KTM’s Duke range of naked motorcycles are anything but ordinary. Both the Duke 200 and the 390 are razor sharp handlers, more powerful than their competition, and most importantly, they are priced competitively which explains why we see so many of them on our roads. Now for 2017, KTM has given us yet another Duke sibling, the 250 Duke. Although KTM did not initially plan to bring the 250 to India, the new 2017 390 Duke has gotten more features and become more expensive in the process. This has created a bit of a vacuum in the pricing with the 200 and the 390 Dukes. And that’s where the 250 Duke comes in.
The 250 Duke shares most of its bodywork and styling with the new 2017 390. Both get a new two-part trellis frame and a 13.5-litre fuel-tank. This new look for the bike appears a fair bit more aggressive than the older Duke design. What really sets the 250 apart from the 390, besides the obvious numeric decals, is the headlight. The 250 Duke misses out on the split LED headlight setup the 390 version gets. It also gives the all-new TFT instrument console seen on the 2017 390 Duke a miss. Instead, it makes do with the same digital unit as the 200 Duke. Another point of differentiation is the blacked out wheels on the 250 Duke.