KTM Duke 390

The Duke 390 is KTM’s most performance-oriented bike in India and in its 2024 iteration, it’s more practical than ever, while retaining all the exciting performance.

The 2024 KTM 390 Duke’s design language is inspired by the KTM 890 Duke and it looks sharp and very aggressive. It gets a super sharp, all-new LED headlight, sharp fuel tank extensions (that actually extend beyond the inverted fork too) as well as new radiator shrouds. Even its tail section has been revised. That said, its loud design language, especially in the ‘Electric Orange’ colour scheme, might not be to everyone’s taste. Even the Electric Orange paint scheme itself has three different shades of orange. What makes the new 390 Duke feel a little less premium are the uneven panel gaps - especially around the fuel tank.. 

The Duke 390 gets an updated 399cc engine that makes 45PS and 39Nm, but the highlight is how much easier it has become to ride. At slow, city speeds, the bike now feels a lot calmer and more manageable, thanks to the fact that it makes quite a bit of its torque right from 5000rpm (compared to 6000rpm on the previous gen bike). Combine that with the sharp brakes and it makes for an excellent commuter: one that also encourages the rider to go fast, instilling a lot of confidence. Another thing that makes it an excellent commuter is the 800mm seat height, which is substantially shorter than before. Hence, the bike now feels a lot more accessible to shorter riders as well. 

As for the open roads and highways, the 390 Duke has always been absolutely brilliant. It can maintain speeds of more than 120kmph with absolute ease and it can get to speeds much higher than that quite easily too. In this aspect, the 390 is pretty much the best in class. That said, the biggest downside of the new KTM Duke 390 are its vibrations which can generally be felt at city speeds. Start going faster though, and these vibrations calm down. 

As for the tested real-world mileage, the 390 Duke returned 25.26kmpl in the city and 29.64kmpl out on the highway. During this test, we rode the bike at an average speed of around 30-35kmph in the city and around 80-90kmph out on the highway.

The Duke 390’s handling is still as brilliant as ever. Changing directions takes minimal effort and the bike doesn’t feel its weight at all. That said, when you really start pushing the bike, you realise that the H-rated Metzeler tyres are unable to keep up with the bike’s performance and start feeling a bit slippery at very high lean angles. 

As for the ride quality, it too has improved significantly over its previous generation. Now that the bike has adjustable suspension (5-step compression and rebound at the front, 5-step rebound and 7-step preload at the rear), riders of different weights can adjust it according to their preference. And given that the preload and rebound adjustability at the rear is just a 5-step one, tinkering with it and finding a setting that suits you will be quite quick. That said, we found the stock suspension to be a great mix of comfort and sportiness as well. 

The ergonomics on the KTM Duke 390 are reasonably comfortable for a bike of this genre. There’s a slight lean to the handlebar and the rider’s upper half is quite upright. While the footpegs are set a bit high, it’s nothing that’ll cause discomfort. So even for those who are looking to tour on this bike, spending long hours in this saddle shouldn’t really be an issue. 

The 2024 KTM 390 Duke’s 5-inch TFT instrument cluster has smartphone connectivity with call alerts, music control, turn-by-turn navigation and all of that with new switchgear, comprising 4-way menu switches on the left side to toggle through the console. The new switchgear feels a lot more premium than before and the new TFT console doesn’t feel as cluttered as the one on the previous-gen Duke 390. 

Riding modes include Street, Rain and Track, and it also gets launch control, a segment-first feature. The Street and Track modes are essentially the same in terms of power output and how quickly the bike responds to throttle inputs, with the only difference being that Track mode engages launch control. What launch control essentially does is give you good launches of the line, ensuring the bike shaves off important seconds when out on a race track. But as we said, you can unlock the launch control only in the Track mode after the first service. 

The KTM 390 Duke, in its 2024 iteration, is quite practical while still being  very exciting to ride. And at Rs 3,10,520 (ex-showroom Delhi), it’s very well priced as well. So those who want a thoroughbred performance-oriented streetfighter will like what it has to offer. That said, you should keep in mind that the Duke 390, as practical as it is, is a ferociously fast bike and things can go really wrong on it very quickly. Hence it’s definitely not recommended for first-timers or even riders who aren’t very experienced.