Duke 390 Scrambler build in action today. After my first off road ride a few weeks ago which was on some pretty mild roads I realised the front springs had far too much sag and bottomed way too easily, even on very small hits. The standard springs are very soft dual rate with 0.62kg/mm at the firm end and were sitting almost halfway through their stroke with me just sitting on the bike. I had a gamble and bought 0.75kg/mm linear YSS springs for the RC390 (they come in 0.75, 0.8 and 0.85) and they were spot on. These gave me 40mm rider sag leaving me with 110mm of additional travel. I hit some much more aggressive tracks to really test out it's potential and it was awesome. The front didn't bottom out once, but also used every bit of available travel with less than 5mm unused. The rear (R6 shock) was fine as it was last ride with no bottoming at all.
I also got to test the Rapid Bike Easy which was perfect for this kind of riding as it gives the bike much more usable power under 4krpm where it used to rattle and vibrate. This combined with 1 tooth down on the front sprocket made hill climbs at lower rpm much easier. I'll fit some lower pegs to make the standing riding position a bit better since the bike is quite a bit higher off the ground now but that's really all that's left to improve.
Yeah I know, I could have bought a 390 Adventure, but this was less than 1/2 the price and isn't anywhere near as ugly. Besides, I said I wouldn't get an adventure bike until after I turn 40 😂
2015 Duke 390.
TKC80 tyres.
EBay crash bars.
EBay skid plate.
Ebay hand guards.
Ebay levers.
EBay radiator guard.
MX bars.
Extended clutch cable.
Rapid Bike Easy.
Longer side stand.
R6 shock.
YSS 0.75 linear fork springs.
YSS height adjuster caps.
14t front sprocket.
Enduro foot pegs.
I also got to test the Rapid Bike Easy which was perfect for this kind of riding as it gives the bike much more usable power under 4krpm where it used to rattle and vibrate. This combined with 1 tooth down on the front sprocket made hill climbs at lower rpm much easier. I'll fit some lower pegs to make the standing riding position a bit better since the bike is quite a bit higher off the ground now but that's really all that's left to improve.
Yeah I know, I could have bought a 390 Adventure, but this was less than 1/2 the price and isn't anywhere near as ugly. Besides, I said I wouldn't get an adventure bike until after I turn 40 😂
2015 Duke 390.
TKC80 tyres.
EBay crash bars.
EBay skid plate.
Ebay hand guards.
Ebay levers.
EBay radiator guard.
MX bars.
Extended clutch cable.
Rapid Bike Easy.
Longer side stand.
R6 shock.
YSS 0.75 linear fork springs.
YSS height adjuster caps.
14t front sprocket.
Enduro foot pegs.