VOL. 52 ISSUE 18 MAY 5, 2015 P49
and seven of Cycle News) and
are suited for track-only riding.
I think Mr. Pierer has forgotten
about his Super Duke R, the big-
gest, baddest nakedbike on the
face of the planet… But while I
may not necessarily agree with
his view point, I can see his
logic in expanding his line-up by
creating bikes like the 390 Duke
and the RC390, because these
are the bikes that will get people
hooked on motorcycling in the
first place.
The 390 Duke is one of those
bikes that puts a smile on your
face when you ride it. It's got
funky, edgy styling, a great little
engine and gearbox and it's
comfy, too. It's one of those
bikes that remind me of why I
love motorcycling; it reminds me
a little of my old XR400 Honda.
In a world gone mad with ac-
ronyms that sound like they're
from NASA – SCS, TCS, AWC,
ETC. – the 390 Duke is nice and
simple. Yeah it's got ABS, so
there's an acronym there, and it's
also got EFI, another acronym,
but it's basically a 400-class
single-cylinder dirtbike engine,
one that will throw up more than
enough punch to do second gear
wheelies and pull hard enough
to get a move on from low revs
in third and sometimes fourth
gear. I'm not saying it's going to
pull the skin off a rice pudding,
because it's far from what I would
call powerful, but in there's the
rub – it's so easy to exploit, to-
tally unintimidating yet fun to use.
Kinda like a Fiat 500, just in bike
form. Yes it sounds tinny on start
up and puny when you open the
gas, but after about two minutes
I was having so much fun that I
simply didn't care.
And like a little Fiat you'll get
a few vibes, especially through
the handlebars and 'pegs, even
though they're rubber mounted.
It's a single-cylinder, after all,
so you're never going to get rid
of all the vibrations. And as it's
a single you're not going to get
the world's smoothest throttle
action, either. It can be a little
jerky in low revs when going from
full closed to about half throttle,
but it's something you quickly get
used to.
The little 89 x 60mm engine
isn't a one trick pony, either. It'll
give you power right up to the
soft-action rev limiter, although it
"ALL OF A SUDDEN
YOU REALIZE
WHAT MANY HAVE
ALWAYS KNOWN,
AND FEEL LIKE A BIT
OF AN IDIOT. THAT
LITTLE BIKES ARE
STUPID, STUPID
AMOUNTS OF FUN."
ABS is standard fitment
these days and works well
with the Bybre calipers.
