Hello and welcome to PowerDrift guys, today it is my pleasure to bring you to a machine
which has unlocked supersport racing dreams for many beginner riders across the globe
and then there is a motoring scene that both you and I know of that there is no replacement
for engine displacement. There it didn't exist until now a sub 600cc motorcycle with committed
sport riding ergonomics and track tool handling package.
Enter the KTM RC390, a rabid racoon with a 390cc single cylinder, churning out proper
race horses and enough Nm of Torque to do the overtaking maneuvers on the outside line.
It's a horrible touring bike, not a good stunt machine, it's not a pencil, not a cabbage,
it's not leaning tower of Piza, nor the Great wall of China. It's a thorough bread commited
supersport machine, designed to make you feel like a racer and engineered to probably make you one.
...... has put more weight on the front and that gives you the confidence to exploit the
ridiculously fast turn-ins of the RC.
I really love how the engine builds and puts the power down and in fact it's a little more
linear, torque kicks in a little more gently and that really helps you modulate the throttle
in a corner. But in terms of refinement, I found the engine on the RC200 to be a lot
more refined and that's because this one has a much bigger piston and is running much higher
on compression ratios. That translates to a lot of vibes, especially above 9000Rpm.
But then again the best way to ride this motorcycle, to enjoy this motorcycle is to make the most
of its strong mid-range and if you're riding it that way, you'll have no problems at all with the vibrations.
What I did have a problem with was the gear ratios because they are pretty much the same as the Duke 390 which means the 4th, 5th and
6th gears are on the taller side and you don't really want that in a race setup because that
dilutes the acceleration of the RC. But I absolutely love the gearbox on this one.
The 6 speed transmission is butter smooth and it's precise and it just enriches your experience
of riding this motorcycle hard. No matter what Sargeant has to say about the
RC390 the crown cannot just be handed over to it. The crown has to be earned rather as
they say, fought for!
12Kgs heavier than the RC it doesn't have the same component as the RC390 but it's only 0.3 seconds behind this one.
The only thing that's going against it is the IRC tyres. That's right.
But what it does have in its favor is slipper clutch.
There are rumors going around and don't quote me for this, that the RC390 next year would
also be equipped with the slipper clutch. But Sagar that was about performance and numbers
and everything. When we get the Ninja 300 in the picture it will be a felony to not
talk about practicality because that's where this bike excels tremendously. It's got a
larger tank, the ergonomics are way more sorted, it's a parallel twin engine which is going
to be of course a lot more refined than a single cylinder which the RC390 has.
The last thing that remains to be discussed between these two bikes is then the price point.
I was there at the unvieling of this bike, at the launch of this bike, the RC390 and
as soon as they declared the price, you were there too, there was a loud applause in the
hall. Big kudos to Bajaj KTM for pricing it in a way where it's accessible. This one,
however, is a good 2 lakhs more expensive. Would you then be worried about dropping the
bike, its got a more expensive fairing, in general, more expensive everything.
As far as ownership of the bike is concerned, uh, with the Ninja its just that you have
to wait a little longer to get your bike fixed, but on this one you can ride with a much lighter state of mind.
Coming from an R15 in my eyes that was that
was the only supersport track focused race machine you had available in India and in
many a ways the RC390 is the motorcycle we were waiting for, the upgrade because it is
just as nimble, just as flick able and with that extra dope of power.
Completely track focused, so it's gonna do what it's made to do and its gonna be bloody
good at that. He is going out and saying he is going to
buy one because he is a track-obsessed person and it's here, right?
How does it then manage to scrape its underbelly every single time you're in a corner.
As soon as you're lean angle starts increasing, you end up scraping the belly pan and when
you're dragging plastics, you're not too far away from disaster. So that's something which
I was not happy with at all. The braking, there is complete lack of initial
bite as well as the feedback, which you would most defenitely need if you're belting the
bike around a race track and there's some telling that this is happening because of
the ABS, what's about that? The ABS that I loved so much on the road,
on the track I found it really intrusive and the brakes worked a lot better in terms of
feedback when I had it switched off. But I'm at least glad that KTM gives you the
option of at least switching off the ABS. And it's funny, every single time we speak
of the RC390, we leave the RC200 out of the picture and that's what the whole world's
doing too. The RC200 is a lot better on the brakes. It's like the RC390, everything I
like about the RC390 in terms of the handling dynamics, well this one actually does it better,
because it's lighter, the shorter gearing actually works a lot better on the race track
because there's consistency in that. The Duke 390 was famous for overheating, this
bike the fan kicks in a whole a lot earlier, how far is it helping.
So it's helping with the heat dissipation, riding it in the city, it is very annoying
because the fan is always running and after a while when you're riding in a lot of traffic.
it does get to you. The seat on this one is a lot better than the Duke 390.
So the rider is gonna be going to be uncomfortable but the pillion will be all smiles.
If you aspire to switch on to bigger CC capacity motorcycles, then these bikes, they don't
require a whole lot of testicular fortitude to know how to ride them, to learn what the
techniques are. That's what I love about KTM, their whole philosophy is about making light
and fast motorcycles and the biggest advantage is, it's a lot more easier to use and a lot more comfortable to get along with.
Thanks a lot for watching guys!
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Good luck, Goodbye.
Rolling and action, Aye the difference was what? What was the diff- ... 0.3 and alright,
action!