Increasing the engine capacity of any motorcycle has a dramatic effect. In the case of the 125 Duke expanding by 75cc this statement couldn’t be more appropriate and I defy anyone to disagree. Say hello to the excellent 200 version.
I was lent over the ‘bars revving the KTM 200 Duke as hard as I could. My mission was to catch the gaggle of superbikes that had just passed me. Fortunately a red robot/traffic light loomed only a few hundred metres away, so this was my chance. As they braked, I didn’t, and came between them still twisting the throttle like I was trying to kill a chicken after being marooned on an island for months and death by starvation was only an hour away. I tore through them all, locked up the back wheel in a childish sideways slide and finished off the performance with a stoppie/endo eventually coming to a squealing halt. The ‘racers’ surrounded me each side and all gave me a displeased glance. Excitedly I lifted my visor to accept justifiable appreciation for my antics. Then one dude shouts, “it’s an old bloke” and, for once, I didn’t mind the affiliation to the geriatric brigade.
You see this is the attraction of the fabulous KTM 200 Duke. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a spotty teenager with a desire to masturbate and text a lot, or a middle-aged man with a cat and an extinct VHS porn collection, both ends of the scale will cherish every moment aboard the KTM 200 Duke, nice.
A couple of years ago KTM unveiled the 125 Duke with very similar styling to its bigger brother, the 990 Super Duke. This immediately extended the front of the shorts on many a youth and justifiably so because it looked the business. KTM badly wanted a share of the learner market worldwide, and the 125 Duke was their answer.
Now when I first rode the 125 I was torn between style and function. It looked and felt the part but the engine was a bit naff, but then again most 125s are, especially with our lethargic altitude issues. Still, it left me disappointed because of the quality parts it has and I expected more. So I was more than keen to see if the 200 conversion is the answer to making the mini Duke what it should be and the answer is yes.
There’s no point is skirting around the fact that KTM is now owned by Bajaj from India, well 49% of it. Now that’s far from being a bad thing because Bajaj have an awful lot of spare cash to develop new bikes with and their build quality and innovative engines are some of the best out there, in the small bike sector that is. So choosing Bajaj to help build the little Dukes is commendable.
Basically the 200 has exactly the same rolling chassis as the 125. That means a true Duke lattice style tubular, and very strong frame. But obviously what sits inside those chrome-moly tubes is the talking point here. KTM and Bajaj took the 125 engine and stuffed in a new forged piston, changing the bore from 55mm to 72mm. Now that’s where most manufacturers would stop but, in this case, the stroke was also increased by around 2mm from 47mm to 49mm, which is good for more torque. The liquid-cooled single cylinder engine is still a fancy little four-valve, DOHC unit with fuel injection and, because of Bajaj’s input, incredibly economical. Strangely though and because of the 200 being near identical to the 125, KTM claims a 2kg increase in weight (127kg to 129kg), so what’s the piston made from, Uranium?
With all this effort from the engineers I decided to run the bike on the Dyno at Noddy’s spot and came away impressed. The 125 engine originally made 13hp and 10Nm of torque at the rear wheel. The 200, wait for it, made 23hp and 18Nm of torque. Now that’s a severe and noticeable increase for a ’mere’ 75cc swelling and riding on the road it’s even more profound.
The 200 now has proper low down power to haul a chubby chap easily off the line but once it shows 6,000rpm it revs like frantic food blender to 11,000rpm where the limiter takes over. 11,000rpm for a single, eh? Now two things become apparent here. One, the gearing it way too short, maximum speed is exactly 138km/h and it’s as fast as the super light action six-speed ‘box will take you. So if I owned a 200 Duke I would immediately go one tooth smaller on the front sprocket because this engine will easily pull a higher ratio. Two, at these revs and with more power I presumed the 200 Duke would have been a trifle heavy, for its size, on fuel. Wrong! Remember the Bajaj connection that makes the world’s most economical bikes? Well sit down and open your mouth in an astounding manner because I saw 2.7 litres per 100kms, which is amazing for the performance on hand and therefore turns the 200 Duke into a viable fun packed commuter.
When I first heard the price of R43,000 I thought the 200 Duke was a bit expensive but, after living with it for a week, it’s worth every cent. This one also had a load of KTM’s Power Products stuck to it that make it look even better and attracted a lot of attention when parked. Most 200cc motorbikes will never receive that sort of public attention. So the KTM 200 Duke is my small bike favourite at the moment and enforces my belief that size really does matter, even if it’s only down to a small metal piston and not necessarily your wedding tackle.
Article from www.billysbikes.co.za so log on for more tests.
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