Which is the best bike: KTM 200 Duke or KTM Duke 390 review

Ameya Chavan, Biking enthusiast, KTM RC 200 owner, Clocked more than 20k kms

There's no comparison between these two bikes. Although, My choice would definitely be the 390 Duke.
Why?

43 horses as compared to 25 of the 200 Duke.
Slipper clutch (2015 and above).
Bosch 9M ABS as standard.
Premium Metzeler Sportec M5 tires.
Orange alloys and Orange Trellis frame.

However, if you take the following things into consideration, you might think otherwise.

The 200 Duke gives a better fuel economy.
390 Duke heats up a lot in the city (even the 200 Duke heats up fairly but not as much as the 390 Duke)
The radiator fan is almost always on in city traffic on the 390 Duke. (After a while the sound becomes very annoying/irritating)
The 200 Duke is not as intimidating as the 390 Duke for newer riders.
The 200 Duke costs less. A good Rs. 40-45k less than the 390 Duke.
Less costly to maintain the 200 Duke. (The Metzelers are costly to replace, servicing charges for 200 Duke are cheaper)
390 Duke runs a high compression engine. So if the bike gets very hot, you'll definitely need to wait 10-15mins to let the engine get a little cooler and then you may be able to start it back on.

Balamurugan Jeyachandran, Motorbike Enthusiast

Duke 200 is the best bike. If you wonder why, then the following makes it a winner

Comfortable ride
Ability to be an all rounder be it in city or small weekend getaways
Ability to handle the bike in hectic city traffic
Ability to ride at good cruising speeds of 100-110 kph
Ability to return a good Fuel efficiency
Ability to keep maintenance very minimal and service costs
Ability to make it affordable and reachable at the same time enjoyable for all
Last but not least, Duke 200 has got the least complaints or heat issues which Duke 390 is very famous for

If you check the above list with KTM Duke 390, then Duke 390 will fail in many cases which is why I say Duke 200 is the best bike.

Ashish Kulkarni, Enthusiast biker, Proud Duke 390 owner, Fan of motorcycles!

There's not much comparison here. The Duke 390.

However, things to take into consideration:

The Duke 200 is the only choice you should make if you are a beginner/learner. The 390 has been known to surprise even experienced bikers, so please do not think of the 390 as a begineer bike.
The 390 is a lot more powerful than the 200(43bhp vs 25), has ABS standard which is very important, and has very high end German tyres(Metzeler). So considering features alone, obviously the 390.

Vivek Otari, Rider | Knows a bit about ENFIELDs, YAMAHAs & KTMs

Both are best bikes for the money you pay & the package you get in return.

What you are comparing is smaller class vehicle with bigger class vehicle, which does not make sense.

Both are great at power & performance.

If you are good with riding powerful motorcycle with good experience on road, go with D390. If not start with D200. Having said that D200 has more power than any other bike under 200CC. It is more than enough to get you killed if you abuse it.

Go with your requirement, moreover the need of bigger machine.

Cheers,

Arvind Natarajan, 30k+ km on my Duke 200

Comparing the 390 and the 200 dukes are pointless. Duke 390 is only a re-bored and tuned version of the D200 which means the platform of them both is just the same. What does "Best bike" mean in your terms? If you are into raw power go for the D 390. If you value practicality more, go for the D 200. The power of D 390 is not of much use in traffic or in the tracks unless you're skilled enough. If you're gonna get your first bike or if you feel you're not a fan of such insane power delivery go for the D 200. You can learn a lot with that. And then at some point you can upgrade to the D 390 if you wish to. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go for a D 390 as your first bike, but it is always advisable to start with the later in comparison. Both the siblings have a similar behavior and a jerky two-stroke-like power delivery which is a characteristic of KTM. If i'm missing out on any particular aspect that you wanted to hear about, do comment. I'll update the answer as soon as possible.

Kunal Singh, Quick learner.

The Duke 390 hands down! But there are a lot of things you need to take into account if you're looking to buy a bike. Does it fit your budget? What kind of experience do you have on a bike? (if you're relatively inexperienced, stay away from the 390. It will try to kill you) Will you be able to afford post purchase expenses?

At the end of the day, you'll fall in love with any bike you buy. Take care of it and it'll take care of you.

Sushant Kumar, proud owner of a Duke 390 :)

Completely agree with Arvind Natrajan(his answer below). I actually owned a D200, rode it for about 10k KMs and then moved to D390 but only because I wanted those extra horses and not because D200 is any less cool. Infact for city rides D200 at lower RPMs is seriously amazing and gets you anywhere almost as quickly as a D390. Also D200 is a lot more agile in traffic than the D390, so in case you are a complete city rider then go ahead and get a D200. The fact that they come with MRF tyres makes them a lot cheaper to maintain since the Metzelers in D390 are not known to last more than 15k KMs while the MRF tyres have more life.

Hopefully this was helpful.

Cheers!!

Sarat Chandra Vemuri, Superbikes and Supercars enthusiast.

If you are experienced and mature in driving and if you are willing to pay another 50k then go for duke 390 as it offers more than what is expected at that price.

Duke 390 also offers safety features like abs and excellent tires along with insane power .It also offers slipper clutch which you don’t always find on any entry level bikes.

Now, If you are a noob rider( I mean without any experience or just started riding) then go for duke 200, people say you can start off with any bike but trust me you will misuse everything.You need to know the traffic conditions and you must be ready for any sudden surprises on road which you will get on experience. So please say no to duke 390 and go for 200 and more over if you use your bike in city then the power duke 200 delivers is more than enough.

Finally don’t directly just go on to duke 390 as it feels more value for money,if you ever remember there are more duke 200’s on road than 390’s and I stated those reasons above.

So ride safely,gently and hardly.

Davinder Singh KTM Duke

According to the customer reviews KTM Duke 200 in best between Duke 200 and 390.

Some good points are

Comfertable Ride
Light Weight Frame
Die Cast Swing Arm
Clutch in oil bath / mechanically operated
Affordable Price
Better Performance
ABS Braking system

Prog Zia KTM Duke

390 has more power and the gears don’t run out. You will not run out of power and you will rarely use 6th gear because you can cruise in 5th gear at 100kmph. Few downsides are that the engine feels hot while driving in city traffic and its not the smoothest bike. Handling is amazing in 390 it sticks to the ground and feels planted at corners and higher speeds.

Eusuff Ali KTM Duke