KTM 390 Duke test: the A2 license with class and without restraint
The KTM 390 Duke launched in 2013 evolves at the same time as its little sister 125, with which it shares a lot: look, cycle part, equipment … On the engine side, the KTM roadster intended for A2 licenses complies with the Euro 4 standard but do not deflate. Test !
390 Duke test page 1 – The KTM roadster for A2 license
Released two years after the 125, the 390 Duke benefits from the changeover to the year 2017 – and especially the Euro4 emissions standard! – to evolve on many levels, like his little sister. Because like the first, this second generation of brothers Duke sisters is akin to real twins !
- MNC 125 Duke test :
- MNC Videos :
These two motorcycles indeed share the same tubular steel frame, the same engine architecture, the same state-of-the-art fittings, the same cladding cut with a bill hook by the design agency Kiska, the same orange and white colors … come out of the same factory in India: that of the shareholder and partner of KTM, Bajaj !
The "copy and paste" is not limited to machines moreover: the overwhelming majority of the commercial argument stated on the official site of KTM in France is also preserved, to the comma! We will come back in our essay to the rare differences…
"You will never find a better motorcycle investment", challenges KTM on the web page of its new 390 cc roadster (373.2 cc exactly, see the technical sheet on the last page). Would spending 5,590 euros for a "big 125 made in India" be such a good plan? This is what Site will try to verify…
The Mattighofen firm invited MNC to the worldwide press presentation of its two entry-level products: on the one hand the "mini" Duke 125 intended for holders of A1 or B licenses (15 hp max therefore), and on the other the "small" Duke 390 voluntarily limited to 44 hp in order to respect the maximum power / weight ratio authorized for (0.2 kW / kg).
- MNC special file :
"Our new 390 Duke weighs a little heavier than the old one (149 kg dry against 139 according to the manufacturer’s technical sheets, Editor’s note) so that it is no longer necessary to restrict the engine to 41 horses to enter in the European nails ", specifies Luke Brackenbury, press manager KTM.
This greatly simplifies the life of young bikers – and that of the not so young who are also starting out, since access to the A "Full" license after 24 years was skipped last summer – when buying their 390 Duke, but also when they decide to part with it! But back to our essay…
After a short ride on the 125 Duke, MNC jumps on the controls – scrupulously identical, too – of the 390 Duke. The rain still falls heavily on the roof of the "Lingoto" in Turin (former FIAT factory) where we are….
But with the first rotation of the handle, the drops are evacuated from our thoughts and ejected from our visor. Not crazy, the Austrians made us test the 15 horsepower motorcycle before the 44, so that the latter seems devilishly more efficient. !
"In Asia, it’s the 390 Duke that motorcyclists nickname the ‘beast’ of KTM, not the!", One of the staff assured us the day before our test. And we must admit that after having tirelessly whipped the 15 ponies of the "mini" Duke, having a stable of 44 canassons is invigorating … Avanti on next page !
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