Reviews

6691 Views 22 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Geoff, Apr 7, 2019

Itakemoney

Discussion Starter · Oct 26, 2018

Can you guys get off your bikes long enough to give some reviews. I cant wait to get one. A duke that is. Ride safe.

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

anotheronetoday

· #2 · Oct 26, 2018

there are many professional reviews available on the web not sure there is much more any of us could add
it's a great bike

However help with options, upgrades and mods is where this forum can help further than the printed reviews

Have you ordered yours yet?

Itakemoney

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 27, 2018

anotheronetoday said:
there are many professional reviews available on the web not sure there is much more any of us could add
it's a great bike

However help with options, upgrades and mods is where this forum can help further than the printed reviews

Have you ordered yours yet?

Ya I’ve read every review i can find. I keep learning more. I cant afford more than one motorcycle. I have one to sell in the spring.

anotheronetoday

· #4 · Oct 27, 2018

Itakemoney said:
Ya I’ve read every review i can find. I keep learning more. I cant afford more than one motorcycle. I have one to sell in the spring.

If you live in the northern hemisphere winter is coming as they say.
we are already seeing used bikes come onto the market and next spring the choice will be greater

AMatu

· #5 · Oct 31, 2018

Itakemoney said:
Can you guys get off your bikes long enough to give some reviews. I cant wait to get one. A duke that is. Ride safe.

There is some stuff the reviewers miss, most of them dont live with the bikes neither do they take the bike thru all aspects of motorcycling. I’m putting my bike to sleep in November and will make a long term 10tkm review. I will put the link out here for all you guys, at least for good laughs 😄

anotheronetoday

· #6 · Oct 31, 2018

hope she sleeps well

AMatu

· #7 · Oct 31, 2018

anotheronetoday said:
hope she sleeps well

Thx brother!

DukeNukem

· #8 · Nov 2, 2018

Itakemoney said:
Can you guys get off your bikes long enough to give some reviews. I cant wait to get one. A duke that is. Ride safe.

I would wait until they have sorted out the teething issues before parting with your hard earned cash. As the KTM warranty is not worth the paper it is printed on!
They will jerk you around for months, and then deny there is an issue!
Then send you an email, telling how to circumvent the problem....... but not resolve it.
TBH The majority of times they don't even reply to your emails.

yaMan

· #9 · Nov 2, 2018

there's a lot of praise for this bike on the interwebs and I think it's very much worth it, however, using the bike daily people like members of this forum can provide valuable feedback not found in pro reviews. my two cents:
+ fun engine with great noise, love it
+ light, combined with good power
+ coming from 390, everything is better

(power, finish, noise, dash)
+ quickshifter is fun thing to have
but from practical point of view, i don't like these:
- in wet, you will be dirty from the road ... the mud guard on the back is not sufficient (I don't get it how this is tolerated on modern bikes :-D)
- town / low speed travel on bumpy road is irritating, rain mode helps, but still ... throttle is twitchy
- while fuel consumption is good, tank is only 14 liters which is good for around 220 kms, then the light comes on
- no wind protection. this is to be expected on the naked bike and can be sorted with accessories

so all in all, it's not the most practical bike in the world but i believe it can be overlooked / fixed with accessories and the positives are well worth it.
ride safe

yaMan

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anotheronetoday

· #10 · Nov 2, 2018

+ fun engine with great noise, love it AGREE
+ light, combined with good power AGREE
+ coming from 390, everything is better

(power, finish, noise, dash) its better but I love 390's too
+ quickshifter is fun thing to have very true
but from practical point of view, i don't like these:
- in wet, you will be dirty from the road ... the mud guard on the back is not sufficient (I don't get it how this is tolerated on modern bikes :-D) I fitted extension front and back which helps, but still allows a lot of road **** to cover you and the bike
- town / low speed travel on bumpy road is irritating, rain mode helps, but still ... throttle is twitchy coober fixes this completely
- while fuel consumption is good, tank is only 14 liters which is good for around 220 kms, then the light comes on, In normal riding I get 70MPG which is over 300 kilometer
- no wind protection. this is to be expected on the naked bike and can be sorted with accessories still hoping the pp screen will reduce a little

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Itakemoney

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 3, 2018

Teething issues?

