KTM Duke 250

Just how good is the brand new 250 Duke? Is it a mere upgrade for current 200 Duke owners, or more?

When KTM launched its 2017 Duke range for India, the big surprise was the introduction of the 250 Duke to the 2017 line-up. The new revamped motorcycles and line-up is offering Indian buyers so much more in terms of appeal and choice. The 250 Duke sits in the middle of the family, between the entry level 200 Duke, an exciting but usable motorcycle, and the positively frantic 390 Duke on the other. So who exactly should be interested in the 250 Duke? And, why? We swung a leg over the 250 at Bajaj’s test track at Chakan near Pune, and here’s what we found out. What is it? If you found the 200 Duke’s performance a bit underwhelming and the new feature-loaded 390 Duke out of your budget, the 250 Duke offers a nice middle ground given its new 1290 SuperDuke R-inspired styling, able performance and reasonable pricing. Its 249cc, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder engine has been downsized from the 390 Duke’s 373cc motor. With outputs of 30PS and 24Nm, the 250 Duke seems to be just a bit too close to the 200 Duke in the horsepower stakes. It offers you 5PS and 5Nm over the 200 Duke, which can’t be scoffed at as the increase in...read more »

The Indian-spec KTM 250 Duke might lose some features to get its price closer to the 200 Duke