The ride wasn't for anything extraordinary. Well, on second thoughts, it was. By a long shot too! It was John's farewell get-together. He was leaving NCR to join Deloitte in Hi-Tech City Hyderabad. And we had to get together to have a heave-ho to our hunk in flesh and blood. We had to decide on a venue and quick. Since Gyan, aka Fukku, aka the fall guy couldn't make it to Delhi, we decided to head to Panipat instead.
The date was fixed for 29th March - Good Friday. And what a Friday it was for me!! Hallelujah! I was supposed to take my recently piston-replaced P200 for a running-in ride. Out of nowhere Pravin called up asking me to take his spanking new, 99 km run KTM Duke 200! He wanted some kilometers added to the odometer and reduce the running in time. I bet he is itching to let the rev counter sing all its way to glorious 11k rpm!
I couldn't say no to such a sumptuous offer. Pravin was to ride to Panipat with me initially, but due to his exigencies at home couldn't. I gladly accepted his offer and told him I would collect the Duke from him on Friday evening.
Friday evening came and I went to collect the Duke from Pravin's place. It was 98.9 km on tripmeter 1 when I took the bike out of Pravin's garage. Pulse high, I turned on the ignition and the "Ready to Race" display came on the all-digital console and then stabbed on the starter switch. The Duke came to life with its signature muffled sound, which made the engine sound as if it were running faster than the idling 1200 rpm. The next 50 km through Gurgaon roads, towards Dhaula Kuan and then on through towards Mukarba Chowk gave some feedback right away:
Is it fast ? Oh yes! Bloody fast! Let me put it this way - The Duke 200 is like a slingshot at red lights. Even with the revs limited to a measly 5k rpm, it was fastest off the block and managed to get a good 100 odd meter head start from all other vehicles combined. Yes, that includes a RTR 180 too. It was only when I touched the legal 60 kmph that the others managed to catch up with the Duke.
Is it comfy? Yes. In a sort of contrasting way. The suspension is hard, the seats are edgy, the foot-pegs are rear-set. But the seating posture, the wide hydro-formed handle bar, the knee hugging recesses on the tank panel all make it a much less taxing bike to ride.
Is it maneuverable? Oh yes! The Duke is a very very flickable bike. I managed to change directions so fast that I myself was surprised at the stability and confidence that it offered me. I could never manage those kind of sharp flicks on my p200. The low cg and kerb weight really helps here.
Are the brakes good? Hell yeah! Absolutely great feedback and stopping power from the rear disc, not to mention the very very very capable front disc. The only pair of brakes I found comparable/better so far are on Gyan's CBR.
After hitting NH1 I was able to get a taste of the Duke's highway habits. It does 70 kmph at 5000 rpm, as against the 80 kmph that the CBR 250R manages to do at 5k rpm. Put it on the short gearing that makes the Duke such an urgent bike. There's so much of torque available on tap that the Duke manages to pull away cleanly from as low as 2.5 k rpm in any gear. Period. I managed to slow down the bike to 37 kmph (around 2.8 k rpm) in the 6th cog without any hint of knocking or sputtering, and then without any shifts managed to take it right up to 70 kmph. Even the CBR cannot go below 4.5k rpm in the sixth gear. I kept wondering why such torque was left untapped and under-exploited. The Duke could have easily managed a much taller 6th gear. But then that's probably because the bike is designed to be a jump-starter and a sprinter rather than a tourer.
Darkness came in after a while and I had to turn on the lights, and with my shades on I had no issues getting a good view of the road ahead. For all thinking what I do with shades during evening/night rides- I have an open face helmet with the visor stuck in the up position. Its not really a good feeling getting all those evening tiny weenie insects flying straight into your eyes. I managed to do about 12 km without the shades at one stretch and I must say that the headlights are pretty damn good. The headlights are pretty damn good. Yes I know its a repeat.
Its not easy to judge a bike during the running in period. There's only so much you can play in between 2k and 5k rpm. But the way the Duke manages to jump the tacho, I have no doubts that one will hit the rev limiter in no time. The digital console offers a plethora of information apart from the usual tacho, odo, speedo, trip, fuel and temp. There's a clock, time run, average speed, average fuel consumption, distance to empty, distance to next service and god knows what else. I could manage only this much info. Maybe a read of the manual would help in getting to learn more. One more thing : the speedo and tacho are really sensitive. Every minute variations are picked up.
The best stretch on the trip is the 9 odd km Panipat Elevated Highway and I managed to enjoy it the fullest. Starting with a modest 50 kmph , and then going up to 70 kmph is a good feeling on the Duke, especially with the kind of fast sprints that the bike manages to do from slow speeds. I was just left wondering if the Duke 200 is such a cracker, what would the Duke 390 have in store for us?
Kenny was waiting for me at the Panipat refinery turn and was expecting the twin pilot lamps of my p200. His face was a sight to see when he saw me riding up to him on the Duke. I couldn't help laughing out aloud when I stopped the bike in front of him. It took a while for me to subside!
The ride with a pillion also brought out some other feedback on the Duke. The bike is not hesitant with a pillion on and doesn't lose out on its character when its laden. Gyan had been on the lookout for us and he could hear a new noise coming in and his instincts told him that a new bike was on his turf. He too was agape when he saw the KTM being ridden in and more so with me as the rider! With the excited talks subsiding when I summed it up with "Its one crazy KTM. No two ways about it." we headed to Gyan's huge and disorienting apartment to finally let some scotch cool some of the excitement. Finally, John joined us and the scotch got over around 2 AM. Even then we all went downstairs to the garage to gawk at the bike some more. Even John had great comments about the Duke. Surprising, since he doesn't have great opinion about 'plastic' bikes and this earns the Duke extra laurels.
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| The KTM on prowl in Panipat refinery township |
The KTM keys were safely tucked with me. Kenny couldn't resist and eventually called up Pravin the next day to let him ride the KTM for a while. He had a go at it the next morning and was all smiles. Proof attached. I'll let Kenny comment on what his views are.
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| Smiley Kenny |
I washed up the KTM after rides within the refinery township premises, which lasted for about an hour, and we went back to beers over some football.
The next day I and Kenny pushed off in our respective directions. I dropped Kenny at the bus stand where he caught a bus to Ludhiana and I gunned the bike ( Pravin, don't worry, it was all within 5k rpm!! and with love!! ) towards Delhi. Managed to turn quite a few heads, boys and girls alike, bikes and cars alike.
The ride back was uneventful with me trying to relish the bike before handing it over to its dear owner. All I can say - thanks Pravin man. You are the dude. I had an absolutely awesome ride on your mean machine.
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| The Duke on NH 1 |
Did I get a 'fuzzy' feeling behind my crotch? Yes I did. All the time, all the way.
Did I have goose bumps at the turns? Yes I did.
Am I anticipating the Duke 390? U bet I do!
Its a Kracker KTM!!
Oh! and Gyan, please get a better sunscreen.
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| I'm two shades of brown after the ride back |
