Quote:
Originally Posted by SV650rules
The bike I had before the SV was a Suzuki DRZ400-SM it had pretty much the same power as the KTM 390 but only weighed 135Kg, it was a fun bike and handled really well ( the Super Motard has 17" road tyres ). Problem for me was the 37" seat height as I am only 5' 8" - and I could only ever get one tippy-toe down, that bike was a hoot to ride - but on the roads the SV is much better and you don't have to thrash it to keep up with faster traffic, and the lower gearing on the naked SV AL7 means it is like a rat up a drainpipe to 60mph...
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From all that I've read (Manufacturer's claims and dyno charts) I think the DRZ is about 6bhp down. (39bhp at the crank for the DRZ, 45 for the 390 Duke). Thing is 6bhp is actually quite a lot when you are talking 350 to 400cc singles. I once owned an immaculate DR350SE (with a supposed 30bhp at the crank) and the performance out on a NSL dual carriageway was glacial. i know the DRZ was noted as a significant improvement over the DR - it would definitely need to be to have anything resembling performance
. You've also got a much more tucked in riding position on the 390 Duke than a DRZ.
With electronic fuel injection, the 390 is a much more modern engine than the DRZ. It is an utterly brilliant design performance wise, but also one that (like alot of other modern small capacity engines) is built down to a price in a 3rd world country (India) using locally sourced components.........
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave20046
Maybe I don't ride enough modern bikes. I remember going from the SV to an SRAD and thinking wtf is this hippo I'm muscling round corners. My 1200 is about 100kg heavier too which probably tainted my point of view. I think if you compare it to similar tourers or powered bikes it would come up light though - bandit 600? Monster 900?
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Another KTM (the 690 duke) has mid seventies bhp and weighs 20 to 30kg less (depending on which SV you are talking about).
Also unlike the 390, the 690 is still made in Austria, so there's a much higher chance of it getting to a 5 figure mileage before needing a rebuild. i would absolutely LOVE one, but am still worried that it would be very hard not to ride it like an idiot 80% of the time (which is pretty much how I used to ride the 640 Duke2 supermoto that still resides in my garage, as it is pretty much how they work best
)
The fun factor on the little 390 is rather more "innocent" but no less infectious. If only they made them properly.....
