Duke 250 - Detailed Review after 5k kms
Tldr - How I came to bought D250, pros, cons and major issues I faced so far
This is gonna be a long post and my first review so bear with me guys.
After being a silent lurker on this sub for sometime and seeing people enjoying their rides decided to buy myself a bike as well. Initially I was leaning towards - Apache, Ninja 300 and something from RE. Dropped Apache after hearing about pathetic after sales service of TVS and Ninja 300 due to very low ground clearance and a little bit over the budget. Had a strong negative impression of KTM at first due to certain group of riders and it was never on the list.
I went to an RE showroom, sat on a few bikes and felt that they were very heavy for me and none of them felt in sync with me, asked few questions and the RE guys were super helpful and answered them all. On my way back saw a KTM showroom and said to myself why not take a peek inside. The new 2024 Duke 250, 390, Advs and couple of Huskies were on the display. I was instantly captivated by the design and looks of the Dukes and the orange colour kinda grew on me. The salesman told me they had a test ride bike and I could register for it, but having never ridden any bike before I was hesistant and opted out of the TD (dont be like me peeps, do take a TD before anything). Went back home and scrolled through various reviews on YT and this sub and instantly made the decision to buy it. Went back a couple of weeks later with my friend, did the paperwork and bought it and friend drove it home. Also got a fine ECE 22.06 helmet with it.
As I am doing WFH with a very limited commuting the bike served no pratical purpose then, but I bought it purely as a toy. Took my time with it, learned to ride on it, stalled it multiple times and even dropped it one time, now 5000 kms and 8 months later I feel like it was one of the best decision I took in 2024. The dual nature of bike resonates seamlessly with me. Under 5k rpm feels relaxed and I need not worry about going too fast in the city, above 6k mark behaves like a proper KTM bike with enough juice to take it upto 145ish.
Now coming to the key points -
Performance - The bike is forgiving to the new and inexperienced riders like myself and will behave in a very chilled manner as long as I keep it under 5-5.5k rpms. Above 6k pulls hard and reaches 9-9.5k rpm in no time. Mine runs the smoothest between 6.2-7k mark beyond that vibrations increase and can be felt at the handlebar , mirrors and right footpeg. I have topped it around 140 (didnt had the courage to take it beyond due to heavy windblasts).
Ride Quality and Handling - The bike may feel cramped for people above 5'10". Apart from it the seat feels fine and comfortable for city rides. On the highway one will need to take small breaks according to his riding appetite. The pillion seat is almost average but its too high for the elder members to climb. The handling is nimble, responsive and superb on city and twisties. The bike feels very stable at higher speeds and the brakes do their job very well and give you the confidence to go even faster. Suspension is on a stiffer side and absorbs small bumps and potholes fine but you need to watch out for the bigger ones. The throttle is as responsive as it can be.
Fuel Efficiency - It depends on the riding style. In the city I have seen around 26 kmpl with a very aggresive riding and max of 33 kmpl with a very relaxed riding. While on the highways I have got a max of 43kmpl.
Maintainance - Got the first service done at 1000kms which costed me ~ 1900. Apart from that I wash the bike atleast once a month and lube and clean the chain every ~600 kms. Got my front brake pads changed after 4k kms.
Build Quality and Features - Quality of materials used is good, and the plastics parts used are thick however I found some slight issues in the finishing here and there. The rear fender is very slightly disalligned when we take a closer look. Some wires also pop up on the left side behind the handlebar which need to be covered while washing. The 15L fuel tank is great and so is the LCD display. It shows most of the info needed clearly. The bi directionzl quickshifter works well at higher rpms but feels clunky at lower band. There is a type - C charger located just below the display.
Pros -
The bike is definetly a looker. On top of that I have retrofitted the drls. Good handling, braking and engine makes me smile when I rev it beyond 5k amrk. Quickshifter and a big fuel tank Any spares are readily available across the SCs.
Cons -
The headlight feels very bad, almost non existant at night. Need to rely on the street lights to lookout for the potholes. Due to sharp design there are some places near fuel tank and on the back which are a little difficult to clean with the cloth. Priced a bit on the higher side. I got mine for 2.8L on road, now there are multiple options available in this range - Speed 400, Gorilla, etc.. Dont know why but the 2nd gear has almost no torque in the low end. In heavy traffic I am more comfortable accelrating from 3rd gear rather than the 2nd.
Major Problems I faced so far -
Bike had a warning light blinker on the whole time, even after flashing the ECU multiple times. The date used to get changed to default one and that warning light used to come on the next day. It got resolved automatically after flashing ECU sometime after 1500 kms. Every 1/3 times the bikes takes multiple tries to start in the winter and 1/7 times in the summer, will get it checked in the second service. Sometimes while downshifting it comes directly from 3rd gear into neutral (idk why).
It has been a great and a fun machine over the last 5000 kms. So if you are looking for a good performance bike for the beginer and have some money to spare you can go for the D250. Just make sure to take the TD just to get the feel for the machine.
Do let me know if you have any questions, will try to reply to the best of my knowledge and let me know any points I missed
Ride safe!!