Harley Davidson Street Rod 750 vs KTM Duke 390 in a drag race: Who wins? [Video]

The KTM Duke 390 is arguably one of the best and most sporty naked bikes one can get under Rs. 3 lakh in India. Not only does it look good but it also goes like a rocket when prodded. One of the strongest points of the Duke 390 is its low-end grunt, something that is yet to be matched by any other motorcycle in its segment and one above. This is one of the major factors in the popularity of KTM bikes in India as all of them have a very strong initial acceleration. However, does this orange fury from its makers in Austria has enough mettle to take on a Harley Davidson Street Rod 750? Let’s check out the video below to find that out.

Now the Duke 390 is a fairly powerful bike and quicker off the line than any other bike in its segment. The challenger here, though, is the Harley Davidson Street Rod 750 which is much more powerful than the naked KTM here along with being a twin-cylinder motorcycle. The only major disadvantage it has is its weight which is much higher than the Duke 390. The video above by Ayush Verma shows a result that I was expected from this drag race, considering all the pointers given above.

This drag race had a rolling start rather than the usual stop and go launches we see. Both the bikes were moving at around 45 km/h in third gear at the time the drag race started. Initially, the KTM Duke 390 takes a lead and zooms away like a rocket. The Street Rod follows closely on the Duke’s heels but simply can’t match the huge power to weight ratio advantage the Duke 390 has. The Duke 390 maintains its lead till around 155 km/h after which the Street Rod 750 overtakes it, making the whole scene look like a child’s play. So the Duke would have won the race had it been a quarter-mile drag but in the long run, the Street Rod is way ahead in terms of power and performance.

It is often said that there is no replacement for displacement and the same has been proved by the Harley Davidson Street Rod 750 in this drag race. Despite having a kerb weight of 238 kg, it outpaces the Duke 390 which has a kerb weight of 163 kg. The Duke, on the other hand, must be appreciated for it solid low and middle-end grunt through which it was able to keep the Street Rod at its heels for the major part of the race. Talking about specifications, the KTM Duke 390 is powered by a 373cc, liquid-cooled four-stroke single-cylinder petrol engine with 44 Bhp of peak power and 37 Nm of peak torque. A 6-speed manual gearbox with a slipper clutch is standard.

The Harley DavidsonStreet Rod 750, on the other hand, is powered by a more powerful 749cc, V-Twin, liquid-cooled engine. The engine churns out 70 Bhp of power along with 62 Nm of torque. It comes mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.