I’ve had the KTM Duke for about a week now. The verdict so far is: awesome.

Very fun bike. Very light (320lbs or so dry) with about ~50hp, so it’s fairly quick. The riding position is pretty upright and high, so it works well in traffic. It handles better than the bonnie, and seems to want to let you lean it over and over. I suspect it will lean over to and well beyond the point that the tires will grip at normal speeds, a bit different than most street bikes.

One issue I’ve had so far is the license plate mount. The previous owner mounted it up inside the fender above the wheel (you occasionally see sportsbikes setup like this as well). I’m not entirely comfortable with that since I’m not sure it’s legal, and the plate is actually a pretty good reflector. Being another black bike, that might be handy to have. Not to mention there are no plate lights that way, and I believe thats a requirement for it to pass inspection.

Mileage seems to average upper 40’s (49.9 on one tank, and 48 on another). Range before it hits reserve is about ~110 miles, so thats not too bad. Previous owner said he tended to hit reserve around 80 miles, so he must of been riding it pretty hard.

The front end gets a bit light under hard acceleration (as in, in the air). Not a bid deal, just different than what I’m used to. It definitely feels like a big dirt bike. Also, it’s not that hard to get the back tire in the air on heavy braking, especially if you are trying to (er… not that I would ever try that….).

The back brakes seem a little weak in comparison to the mondo front brakes. This may just be an adjustment issue. It is possibly to lock up the rear tire, but it takes a fair amount of effort. Not sure this is intentional or not, as sliding the rear tire around seems to be one of the preferred riding styles for this type of bike.

There’s not a huge amount of after market parts available for the bike, so customization options are somewhat limited. I’d like to get some hand guards to match the green, and maybe some black handlebars instead of the stock dull metal ones, but those are basically purely aesthetic changes.

2001 KTM Duke II in black and green.