15/16 vs the 2017/18 RC 390

[Old3]

Ex first gen RC 390 owner. I modded that one with brakes and suspension, tuner etc to get a pretty good lil sport bike. Still, I had a R3 that was bone stock that was just a better street bike, zero mods.

Anyway, the local dealer is blowing out 2017 RC/Dukes and the price caught my eye. So, researching this n that, 320 rotor like I did to my 15. Good.

FBW throttle, did this do enough to smooth out the fueling to be able to skip a piggyback tuner? I know it wont be a twin, but did it get as smooth as some video testers claimed?

Suspension. I see new pn listed for the shock and forks, and HD forks on the Duke. My stock RC was terrible, wallowy and zero damping out back. forks had incredible stiction and again, very little damping action.

I appreciate any feedback from those who have ridden both generations.

And any hints of a new generation RC390 for 2019?

 

[SWdragon]

I haven't ridden the new generation, but like you I have a 2015 RC390 with suspension, exhaust, chad dyno, etc... ride on the street and love the bike. But if I were to due it again I get the duke as my 57 year old body aches after a 180 mile ride (typical loop I ride) on the RC. I may this winter covert it to a handlebar.

On a different note, I just recently picked up a new leftover 2017 SV650 for $6295.00 tax, title everything out the door. Love the motor and the way it handles, but seat is worst seat ever, a Dale Walker/Corbin seat is on the way and handlebar was to high and narrow. I fitted a Renthal ultra low, perfect.

 

[Drstimpy]

My 2017 needed a shock immediately. Fork not too bad out of box but a little under sprung for me.


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[Chuditch]

I have a 2017 RC and yes if I had to do it again I would have bought a ninja 400, or a bigger bike as where I live the RC is classed as a beginner bike under the leaner approved motorcycle scheme (schedule?) LAMS for short. That said, I bought it for much less than the comparable offerings from the big Japanese names, after about $3000 worth of mods, bitubo fork kit, ohlins rear, airbox mod, cat delele, Chad's sweet PCV and map, slip on muffler... it owes me as much $ as the Ninja would, but not nearly as much as a restricted street triple. I am finally going for my open bike license after 20 years of being a little cheeky and riding all kinds of bikes unlicensed.

The fact that I could probably squeeze a few more horses out of it with an intake mod and larger injector kind of weighs on my mind. However, as it stands, it's probably good for a while as a street racer. I don't find the riding position that bad, but I am a pretty active tallish rangy 50+ who trains a lot of wrist and arm strength Martial arts kind of exercise. The ohlins rear raised the rear a little to fit my straddle, the stock suspension was almost a deal breaker for me,as I would easily weigh in as a heavyweight these days.

The good of the 2017, latest map is quite smooth from KTM, but not as smooth as a PCV from Chad. Slipper clutch is cool but not really necessary, ride by wire is excellent and the adjustable levers are good too.

If I could have two bikes I would keep the RC and buy an older Honda VFR for the daily.

 

[Old3]

I like the riding position of the RC, its the extra improvements on the Duke 390 that gets me thinking a new upgraded RC is coming for 2019.

 

[Falkon45]

I have a 2017. As a new rider with 0 experience other than a few days on a moped, I can say that the shock isn't confidence inspiring on bumpy roads (we have a lot of that, here). I like the fork, but wish it was adjustable, as I'm a hefty 240 lbs, and tend to nose dive a bit more during hard braking and downshifting. The brakes are great, although I can only really compare them to 203mm hydro brakes on a full squish mountain bike.

The throttle by wire is good, but seems a bit slow when shifting quickly. The shipper clutch saved me a ton when I started riding, as my downshifts were too low a gear at too high a speed. Lol.

 

[Old3]

Seems the RC is rotting on the vine for some reason. OEM parts list the OEM shock In the Duke is over $450, the RC around $250. Duke has "heavy duty" fork with seperate function in each of the legs in the parts fische, not the RC. New Duke frame, body work, tank, instruments, hmmm.

Still wonder if 2019 will bring a new RC.

 

[ia02]

The good of the 2017, latest map is quite smooth from KTM, but not as smooth as a PCV from Chad. Slipper clutch is cool but not really necessary, ride by wire is excellent and the adjustable levers are good too.

Has a new map for the stock 2017 bikes been released? Or are you saying the 2017 map is better than the 14-16 map? My 17 is still pretty twitchy around town at low speeds...no complaints on the track though.

 

[John390]

to be honest, I have no real issues with mine. No I am not an advanced rider, but I am also not a total novice. After I tuned the rear spring preload, its not bad. The front is fine, but a bit under damped. I'd say thicker weight fork oil would make it pretty good for basically stock.

Tire pressures set correctly.

Drop the rear pegs and brackets associated wtih them.

As for smoothness, no its not that smooth at low rpms, but its ok. Its learnable and doable. With a RapidBike Evo, its instantly better, providing you tweak the map a bit. If not, ride it and it will get better.

Brakes are excellent for me.

Honestly I love riding it. yes I'd like a bit more power and am working on it. I'd really like it to sound better, but thats just how it goes with a single.

As for the R3 comparison, the R3 is a great little bike, but its outclassed by this or the Ninja 400 on a race track or really in the back roads/twisties. As well, the R3 is geared really low, so it revvs its butt off at hiway speeds.

I also think that the 2018 has changes not documented. My evidence is that the 2017 bikes need a work around in Torque to read rpm. My 2018 read rpm right off the bat, no tweaking, no screwing around.

There are also rumors that the head and head gasket are better on the newer bikes.

Oh, the fan on my bike doesn't have that shroud on the fan. its just a fan on the back of the rad. you can spin the blades by hand from the sides of it.

As for the new things for the 17 and 18, the adjustable levers are nice, the slipper clutch is great, and ride by wire is very cool, especially when combining it with a good tuner as things like compression braking can be tuned easily and in software. Great throttle response, simplicity and less maintenance.

I also wonder if 19 or 20 will show a complete re design with a 399cc engine of either a single or a twin. I'd love a narrow angle well balanced V twin to keep the bike narrow.

 

[Chuditch]

Has a new map for the stock 2017 bikes been released? Or are you saying the 2017 map is better than the 14-16 map? My 17 is still pretty twitchy around town at low speeds...no complaints on the track though.

Sorry for the late reply. I got my bike serviced for it's first run in service and the guys at the shop said that they needed to do a ECU map update. Riding it back home, prior to the PCV install, it was noticeably smoother and more responsive.

 

[ia02]

Very cool. I’ll have to check with my dealer to see if there is an updated map for my bike.

 

[John390]

mine was in last weekend, and they said I was on the latest map. I also waited to get it home before I put my piggyback in.