A very good question. You've touched a raw point with me! I am not an expert and have no experience of KTMs and when I took the plunge and bought one of the first RC390's to arrive in the UK last month I got the feeling on my limited research that a lot of the off road competition bikes are always breaking down (the guy who services my bikes told me that) and I read somewhere that nobody seems to be doing longterm reviews on KTMS (post honeymoon!) I am doing as thorough reviews as I can on my YouTube channel (have posted the first two here today) but time will tell regarding build quality and engine reliability. As you will know the engine is exactly the same as the well established Duke 390 and there are lots of reviews from India where the bike is commonplace. To my simple mind my previous Honda CBR 250R is made in Thailand, the KTM is made in India with its Dutch quality control guys in India, Honda are renowned for their reliability, KTM is hungry to become a big global player - lets hope they are factoring in quality to their reputation. Certainly the bike looks as though it is well put together and feels solid enough. I find it scary (being an older rider brought up on British bikes) that these high revving state of the art engines have "coatings" on the pistons etc. When yo mention the word coating to me I tend to think in microns like a layer of film! fingers crossed as the bike is such a stunning looker.
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guzz46
New Member
It should be reliable, it's in a lower state of tune compared to a dirt bike engine like the one in the KTM 350SXF, which is about 25cc smaller yet has about 10 horsepower more.Singles can be very reliable, the Honda XR's have a very good reputation, and my husky 2008 SM610 has done about 22,000 kms and all I've had done to it was a new cam chain when it hit the 20,000 km mark (the 610's are known to go through cam chains though) it was quite reasonable, and according to the mechanic being a single cylinder it was very easy to replace.I wouldn't compare it to the engine in a KTM MX bike, they're race bikes.
VAG944
New Member
I guess the best person to ask my question would be Jezer ( love your video), is the engine hard to start when it's hot? I know MX bikes can be and heard this might be the case, you mention it in passing that it runs hot during the video, can you confirm!?!
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I would expect KTM and Bajaj motors are keeping close attention to quality control if they are bringing the RC390/Duke to the US. They know what they are up against in the long run. I've owned KTM dirt bikes in the past and have never had any mechanical issues with them at all. I am more concerned about the dealer network and immediate parts availability in the US.
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Treachery
Moderator
Parts availability I can't speak to. NC has I think eight KTM dealers, the closest being an hour away. I'm used to that, being a BMW guy.
The big thing to me is parts. I campaigned an Aprilia RS250 Cup bike years ago and had to give it up because of the fact that Aprilia could not get parts to the dealers in a timely manner. I have found that getting parts for KTM dirt bikes is not that big of a deal in the US but not as easy as say Honda.
Good to hear. I had a Husky 450 SMR and loved the thing. Ripped and supermoto raced it, tracked it and killed sport bikes in the canyons. However the motor popped and yes I maintained it. Come to find out Husky motors were know for that.
Had suspension work done with a local tuner heavy into motocross and supermoto and he said "If the Husky is running? Sell it before the motor pops" Several friends had 510 SMR and all had the same issue with engines.
Very much liking the 390 but wanting reliability as well.
Thanks guys
Had suspension work done with a local tuner heavy into motocross and supermoto and he said "If the Husky is running? Sell it before the motor pops" Several friends had 510 SMR and all had the same issue with engines.
Very much liking the 390 but wanting reliability as well.
Thanks guys
B7ACKTHORN
Member
D390's quality when compared to Husky is chalk and cheese. Having been owned the D390, I can vouch personally the quality of most of the components are fairly not upto the mark. The stuff is high-tech, yes, but cheaply done, cheaply finished, it adds to the bling factor, and that's about it. Consider it as a disposable razor, shave as much as you can, and dispose it off, if you don't, well, you get nicks. This is purely my opinion on a brand new 2014 Duke 390. I just hope Bajaj-KTM invests some quality QC time in improving their products.
I still think there's a lot of lessons left to be learnt for both Bajaj and KTM in improving their products. I hope they understand it's not just about mass-produced, volume oriented products, but something that's equally reliable and trouble free, at least for the first 5000 KMS, and not before that.
I still think there's a lot of lessons left to be learnt for both Bajaj and KTM in improving their products. I hope they understand it's not just about mass-produced, volume oriented products, but something that's equally reliable and trouble free, at least for the first 5000 KMS, and not before that.
Treachery
Moderator
So, for the sake of discussion, let me see if I understand: You're saying that your impression of the quality of the 390 Duke falls short of the Husqvarna? Could you elaborate as to which components are sub-par? How long did you own the little Duke? Engine issues? Others? Thx!
