690 Duke: I got one!

68811 Views 75 Replies 17 Participants Last post by Morpheous, 15 d ago

letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · May 31, 2008

www.ktmdukeforum.com

Bought one last Thursday, it may be the only one in PA. I love it to death I already put 700 miles on her. Anyone else have one? I eat sportbikes alive in the twisties on her.

She needs a pipe, the stock sounds kinda weak for a 650cc single cylinder. Any options other than Akrapovic, they want like 2400 bucks.

1 - 20 of 76 Posts

jsg1206

· #2 · Jun 12, 2008

690 Duke

I just bought one also, have about 570 miles on it, just about break in.... the only exhaust I have found is the Akrapovic, the quote I got was
-KTM 690 Duke Akrapovic Titanium Full Exhaust System -
$2599.99 very expensive for a 6-8hp gain
any idea what map setting comes standard ? taking it back to the shop after "break-in" 620 miles and ask them to set the map to more aggressive.... anyone have experience with this ? ready to hit the track with the bike, fortunately, texas has several track riding schools

27superace

· #3 · Jun 12, 2008

Remus???

Hey guys!
I'm new here. Just bought a Superduke and now I'm looking for a nice exhaust system too.
Did you ever hear about Remus??? Any opinions???
I already contacted their distributer (Maxmoto) and checked their website. I also found an exhaust for your bike:Maxmoto.com/KTM 690
Hope that helps you!?
Would appreciate some feedback

gearider

· #4 · Jun 13, 2008

jsg1206 said:
I just bought one also, have about 570 miles on it, just about break in.... the only exhaust I have found is the Akrapovic, the quote I got was
-KTM 690 Duke Akrapovic Titanium Full Exhaust System -
$2599.99 very expensive for a 6-8hp gain
any idea what map setting comes standard ? taking it back to the shop after "break-in" 620 miles and ask them to set the map to more aggressive.... anyone have experience with this ? ready to hit the track with the bike, fortunately, texas has several track riding schools

I have one as well with about 650 miles on it. You can reset the map under the seat on the right hand side. Its in a black rubber like cover which keeps it waterproof. Just pull it off of the metal post. Pull the cover off of it and you will see numbers from 0 - 10 (I think, I don't have my bike handy). I think 1) is 30% cut in power 2) is suppose to make very abrupt power and some don't like it. 3) is factory setting.

The way they have it mounted is probably the week point of the bike. It does run great and handles better than my Ducati.

letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 14, 2008

I've put around 1300 on mine already, now I'm shopping for an exhaust. The akrapovic one is just too ridiculously priced. Leo Vince makes a nice dual setup for the 2007 SM 690 and I am wondering if it would work on the duke. They have the same engine, swingarm, and tail section. FMF is producing a slip-on for $899 but it hasnt been released yet, probly within a month or so.

Here
http://www.leovinceusa.com/cart/search.php?Model=SM%20690&Make=KTM&Year=2007&Line=SBK

I actually went down going through an intersection this past weekend, nice and slow, just slid out when I hit some shale. It scratched the handlebar end and a tiny tiny scratch on the tail section and thats it, I was surprised.

I set the map on setting 2 after the break in period and she seems much more responsive and torquey. I like 2 a lot better than 3 but havent tried any of the others. (why does the manual only describe 1-3??)

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gearider

· #6 · Jun 15, 2008

letsburnbridges said:
I've put around 1300 on mine already, now I'm shopping for an exhaust. The akrapovic one is just too ridiculously priced. Leo Vince makes a nice dual setup for the 2007 SM 690 and I am wondering if it would work on the duke. They have the same engine, swingarm, and tail section. FMF is producing a slip-on for $899 but it hasnt been released yet, probly within a month or so.

Here
http://www.leovinceusa.com/cart/search.php?Model=SM%20690&Make=KTM&Year=2007&Line=SBK

I actually went down going through an intersection this past weekend, nice and slow, just slid out when I hit some shale. It scratched the handlebar end and a tiny tiny scratch on the tail section and thats it, I was surprised.

I set the map on setting 2 after the break in period and she seems much more responsive and torquey. I like 2 a lot better than 3 but havent tried any of the others. (why does the manual only describe 1-3??)

I agree the akrapovic is extremely high, I could have added that $2200.00 to the price I paid for the bike and almost rode off on a SuperDuke with a lot more power.

Hate that you went down but good that you walked away from it.

I'm performing the 600 mile service tomorrow if I can finish the Ducati first. Then I'll be on the road the rest of the day.

"why does the manual only describe 1-3??)" I think its because the numbers go from 0 - 10 on the dial and it's stating the other numbers mean nothing. That would be my guess.

gearider

· #7 · Jun 15, 2008 (Edited)

I have a starting issue and wanted to know if you guys have experienced it.

