2021 KTM 125 Duke India Debut Soon; Unofficial Bookings Open

The baby Duke will get a styling upgrade as seen on the 200 Duke

[Update: KTM has launched the 2021 125 Duke in India. Click here to read about it]

• Bookings open for a token of Rs 5,000.
• Launch expected next week.
• This will be the first update for the 125 Duke since its India debut.

Hot on the heels of the KTM 250 Adventure, reports suggest KTM is gearing up to bring in the 125 Duke in a new avatar. Though the brand hasn’t made any official announcement yet, our sources suggest it could be unveiled as early as next week. In fact, select dealerships have already started accepting bookings for a token of Rs 5,000. Currently, it carries a price tag of Rs 1.46 lakh (ex-showroom) and the new-gen bike could demand a premium of Rs 6,000-7,000.

The 2021 KTM 125 Duke will shed the almost decade-old design and the don the new, sharper styling seen on the 2020 200 Duke. The bike will get a trellis frame with a bolt-on subframe and a new halogen headlamp with LED DRLs. The updated styling will have a functional benefit too as the tank capacity will increase from 9.5 litres to 13.5 litres. Unlike the international model, the Indian version won’t carry the side-slung unit. It’s likely to flaunt the same underbelly exhaust from the KTM 200 Duke. We also expect the bike to get the updated LCD dash from the 250 Adventure.

KTM is unlikely to introduce any new updates to the engine. It will continue with the 124cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine churning 14.5PS and 12Nm. While the updated design is definitely welcome, the additional bulk from the new bodywork could make the bike feel a bit sluggish.

When KTM launched the 125 Duke in 2018 at Rs 1.18 lakh in a price conscious market like ours, no one expected it to become the highest selling motorcycle from Team Orange. Now, almost two years and a couple of price hikes later, the excitement around the baby Duke seems to have fizzled down. In the last three months, the 200 Duke has raked more sales than the 125 Duke.

With this update, the entire Duke family on sale in India shares the same design, something we have seen on the Bajaj Pulsar range. In our opinion, this has robbed the bikes of their uniqueness.