There’s no disputing the performance prowess of the KTM 390 platform shared by the Duke, RC, and, more recently, the KTM 390 Adventure, and the current crop of KTM 390s is as reliable as any premium ride. Apart from the overheating problem, other reliability issues that plagued earlier 390 models are minor and easily fixed. All first-year bikes have teething issues, but KTM forums blew up with angry customers experiencing basic and sometimes catastrophic failures with their 790 bikes. It became a PR nightmare, and they needed the bike gone. Now, it is back, emissions-compliant (strangely), and ready to open a new chapter, conveniently leaving the past behind. Would stick with the Street Triple RS. Problem is, it's sold out everywhere. I believe dukes 790/890s are made by CF Moto in China, India makes 390s,200s, 250s,125s (rc,duke, adventures) First gen single cyl engines had a lot of problems but after 2017 I believe they fixed all the issues with the bikes. Click all of the links below if you want me to love you!What do you guys think? I think the 790 is an amazing first bike option!Subscribe here!: http://bit. Heaven is Japanese bikes. Reliable but a bit predictable and boring. The outer edges of hell belong to the bigger volume European bikes. Some reliability issues but exciting and a bit naughty (BMW and KTM). A special corner of hell is reserved for exotic European owners (MV, Ducati etc). You get the full workshop experience on a regular basis. The two places where KTM cut corners on the 790 Duke are pretty much agreed upon: the brakes and suspension. Fortunately, there were several good options available to address these issues. Rather than saying these were shortcomings in the Duke, I felt these were obvious clues as to where the next iteration of the 790 was heading. The Scalpel is back! Today I'm test riding the brand new 2023 KTM 790 Duke here at KD Motorcycles.This bike has been equipped with some optional extras. Find The suspension is just the right fit for the 790 Duke – some rougher roads may upset the applecart, but that’s going to cause issues across the motorcycling spectrum. Track time Save for a 30-minute afternoon final ‘shakedown’ at the end of the day, part two of the 790 Duke launch was on a local race track. 2017 Duke 390 owners, talk to me. Eyeballing a 2017 390 Duke. It's brand new at a dealer for $4799 + tax, which seems a decent deal. I've been riding ~10 years, started on CB550's/750s, then did a KLR, Harley 883, and a DRZ400SM. I loved the DRZ, and the KTM feels like all the things I liked about it plus some nice tech and more power. I test drove the 790 and was impressed with how smooth the power delivery was, but was it TOO smooth? Not enough of a test drive to know, but I'm leaning heavily towards the 790 at this point, given the reported reliability issues with the 690. Would much rather save $5kUS and get the 690 but the 790 might be too nice, and the 690 too unreliable. tF4ZaH.