Crash bobbers

KTM Power Parts Handlebar protectors getting mounted. Khun Eak always work on the bike along with his mechanic.

Mounted

 

[Lightemup]

Today I saw they had some KTM grips available in shop and this was one of my early gripes with the bike. If I rode it without gloves, the grips on the bike was a bit slim and hard on the hands due to aggresive checkering. I read somewhere on an Indian owners thread, that Bajaj who builds these bikes, took the grips from their Pulsar 200 bike and put them on the Duke as well.
The new grips are much more comfortable without gloves.
(Yes, I know always wear gloves and gear, ATGATT and all that, but if Im just bumbling around town, I dont always suit completely up in this heat.

They had the R&G Duke 200 Tailtidy as well, so got that one as well. (Maybe now LivinLOS will stop bickering about that)
I also ordered Dunlop Alpha 12 tires for it. Dunlop offered these in the original sizes, so went with them.

KTM Power Parts grips

R&G Tailtidy

So that pretty much covers what I have done to the bike so far in terms of accessories and personalization.

 

[Lightemup]

Instrumentation/cockpit display:

The bikes instrumentation offers a lot of information.

When you first turn the key on, it conducts a selftest, that takes 1-2 seconds.
Then when the selftest is complete, you can power it on.

It will then warn you if the side stand is down both by way of a written warning on the display and with the yellow warning light on the right hand side of the screen.

There is of course the is the normal odometer, plus two trips available.
You cycle through the menu options by way of the two buttons on the left side of the display, named "Mode" and "Set"
Pressing Mode gives you the Odometer and the two trips. Set lets you zero the trips.

Then first page shows you how many minutes it has been on, and your average speed in that time.

To cycle through the other pages, you press the Set button.

 

[Lightemup]

The big red light, seen in the selftest picture, on the top middle above the screen is the engine RPM warning light.
The Duke 200 engine idles at 1400-1500 RPMs and the warning light lights up at 10000 RPM's and is capped at 11000 RPMs
When you rev it up to 11000 RPM, the power just dies off immediately.

Speed wise, the bike is capable out of the factory of around 137 kph topspeed.
I have seen some youtube videos of people maxing them out and also seen a guy do more than 165 kph on one.
But I think he must have tuned it somehow. This was a Malaysian rider.

I have had it up at 132 kph up north on a long deserted stretch just to see what it could do with me on it and thats fine for me.
I normally cruise comfortably on highways between 90-110 kph anyway and the upright seating position along with no noteable windscreen (That little thing on the front doesnt offer any protection from the wind) or fairing on this bike means that it starts to get too windy above that, so thats natures way of telling me to slow it down to where its comfortable.

Power comes on smoothly until 7000 RPMs where it starts to pick up all the way up to 11000.
0-100 kph is achieved in 9.2 secs and it goes very easily up to 125 kph with me on it.

Like I wrote above, the gearing is a bit low for my taste in the first few gears, but I guess this bike was designed primarily as a city bike and there the gearing makes more sense.

With a 50 kg pillion on the back it came smoothly up Doi Inthanon, doing about 70 kph on the last stretch up to the parking lot.
A trip to Pai was effortless as well with same pillion.
Doi Mae Salong, Doi Ang Khan etc. alone was perfect.

All in all, Im pretty satisfied with my bike.
It might not suit everyones taste, nor fit everyones size.
But it fits me and Im liking it a lot.

 

[Lightemup]

For 2013, KTM offers the Duke 200 with ABS

There is one in the shop here in CNX
Pricetag: 249.000 Baht

 

[Lightemup]

Fuel economy is very good.
Tank takes 10.5 liter, 95 gasohol or gasoline.
The display normally gives me around 35-45 km per litre, although I have seen up to 65 km per litre on the display, I think that was a fluke.

In practical terms, that means over 300 km range on a tank of gas and riding with Phil up to Pai and back trip didnt require me to refuel in Pai, when I left with almost a full tank, that had gone 30 kms the previous evening after topping it up.
It is a very economical bike.....Well gas wise, not storeroom price wise.

 

[Captain_Slash]

Glad to hear you are still extremely happy with the bike Keld, it sounds like your ideal bike

 

[KTMphil]

Incredibly useful, thanks for taking the time to do this Keld.

 

[Changnoi1]

Thanks for your detailed report, it makes me having positive doubts again about the Duke.
I did test-ride it shortly in Udon Thani and it felt very good for the city but underpowered for the highway.
And I heard that there are some problems with the quality of the plastic & rubbers. And with the chain-guide. And there are reports about overheating.
People say in the 2013 (ABS) model some of this problems are fixed.

As I have short legs it is a bit too high for me. But it seems the only way to lower it, is changing the rear shock.
BTW it has a huge exhaust pipe that must weight at least 10kg .... maybe replace it with a nice aftermarket one?

Selling the 2013 ABS version for 250k I assume the 390 version will be about 350k .... Kanda is making a lot of money.

Chang Noi

 

[Changnoi1]

BTW .... I saw you mentioning the Pulsar 200 .... I saw them in Cambodia and it would not surprise me if the Duke 200 and the Pulsar 200 have much more in common as only the grips.

Chang Noi

 

[Ally]

Good info there lightemup, glad you are enjoying the bike.

Ally

 

[Lightemup]

Changnoi

Ref: the 390
KTM CNX would not give me firm price, but agreed with me that it would most likely be priced above 400k.
Remember KTM has positioned themselves as a luxury brand here.

Regarding the exhaust, might be that it is heavy and in my ears sounds like an angry tuk tuk.
But I don't think I will put another one on.
The dealer here has one that's fully modded and tricked out with a Scorpion exhaust.
Sounds like a completely different bike and one with a much bigger engine.
Don't think I will go that way myself, just keep the OEM one.

 

[KTMphil]

I'm being told, when released next month in India (June 13) EUR 1,500 registered in India.

Changnoi

Ref: the 390
KTM CNX would not give me firm price, but agreed with me that it would most likely be priced above 400k.
Remember KTM has positioned themselves as a luxury brand here.

Regarding the exhaust, might be that it is heavy and in my ears sounds like an angry tuk tuk.
But I don't think I will put another one on.
The dealer here has one that's fully modded and tricked out with a Scorpion exhaust.
Sounds like a completely different bike and one with a much bigger engine.
Don't think I will go that way myself, just keep the OEM one.

 

[Changnoi1]

In Cambodia I was told the Duke 390 would be about 7000us$ and would probably for sale July.
Not KTM, not the Thai tax-department but Kanda has positioned the KTM bikes as luxury brand here in Thailand.

Chang Noi

 

[Lightemup]

Who's Kanda?
if you mean Kunka Corp, then thats what I meant as they are the distributors here.

 

[Changnoi1]

You are right Kunda Corp is making it here an luxury brand here.
I really wonder if they would not make more money by selling volume, like Kawasaki and Honda. But TIT.

Chang Noi