The KTM 390 Duke has been finally introduced in the Indian auto market amid great buzz. The much awaited model has been equipped with a 375 cc engine and is expected to completely stir the 250-400 cc segment of India. Industry experts are of a view that the recently introduced bike has been packed with a performance oriented engine, which makes this bike a real fun to ride.
Interestingly, the 2013 KTM 390 Duke is much identical to the 125 cc and 200 cc models, with a noticeable change being the decals, orange paint of KTM on the alloy wheels and trellis frame. The model has been equipped with a 4-stroke water-cooled single cylinder engine, which has a displacement of 373 cc. The maximum power produced by this motors measures at 44 bhp along with a peak torque of 35 Nm. Owning to its Bosch EFI fuel injection system, this bike delivers an astounding fuel economy. With its six-speed gearbox, which offers smooth and hassle free shifts between the gears, the KTM 390 Duke easily glides from 0-100 kmph within just 5 to 6 seconds, clocking a top speed of almost 160 kmph.
It must be noted that the KTM 390 Duke and KTM 200 Duke are sharing few components, which will help the auto maker in maintaining the cost of both the models. The Research and Development Manager for KTM, Sebastian Sekira commented that the chassis of KTM Duke 200 is more capable of handling heavy loads. Therefore, the company required minor tweaks in its chassis to use it for the development of 390 Duke. Also, both KTM 200 and 390 shares the same trellis frames and have 43 mm upside down forks suspension system at the front, while direct mount monoshock at the rear. However, both the models have different settings for their suspensions.
Reportedly, the engine of newly launched KTM 390 is similar to the 200's and both the models share gearbox and crankcase; however the gear ratios of 390 are different. With all these shared components, industry experts are of a view that the Austrian bike manufacturer has not invested much in the development of Duke 390. Also, since a number of components of the new bike are shared from the KTM Duke 200, its price is also expected to be close to the latter.
