KTM Duke 200 suitable for long highway journeys?

I would say yes if you have already brought one and no if you haven't brought one.

If you have already purchased the bike and wish to go for a long ride then you have no other choice rather than to live with the little monster. But do keep in mind that any bike is capable of doing long journeys unless the rider is determined. I have heard about TVS star sport and other 150cc bikes doing long trips every often. It is all based upon how comfortable you feel and the performance of the bike.

On the comfort side it all depends upon your adaptivity with the Duke upright handlebar and rear set foot pegs. If you are a daily rider of the Duke and say that you have been well adapted to the riding posture then i would say that the Duke 200 will be the best to do longer rides.

On the other hand if you are a new one riding the Duke then I aware that after the long journey you will definitely regret and hate the Duke 200. This is because a new rider will not be able to easily adapt with the Duke in the first ride itself and it takes time to adapt with the bike.

The performance of the bike is good for Indian highway road conditions. It can do 100 kmph easily without any vibes and the mielage figures will also be as you expect. The seats are harder on the Duke but that is not a big problem when you adapt yourself with the bike and the brakes are on of the finest in the 200 cc segment and the bike is sharp when you needed and a new rider must be very careful to play with the brakes. Even though I have ridden my Duke 200 for almost 10 months sometimes I loose my braking control and the rears starts to slide like a fish tail, one must know how to brake on the bike and the stopping distance before you open the throttle. A major disadvantage you will face is with the wind blast. The Duke 200 with it's naked appearance does make you tiring in ling rides because the wind blast will.make you easily get exhausted as soon as possible.

I have personally ridden a 450 km ride in 12 hours on my Duke 200 and those 450 KMS consist of 250 KMS of riding in hills and the remaining on the planes and I felt comfortable but a little bit sore in the last 50 KMS of the ride. I would suggest you to buy a windscreen which will help a little bit on the highway journeys and the knuckle guards which will protect you to a certain extent from wind blast.

Atleast I would say that if you already own the Duke 200 the you have no other choice rather than to go with the beast but if you haven't own one then I would suggest you to go with the other options that are available in the market. The other choices are the pulsar RS 200, KTM RC 200, R15, DOMINAR 400, FZ 25. Consider the above mentioned bikes of you have a choice. Among the above mentioned bikes if my main priority is for touring then I would definitely go with the RS 200 and dominar Because the RS 200 with its fairing and comfortable seating position and ABS as an option is a perfect bike for touring and on the other hand the dominar 400 with its 373 cc powerful engine and LED headlamp and dual channel ABS is a better choice than the RS 200. I have mentioned this and suggested these because they fall under the same price tag of the Duke 200. So do consider these before you buy one.

Ride safe! Happy journey

Its never about the bike. Its always about the rider. If you are up for it, so your ride.

I have seen people do touring up to Leh and back using RC200s and RC390s. If the RC's can do it, so can the Dukes(considering the comfortable seating position).
And there was a guy who did a B'Lore to Sikkim ride on a freaking 110cc motor(A TVS Star City+). I also have seen people keeping R3 for commuting from home to office only

So lets come to the bike in question here. The Duke 200. I only see a couple of cons on the Duke(personally, I don't like the KTMs much. I am a Japs fan. But will keep it as unbiased as possible here)

• The small fuel tank makes refueling means more frequent stops for fuel. That would actually force you to have more frequent stops during long rides which is actually a good thing for you when you are doing long rides.
• Absence of faring makes the rider susceptible to head winds which may be tiring for the rider during the long run.

I hope this answers your question. Cheers