KTM 390 Duke Officially Unveiled

on November 14, 2012

KTM has officially lifted off the covers from the 390 Duke at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan, Italy. Details of this latest pocket rocket from KTM are already out but it won’t hurt to go through them once again. The 390 Duke is powered by a 373 cc, 4-stroke, single-cylinder, 4-valve, liquid-cooled DOHC engine which produces a peak power output of 43 BHP at 9500 RPM and peak torque output of 35 Nm at 7250 RPM. Fuel delivery is done by a Bosch Fuel Injection system and the KTM 390 Duke is definitely going to be a bigger racket than the Duke 200.

Read The KTM Duke 200 Review

In order to cut costs down and price the 390 Duke aggressively, KTM has shared most of the parts with the Duke 200. Thus the 390 Duke features 43 mm, WP upside down forks at the front and WP monoshock at the rear. The front brakes are 300 mm disc with 4-piston caliper (Duke 200 has 2-piston caliper) while the rear features 230 mm disc. The front tyre is 110/70/17 and the rear tyre is 150/60/17. The 390 Duke features a steel trellis frame and as you guessed it right, everything is identical to the Duke 200. Even the wheelbase is identical at 1367 mm but the 390 Duke weighs 139 kgs (engine weighs just 36 kgs), which is 14 kgs more than the Duke 200′s dry weight.

The KTM 390 Duke also boasts of forged piston, force fed lubrication with crank case evacuation, low rolling resistance crank shaft and NikaSil coated cylinder. With a low weight and that much power, the KTM 390 Duke offers a splendid power to weight ratio of 316 PS per tonne. This will enable the 390 Duke to reach 100 km/hr in under 7 seconds, with the top speed being around 170 km/hr. The Bajaj Pulsar 375 will share many of its parts with the Duke 390, with the engine being one of them. Just like the Duke 390 is similar in hardware to the Duke 200, the Pulsar 375 will be identical to the Pulsar 200 NS in most regards, except of-course the engine.

With both the 390 Duke and Duke 200 looking identical, KTM will definitely try to differentiate both these motorcycles with color options. The Duke 390 will be offered with the frame being finished in orange and ABS will be offered as an option which can be turned off (for stunting). Other not so minute differences include a lower seat by 5 mm and an increased ground clearance by 5 mm. Bajaj Auto will be manufacturing the 390 Duke at its Chakan manufacturing plant near Pune, which will enable a very aggressive price tag. Expect the KTM 390 Duke to be priced at around Rs. 2 lakhs.