When the bike is warmed up or cold, it will (sometimes) barely turn over, like the battery is dead. Then always on the second try, it fires up, like nothing was ever wrong.

I took it too the dealer which btw are the best I have ever worked with (Commonwealth Motorcycles located in Louisville, KY). They changed the battery, ran multiple tests and phoned KTM and nothing, the bike is perfect from that perspective. They did get it to happen 5 times while it was in the shop. However about every 3rd to 4th time I try to start it, it will just barely turn over. Once again, it ALWAYS starts on the second try, like nothing is wrong.

Commonwealth thinks the bike is at top dead center when this happens which does not open the compression release. It does sound possible to me. They phoned two of their customers with the 690 SM (basically same motor/transmission) and they said the motor sometimes did not start on the first attempt with them either but I could not pin down if were talking about the same thing.

Has anybody experienced this or should I ask for a new starter?

Many, many thanks for any answers you can give me on this. Outside of this one issue, this is the most fun bike I have ever ridden. Deals Gap hear I come.

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letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jun 16, 2008

gearider said:
I have a starting issue and wanted to know if you guys have experienced it.

When the bike is warmed up or cold, it will (sometimes) barely turn over, like the battery is dead. Then always on the second try, it fires up, like nothing was ever wrong.

I took it too the dealer which btw are the best I have ever worked with (Commonwealth Motorcycles located in Louisville, KY). They changed the battery, ran multiple tests and phoned KTM and nothing, the bike is perfect from that perspective. They did get it to happen 5 times while it was in the shop. However about every 3rd to 4th time I try to start it, it will just barely turn over. Once again, it ALWAYS starts on the second try, like nothing is wrong.

Commonwealth thinks the bike is at top dead center when this happens which does not open the compression release. It does sound possible to me. They phoned two of their customers with the 690 SM (basically same motor/transmission) and they said the motor sometimes did not start on the first attempt with them either but I could not pin down if were talking about the same thing.

Has anybody experienced this or should I ask for a new starter?

Many, many thanks for any answers you can give me on this. Outside of this one issue, this is the most fun bike I have ever ridden. Deals Gap hear I come.

check and make sure the wire on the starter is tight, mine was loose and the dealer told me several of their KTMs had that problem, the factory is forgetting to tighten it.

jsg1206

· #9 · Jul 1, 2008

Cycle World August 2008 issue 690 DUKE

for you fellow 690 Duke owner's out there, this month's Cycle World Shootout section features the Ducati 696 vs. KTM 690 Duke......... sorry Ducati lovers, you lose........ good article........ back to the exhaust question, has anyone found a good header / exhaust system other than Akrapovic's insanely priced system ?

gearider

· #10 · Jul 1, 2008

jsg1206 said:
for you fellow 690 Duke owner's out there, this month's Cycle World Shootout section features the Ducati 696 vs. KTM 690 Duke......... sorry Ducati lovers, you lose........ good article........ back to the exhaust question, has anyone found a good header / exhaust system other than Akrapovic's insanely priced system ?

I hope this doesn't come off as arrogant but I currently own both bikes, right down to the color's that Cycle World tested and they are right. The 696 feels somewhat sluggish. It reminds me of a late 80's, early 90's bike. the handlebars need to be pushed down in the curves. The Duke on the other hand falls into the curves and is the most fun bike I have ever ridden.

Don't get me wrong I love the Duc but I love the Duke more. Matter of fact I'm looking out my office window at it right now.

BTW, today I turned MAP setting to one. I think its suppose to take out something like 30% of the power. It's a very different bike on this setting, I like it but it had a hard time scooting past cars this morning on the parkway.

I'm heading to California the 18th of this month and if I could find a comfortable seat for the Duke, I would take it instead of the Duc.

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jcrocker

· #11 · Jul 2, 2008 (Edited)

Duke performance / seating

Cool I found a place where I can drool over my Duke in public ! Totally agreed on the pipes , this is the only other one I found , ( you have to babelfish this site as its in Italian )
I actually don't think it's alot cheaper than the Akro pipe
http://www.gpr.it/scheda.php?idcatveicolo=1&idveicolo=471

As for riding the long distance I put airhawk seat cushion on it for a 700 mile trip up highway 1 ( feels nice but cornering feels weird with it on )

Also took off the fender and got some custom satin paint ala rattlecan, Thinking it needs some sliders before it goes on the track ? Anyone look into that ?

