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Another Canadian Duke hits the road!

7K views 37 replies 12 participants last post by  Abitibi 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everyone from Vancouver BC, Canada!

A few fun facts :D
#1
I never had any intention to buy another bike after selling my old ZX11 years ago (sold it when I got my 1st kid). I'm more of a vanner (got a few 60's Ford Econoline) but on a recent trip to Rome I saw my 1st Duke 390 and loved it! The fact that everyone rides a bike and beat traffic also made me want to ride a bike again...

#2
My wife still hasn't notice I bought it, hahaha!
You would think she'd wonder how I'm getting to work since my vans are still in the driveway ;)

#3
When I bought the bike, the girl at the bike shop said most guys of my vintage either recently divorced or hit mid-life crisis. I just turned 50 but once my wife finds out about the bike the sale lady might be right on both cases!

So thanks everyone on this forum, you've already been uber helpful in my decision to buy my 2019 Duke 390 and to get to know the bike even before my 1st ride!

And if anyone is curious, currently the 2019 can be found on sale for $4999 Canadian dollars here in Vancouver BC. Add close to $1000 in freight and documentation then add taxes... still pretty cheap for what you get.

Hope to contribute in the long run!

Cheers
David


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#2 ·
Congrats on the purchase and good luck with the wife when she notices! Make sure I'm listed as a beneficiary for one of the vans please, hate to see something happen to them after she gets done with you. Kidding aside, you'll have fun with the duke, it's light and nimble. Should've kept the ZX11, still one of my favorite bikes, fits me like a glove. I bought a ZX10 last year, still keeping an eye out for a ZX11. Have fun and welcome.
 
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#3 ·
Hi man and welcome from Scotland. Pretty much the same story with me minus the wife deal haha. Now 52 and hadn't had a motorbike for over 25 years after becoming a dad etc, mortgage and all that grown up, responsible bullshit. Was on holiday in Seville, Spain earlier this year and saw a couple of them zipping through traffic effortlessly and beating everything off the lights etc, and thought yup time to live again and get one of these bad boys.

Best move I have made in a long time, cant believe I lived without a motorcycle for so long. And surprisingly my wife was quite supportive and said if that is what you want go for it. I thought my Mum would be the problem as she picked up the bits after a bad accident I had when I was 17 when I got T boned by a car that came out a junction as I was passing, but surprisingly she was cool with it too.

Enjoy the Duke man, and put me in line for one of those vans as well when she is done with you haha.
 
#4 ·
Funny no one asked to get the Duke instead of the vans, lol.

So I'm week 2 on the bike, wife still hasn't noticed and kids have been awesome at keeping it a secret. We actually took bets as how long it would take her to notice ;) I also bribed them to take them for a spin if they kept quiet, Haha!

I'm 1/5 through the break-in period, trying to keep my rides mostly in the city to get the most RPM range.

My 1st mod was a battery powered phone holder. Nice, cheap (Amazon) and cable tucked away nicely, cant even see it.

I also bought a used 18L KTM tank bag for a great price. It's a tight fit with such a compact tank but I made it work and making great use of it.

I have a bunch of parts coming from Ali-Express (China). It takes longer to receive than ordering from Ebay or Amazon but from what I can tell they are identical parts at a fraction of the price. Makes me believe Ebay vendors get their parts from Ali-Express and sell them back with a big profit margin!

I'll post pictures of the bike (and the vans!) once I get the rights to do so. Still building my credential for now :)


Cheers
David



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#9 ·
You did very good on the price! I was happy with the base price on mine but not so much with all the extra fees...and taxes!

Man, 12,000km in 2 months that is crazy! Plus you also had to do a slow 1000km for break-in, lol.

I bought mine mainly to commute to work as my road trips are usually in one of my camper vans but this bike might get its share of trips given how fun it is to ride!

Cheers
David



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#11 ·
Started customizing my ride today. Installed a $31usd wind screen from AliExpress (PUIG copy) and although I had some minor issues to fit it to my 2019 it ended up where it should be and will see tomorrow morning how much of a difference it makes. Also received a bunch of packages from China and will be mounting those as well in the next few days. (hand protectors, tank sticker, tidy tail and rear fender mudguard among other things).

Since I sold all my riding gears years ago I've been on the hunt for good used gears. Last night I found a really nice Joe Rocket jacket, tomorrow going to look at some boots and still hunting for gloves and pants. The helmet I got new (LS2 Valiant) and love that thing. It's white so with the sun visor down and the chin protector pulled up it really looks like a jet fighter helmet or some Star Wars helmet, lol. Just need to add Bluetooth in it but the kit I bought didn't fit so still searching for one.

Riding everyday to work, slowly putting the miles on it. So far really impressed with the bike aside from the slow speed control and some vibration in the handle bar that numbs my right hand a little. Not sure if it's normal but not a real issue at this point. I will consider putting a 16 tooth front sprocket once my 1st service is done!!!