B7ACKTHORN
Member
The Duke when launched had such an immense success, it almost took the Indian motorcycling arena by storm. Everyone who was looking for a performance motorcycle at an affordable price, were so eager to get their hands on an Indian made machine, mainly with service availability backed by Bajaj it seemed a viable option.
But just after a few thousand units were sold, almost immediately Indian forums were flooded with too many problems reported by users, though they weren't substantial considering a ground up work bike, repetition of the issue is where it almost stinged and painfully for customers.
Waiting for almost a year to get the issues resolved I was eager to book myself a 390 (still skeptical) because it still is a Bajaj, at the end of the day.
Apart from forums flooded with issues like weeping head gasket, leaking coolant O ring, busted fork oil seals, speedo console going kaput, ABS sensor getting screwed up, rear suspension bottoming out due to a piston issue inside the shock, too many to digest, though all these issues were either present in 3 out of 10 bikes sold. Though most were covered by warranty it still stings to have issues like this in a KTM. Mind you all these issues were less than 5k kms on the odo.
Though I haven't ridden the Husky, I've had quite a few opportunities to ride bikes like the SXF 250 and experience the RC1190, the build quality, fit and finish of what KTM offers here in India to Austrian made stuff is literally light years away.
I will reiterate my personal opinions here.
On a scale of 1 to 10
Forks 7.5/10 (Crap quality stinky fork oil used, and poor quality fork oil seals)
Chassis 8.5/10 ( Paint quality not upto the mark, you can see some touch up and flat spots, buffering? I don't know, but I don't like it)
Tyres 10/10
Switchgear 4/10 (too cheap to begin with, again Bajaj parts bin)
Grips 2/10 (Bajaj crap here)
9.5/10 Headlamps (Gernan stuff, and beam throw is excellent)
5.5/10 (Plastic components used on the bike throughout, don;t seem they're well built)
3/10 (quality of rubber components used on the bike right from license plate holder to overall rubber damper and bushings worse on the Duke)
3/10 (Totally cheap levers, could of have used forged ones)
8/10 ABS
5/10 Brakes (Though Brembo collaboration, brake calipers look cheap and hand casted both front and rear, if you look at Brembo, Nissin and Tokico calipers you'll see how the finish is. Too cheap calipers, coupled with even cheaper squeaky brake pads) Bajaj parts bin, cheap crap again. Just that it has four pot, looks good in papers.
Alloys 7/10 (Bling factor included, earlier batches were notoriously prone to cracking or at least that was the case with quite a few owners, KTM said they have improved the alloy quality, on 2014 and above, that's yet to be seen. They ain't Marchesini, some cheap quality alloy manufactured in China.
Engine 9/10 ( Lord almightly knows hows the quality of the components used in the engine, but apart from leaky head gasket and leaky coolant O ring it was a blast. Would I trust this engine for quality? Hell, no.
5/10 Footpegs and rearsets and holders. Improperly finished cheap cast materials, won't even last a single fall with a hefty rider. (KTM has mentioned they are using forged on the RC series rather than cast on the D390. Why KTM why?
I've owned the bike for less than 9 months, my bike had its rear shocker changed (leaky rear suspension), leaky coolant O ring (sealed with paste, since they didn't have the O ring) speedometer console changed (water seeping in) left hand side switch gear changed (faulty hi/low switch)
Coupled with vibrations near the tank area, I've stripped the bike to bare bones myself to find out where, still that buzzing annoying noise (Oh please don't say it's a single and it's in its genes)
Front brake squeaked, squealed, removed the caliper, sand papered all the edges, de greased, voila it happens again (Poor quality stuff again, all over)
All these were less than 1500 KMS on the odo, I am the type who has a keen eye for how things are put together, how they work and how they work in tandem with one another. I had my hopes set high for this motorcycle, but it proved too bad for my taste.
I loved the handling, the tyres (amazing stuff) the engine pull, the attraction, the bling factor, turning heads, I can go on and on, but all these won't matter, if you know she isn't gonna last as you'd want her to.
These are my humble opinions of my KTM Duke 390 not the RC, having been owned for six months, riding less than 1500 kays on the odo.
Bottomline:
Would I suggest you to buy this bike? If you're a long termer like me, NO. If you're looking for fun, disposable bikes, then this is the one for you.
How long would it last in general, or what kays I can ride before I dunk it? Well, it depends, I for one would suggest a 30k max, that is if you're a real good care taker of the bike. Don't even -- ever consider that'd you'd get the kays you get out of a Jap. Well, if someone does, good for you.
Will it turn heads? No questions, she sure would.
Regards
VJ
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Treachery
Moderator
Thanks for the very detailed report! For the sake of ease of posting going forward, I'll respond over at your other thread- The Monkey and the Banana.