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gearider

· #12 · Jul 2, 2008

jcrocker said:
Cool I found a place where I can drool over my Duke in public ! Totally agreed on the pipes , this is the only other one I found , ( you have to babelfish this site as its in Italian )
I actually don't think it's alot cheaper than the Akro pipe
http://www.gpr.it/scheda.php?idcatveicolo=1&idveicolo=471

As for riding the long distance I put airhawk seat cushion on it for a 700 mile trip up highway 1 ( feels nice but cornering feels weird with it on )

Also took off the fender and got some custom satin paint ala rattlecan, Thinking it needs some sliders before it goes on the track ? Anyone look into that ?

I like the bag setup, looks good. Also like the fender off, makes the rear end look sweet.

I agree about the airhawk. I had one on an old CB750 I had back in 2000. It never gave me the comfort I really wanted especially for the cost. And when I went into curves, I felt like I was sliding around on the seat.

How does your tires look? Mine rear is getting kind of thin at 1,000 miles. I figure I might get 1500 miles out of it. I'm thinking about going to Dunlop Roadsmart tires. I know I won't get the grip I got but the miles I will pile on this bike with make the stock tires too expensive.

letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 2, 2008

i just put on a Pirelli Diablo Strada rear @ 2000 miles, i love it. should get 4000 miles out of it i figure. I chopped the rear fender and relocated the license plate (not wholly legal) and i also removed the mirrors. I thought they looked too much like antlers. I'm trying to find some lower profile mirrors now, might have to fabricate something.

I'll post pics of it all soon. I have also been getting around 63mpg on the 2 dial setting.

jcrocker

· #14 · Jul 3, 2008

gearider said:
How does your tires look? Mine rear is getting kind of thin at 1,000 miles. I figure I might get 1500 miles out of it. I'm thinking about going to Dunlop Roadsmart tires. I know I won't get the grip I got but the miles I will pile on this bike with make the stock tires too expensive.

My tires look ok a 1500 , but I'm just geting the sides scrubbed out. I think the roadsmart would be a good choice , they got a good write up in Bike. I just ran some conti sport attacks on my mZ and they were great but squared off 2 quick . I try to get 3k out of the rear if I can ...

letsburnbridges said:
I chopped the rear fender and relocated the license plate (not wholly legal) and i also removed the mirrors. .

I got the fender eliminator from mustard bikes in australia , I don't think it's wholly legal here in Cal either... we'll see.

letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jul 8, 2008

here is what i did with the fender chop and relocated plate, Its just riveted onto the chain guard. I also removed the mirrors and ordered some flat black custom mirrors from some chopper website haha.

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JT Nesbitt

· #16 · Jul 11, 2008

My Duke is a Hazzard!

I sincerely hope that the Ktm Powers that be monitor this forum for customer feedback, as I have been unable to penetrate the lower eschelon at KTM USA, and convince them to help me.
There is a real problem with KTM fuel injection for the 690 Duke, NO ALTERNATE FUEL MAPS!!!
I bought a Brand new 690 Duke 4 months ago, and regretted my purchase almost immediately. The bike had no bottom end or midrange power, it had all of the excitement of a vespa at lower throttle positions. The whole reason that I wanted a street single is for that low end rush. Hell, a roachy SR500 would have dusted this thing stoplight to stoplight!
No problem I thought, I'll just uncork it and re tune the fuel injection for a fatter mix. It's the simple formula that any motorcycle guy with any level of experience knows is a sound and reasonable fix for restricted motorcycle engines (especially singles).
After getting the pipe set up, I was off to my dealer for a simple procedure known as a fuel injection map download. A re-tune if you will, of the fuel management to provide additional fuel for the now free-flowing exhaust. After all, this is KTM SPORTmotorcycles right?
Guess what fellas- Ktm doesn't even have control over their own fuel injection systems. The rely on aftermarket companies to tune their fuel injection! They are allowing their customers to be held hostage by third party companies.
This would never happen with a company like Triumph, who issue the dealers alternate fuel maps before the motorcycles even hit the dealer showroom.
Now I have a brand new, $10,000 motorcycle that is gathering dust, and KTM has a customer that is gathering resentment.
--JT Nesbitt
New Orleans