DukeNukem

· #12 · Nov 3, 2018

Itakemoney said:
Teething issues?

Coolant loss every ride.

Overheating
Fan continuously running.

Bad quality plastic mouldings.
Difficulty finding neutral when hot.

Personally I would not buy one until the 2019 revision comes out!

anotheronetoday

· #13 · Nov 3, 2018

how many miles have you done if you have had all these problems you have been very unlucky?

for me after dealer changed thermostat under a recall I had leak from a lose coolent hose, not bike fault.

we had a very hot summer in uk this year and I rode both in heavy traffic and fast riding the only time my fan cut in was very slow riding and no over heating.

plastics are ok, worst part is black plastic on tank front.

neutral I had this problem but I found that after adjusting clutch cable it improved significantly,

Itakemoney

Discussion Starter · #14 · Nov 3, 2018

DukeNukem said:
Itakemoney said:

Teething issues?

Click to expand...

Coolant loss every ride.

Overheating
Fan continuously running.

Bad quality plastic mouldings.
Difficulty finding neutral when hot

Personally I would not buy one until the 2019 revision comes out!

Sounds really annoying.
Thx for the info

DukeNukem

· #15 · Nov 4, 2018

anotheronetoday said:
if you have had all these problems you have been very unlucky?

Sounds like one of my many replies from KTM.
You don't work for KTM do you?

All been logged with dealer and KTM CS, still unresolved

DukeNukem

· #16 · Nov 4, 2018

Itakemoney said:
Sounds really annoying.
Thx for the info

No problems, I'd hate another prospective owner to have the issues, I have had to deal with.

KTM Customer Service are the worst, they treat their customers like ....?

IMHO the 24 month warranty is worthless, they invent disclaimers on the fly to suit the issue!

anotheronetoday

· #17 · Nov 4, 2018

DukeNukem said:
Sounds like one of my many replies from KTM.
You don't work for KTM do you?

All been logged with dealer and KTM CS, still unresolved

I have no affiliation with KTM however I have purchased 9 KTM bikes over the last 3 years 7 new 2 used so I think I have a lot of direct experience

1290GT NEW ( the only issue I had was software crashed once and needed resetting) exchanged for New 2018 1290R no problems so far

390 USED 2014 No Problems exchanged for NEW 2018 390 no problems

125 USED only failure fan packed up after 3 years fixed myself

125 NEW 2017 issue oil warning light came on frequently replaced by KTM with a another NEW 125 2018 only failure is PP parts have faded replaced under warranty

690 New exhuast weld cracked after 2000 miles replaced exhuast no issue exchanged for a NEW 790 only issue so far leak from coolent hose after thermostat was replaced as a recall

So you can see I have owned a lot of bikes and I have had a few issues all resolved by the dealer. Sometimes it took longer than I wished but it was dealt with.

so are KTM perfect no
but they make a lot of fun bikes

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owl

· #18 · Nov 4, 2018

You can end up with a lemon from any manufacturer, dems the breaks.

It sounds like your dealer is s**t, maybe try another if you can.

Only issue I’ve had so far is tank drainage pipe was blocked.

I checked with KTM and there’s no recalls on my vin

DukeNukem

· #19 · Nov 4, 2018

owl said:
You can end up with a lemon from any manufacturer, dems the breaks.

It sounds like your dealer is s**t, maybe try another if you can.

Certainly true, I have a lemon!

anotheronetoday

· #20 · Nov 4, 2018

DukeNukem said:
Certainly true, I have a lemon!

if you read my post I got my dealer to change a new Duke 125 due to problems. so it can be done

in fact I got triumph to change my speed triple after 6 months as the engine casing was porous and leaking oil and required full engine rebuild with new casings

Mercedes changed my C270 after 8 months as it did not last more than 2 weeks between garage visits

GM changed my Mini van after 8 months due to almost everything failing

So with determination I have always had lemons changed, I am sorry that such a great bike has given you such a bad experience.

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