Your CLEAREST Look At The Next-gen KTM 390 Duke

The pocket rocket has been spotted without camouflage in India for the first time

The 2023 KTM 390 Duke has been spotted once again – this time without any camouflage – and the first thing that it shows us is the change in design. The more muscular tank and the sharper, longer tank extensions make it look like its older sibling, the KTM 790 Duke. 

But there are a lot more changes than what meets the eye. One of the most important new bits are the adjuster knobs to be seen on the top of the fork, meaning the pocket rocket will get adjustable suspension. You’ll likely get rebound and compression at the front and preload and rebound at the rear like the international-spec RC 390. The ability to dial in the suspension exactly according to your body weight and riding style should ideally make the riding experience a lot sweeter. Talking about the suspension, its monoshock is an offset one now for better space utilisation.  

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Then there are the discs and alloys, both of which are right off the latest-gen KTM RC 390, meaning they should bring about some weight savings too. Next is the frame. The bike now gets an updated trellis frame and its aluminium frame is a bolt-on unit. Its switchgear seems to be new and so is its instrument console. Previous shots suggest that the console is a slightly larger one and could finally get turn-by-turn navigation. One final bit are the footpegs, which seem to be even more rearset, making for an even better riding position for you to attack corners. 

The meatiest part about KTM bikes, though, is their hearts. And this one is expected to be a larger 399cc liquid-cooled one. While performance figures are likely to be in the same ballpark as the current one (43.5PS and 37Nm), we expect it to be more refined than before. With these things, we expect the bike to come here sometime later this year and it could be priced at around Rs 3 lakh (ex-showroom). It’ll then go up against the likes of the BMW G 310 R, Honda CB300R and the Bajaj Dominar 400. 

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