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letsburnbridges

Discussion Starter · #17 · Jul 11, 2008

JT Nesbitt said:
I sincerely hope that the Ktm Powers that be monitor this forum for customer feedback, as I have been unable to penetrate the lower eschelon at KTM USA, and convince them to help me.
There is a real problem with KTM fuel injection for the 690 Duke, NO ALTERNATE FUEL MAPS!!!
I bought a Brand new 690 Duke 4 months ago, and regretted my purchase almost immediately. The bike had no bottom end or midrange power, it had all of the excitement of a vespa at lower throttle positions. The whole reason that I wanted a street single is for that low end rush. Hell, a roachy SR500 would have dusted this thing stoplight to stoplight!
No problem I thought, I'll just uncork it and re tune the fuel injection for a fatter mix. It's the simple formula that any motorcycle guy with any level of experience knows is a sound and reasonable fix for restricted motorcycle engines (especially singles).
After getting the pipe set up, I was off to my dealer for a simple procedure known as a fuel injection map download. A re-tune if you will, of the fuel management to provide additional fuel for the now free-flowing exhaust. After all, this is KTM SPORTmotorcycles right?
Guess what fellas- Ktm doesn't even have control over their own fuel injection systems. The rely on aftermarket companies to tune their fuel injection! They are allowing their customers to be held hostage by third party companies.
This would never happen with a company like Triumph, who issue the dealers alternate fuel maps before the motorcycles even hit the dealer showroom.
Now I have a brand new, $10,000 motorcycle that is gathering dust, and KTM has a customer that is gathering resentment.
--JT Nesbitt
New Orleans

I honestly feel almost the exact opposite, my 690 has fantastic low-mid power. Did you know about the preset maps on the bike? Check your manual out on page 99, there is a dial with 9 settings, 1 being 30% reduction of power, 2 being high performance, and 3 being the default. Not sure what the other 6 or (if anything, possibly just room for additional maps later).

JT Nesbitt

· #18 · Jul 11, 2008

Fuel map

Read your manual dude. The adjustment knob you speak of is a trimpot for the ignition timing curve. It has nothing to do with the fuel injection map.
Apparently letsburnbridges hasn't ridden a hot rod single in a while. Honestly, guys, I know that we spent a lot of money for this motorcycle, but let's not merely justify our purchase, lets be honest. The 690 Duke needs alternate fuel maps, from KTM, from the manufacturer!! --JT

Danny_Two

· #19 · Jul 14, 2008

KTM own Akropovic, so if you buy the Akro pipe you'll get the fuel map with it that just need to be loaded into the bike.
Im not aware of anyone else making an aftermarket exhaust for the Duke.

JT Nesbitt

· #20 · Jul 14, 2008

You have got to be kidding me

So what you are saying is that KTM expects its customers to spend over $2,500 for an exhaust system for a SINGLE cylinder motorcycle? And until they fork over the cash, their bikes aren't going to run worth a damn?
For some perspective-- $1,500 buys you a full TIG outfit! You can make as many exhaust systems as you want! I made mine, and when I told the KTM rep that I MADE my pipe, he dismissed me like I had just drawn a mustache on the Mona Lisa.
All I need is a fuel map, $2,500 exhaust pipe?--no thanks. Hell I'm about to rip off the throttle body and replace it with a carb!
For what it's worth, even though my Duke is running super lean, It is WAY faster than the stock set-up. Let me say that again - WAY faster. I have power all over the place, low, mid, and high. The front wheel comes up at 1500 rpm now. The power delivery is a bit choppy and abrupt, she pops on deceleration (lean state of tune of course), and my spark plug looks like casper the not so friendly ghost, but man if there was ever a motorcycle that benefits from a de-restricted exhaust, It's this one.
Gentlemen, if you will allow me, I would like to give you my take on single cylinder motorcycle exhaust systems. It ain't subatomic particle physics. See there isn't a pesky merge collector to deal with (primary and secondary tuned lengths as for multis), so all we are talking about is one primary, length and width. In a racing application, where every fraction of horsepower counts, bring in the engineers. For the street, make the header as long as is practical, put on a free-flowing muffler and jet accordingly. OK so I might loose a couple of hp on the top end (verses the "factory engineered race exhaust" not epa approved stock version), and insead of loosing 10lb, I loose 9lb. So what? How often am I really going to rev my single cylinder motorcycle past it's powerband anyway? Dude, if I'm sweating 1lb on my streetbike, I should cut down on the bacon cheeseburgers first, right? It's called diminishing returns.
Ever take apart a high dollar exhaust cannister? It's a perforated tube with muffler packing. Same as the el-cheapo one you get from autozone for tuner car honda civics. Do you think that the exhaust gasses passing through that perforated tube know the difference? Do inanimate gasses decide to move faster or slower based on the label on the outside of a muffler?
What you are paying for with the Akropovic system is the luxury of a bolt on exhaust. I for one, do not require that luxury because I am a hot rod guy, not some euro-douche with fancy shoes and an ipod.
I guess that I am mad at myself for getting suckered in by KTM's marketing message. They portray themselves and their customers as rugged individualists, as opposed to Ducati's elitist user imagery.
AAHHH!! my head hurts!! KTM, just give me a freak'n fuel map download, PLEASE!!!! ---JT

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