Cheers
David
 
#19 ·
My European vacation also got me wanting to buy a motorcycle. I've wanted a motorcycle for years, but the kinds of bikes I like, old cafe racers, are more work than I want. I discovered BMW's R NineT line at BMW Welt and was astonished to find all the retro cafe racers on the market with modern FI and ABS. After months of convincing my wife I bought a 390 variant, a Vitpilen 401.
 
#20 ·
Nice! That's also a pretty cool little bike, same family of bikes and same engine and platform.

I'm slowly making my duke390 into a dual sport'ish bike and I would love to get the vitpilen 401 spoke rims for the Duke!

I have to research but from what I see should be a direct swap!

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#21 ·
Nothing beats picking up ideas while travelling! Especially if it means getting a new toy... Well done!

So now that I'm allowed to post pictures here's a few of my bike as it sits right now.

I'd love to go crazy with mods but I already have too many projects going on. Still, within the first 2 weeks I got a screen, handguard, phone holder, tank bag, installed a connector for my heated vest ("Winter is coming, lol"), a small tank protector sticker and a rear lock.

I also got proper riding gears, all used but great shape!

Still waiting for my tidy tail and a few small things but quite happy right now.

For the curious, the 2 old vans are my 1969 and 1970 Ford Econoline (both with poptop). The white one is my 2001 Econoline 4x4 diesel camper that used to be an ambulance:)

And I also have a 1965 econoline camper but she's hidden ;)

Cheers
David


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#29 ·
So my wife finally found out yesterday that I had bought myself a new bike. Took her one full month, lol. And the only reasons she found out was by browsing through my pictures on the computer. She never realized I hadn't driven my truck to work all those weeks! All good, I still have a roof :)

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#32 ·
I now realize keeping your Duke stock is much harder than anticipated!

So if I'm failing at it, might as well fail miserably, hahaha!

Also, it paid out to regularly check for local used KTM parts! I got this brand new (still in the box) original KTM crash bar for $110usd and this barely used tail rack for $35usd. Not bad at all considering how much they retail.

I was hoping to find a Pelican case to fit a helmet but doesn't seem to exist. So I'll still mount a smaller lockable Pelican case on that tail rack. But that's another project to come.

The crash bar... not the greatest fit! Those upper bars sure didn't line up properly. The bolts supplied for those upper bars were too small as well so still need to buy some proper size/length.

Finally, enlarged my muffler for a deeper tone (took me 2min to do!) And added some LED bulbs on all 4 corners, nice and bright!!!

And upgraded my riding gears along the way with some Oxford Montreal 3.0 jacket and pants.. my oldest boy offered to model some gears :)

Next, I got a RB Evo to install and a tidy tail. Finally, waiting for my Delkevic new-car exhaust to show up and my 1fngr filter lid.

After all this I think I'll be good for a while, running out of money, Haha


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#33 ·
Nice finds! Did you find them on Craigslist?

I have a few more extras on my list: Galfer wave rotors (not a fan AT ALL of the stock front disc), EvoTech radiator guard & rectifier guard/exhaust hangar, and a pillion delete. Maybe the ignition and clutch guards. Then I will be satisfied.
 
#37 ·
Ok I lied.

I thought I'd be good for a while with those latest mods but... I ended up buying a RapidBike Evo, a 1FNGR air lid cover and a full cat delete 9" Delkevic exhaust. I also mounted a Pelican box on my tail rack. I know it's not for everyone's taste but that waterproof/lockable trunk has been a game changer for my daily commute.

I followed the videos from "Moto Mirius" on YouTube to figure the RB Evo install. His explanations are spot on and if you haven't seen any of his videos I think they're worth it. I'm no expert and my judgment may left to be desired but so far everything he explained worked out for me.

So, first impression on those recent mods. The RB Evo probably does what it's supposed to but it's not very noticeable. I let the bike idle for 10min after the install to reset the ECU and started driving. Only put a couple hundred km's so far and haven't noticed yet smoother low speed as most people report. I think my bike had already "learned" quite good on it's first 1000km and wasn't horrible like some earlier model but I'm still hoping after more km's under it's belt it will smooth out.

Now, the MUFFLER! As expected it is LOUD! Gorgeous guttural low deep tone until you throttle up then it wakes up (and wakes everyone else too!). I like it but I wish it'd be 30% quieter. I think it's rated at approx. 102 decibels. Not sure if my neighbors will let me get away with it as I normally leave my house at 6am... But who can argue with the clean look of no cat and no silencer, just a beautiful Stainless pipe :)

Now I think I can say I'm done with major mods (for a while anyway). Still planning to ride through our mild and wet winter or until the frost covers the ground. Then it will be back to my 4x4 beast until weather allows. I don't have picture of the bike back together but this gives an idea...

Cheers
David
 
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