KTM 390 DUKE
THIS MONTH I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN… “Going for a thrash on track.”
Loading up last month’s mag and seeing everyone spanking around Brands made me more than a little bit jealous. My steed was now a month old and hadn’t seen a race track… how on earth did I let this happen? Well, without even a single added horsepower to be seen I took the old 390 round the infamous Indy circuit to see how it faired…
Truth of the matter? Okay, she was a laugh but not massively suitable – even though I didn’t really expect wonders. On track is where you really feel the capabilities of a machine, and especially the difference between the Duke and the (racier) RC as the little naked just doesn’t feel as comfortable on the old knee-down flat-out hype like its fully-faired brother, being more suited to silly wheelies and going sideways into a roundabout. Saying that, it held up well enough for me to end the day with a smile on my face, but then unless you leave with your bike in bits it’s hard not to!
Besides the lack of power and obvious nervousness from weighing the same as one of my nuts, the one thing that really struck me was the tyres. There’s been well over a dozen times now where the rear has let go pretty unexpectedly and on track it was no different; struggling to handle all 43 of those horses over unpredictable and cold tarmac. Okay, they aren’t so much a problem when riding normally, but if you’re knobbing about – I’d definitely recommend some top quality rubber.
So the first change to my termer? A new set of boots! And Michelin Power RSs at that. I went for these as I just needed that bit more confidence when pushing on, and I’ve heard some awesome things about these, especially on low capacity machines; and so far they really have delivered.
In all honesty I wish I would’ve stuck them on sooner now – they heat up incredibly quickly and can easily handle whatever I throw at them, which is pretty important when you accidentally crack out the odd burnout or two following a drifting session.
The problem is, however, the little KTM is now definitely under powered. It’s got the running shoes and it just needs the legs, which is why in the next few weeks I’m really going to show the KTM some love – with a new slip on and some crash protection. Before that though I promise I’ll get her dyno’ed – we need to see howmuch we can get out of the little Duke for all those cursed with the same dreaded A2 limitations I am.