KTM 390 Duke modified into an off-road friendly adventure tourer: BEST in India?

The KTM 390 Duke Adventure is one of the most awaited bikes in the country since long. Based on the 390 Duke, the Adventure version is an adventure tourer that has many enthusiasts in line to buy it. The bike has been spotted in its final phase of testing and will be launched this year only. However, a lot of modifiers and enthusiasts have already started working on their 390 Duke in order to turn it into an adventurer tourer and we have seen some good examples that have spun off due to this. The latest on the list is this very cleanly modified 390 Duke that gets all the adventure tourer kit that the bike needed. Take a look at the video below by HDT Customs, before we get onto the details of this mod job.

Without a doubt, this is arguably one of the best 390 Duke base adventure tourers in the country we have seen lately. The bike was made on special order by the owner of this KTM 390 Duke. The modifiers of this bike, HDT Customs have experience in building adventure tourers based on the Duke motorcycle series and have earlier made a 200 Duke based adventure tourer too, which is also shown on the video alongside its 390 Duke counterpart. Let’s now take a look at what all has been done on the bike to turn it into this Avatar.

One of the most challenging tasks for the mod guys was to replace the stock suspension with a unit borrowed from the Royal Enfield Himalayan and then calibrating it to work perfectly on the Duke. The ABS adjustment and calibration was another task that took time but they made sure that there is no space or any error. The bike now runs on spoked aluminium rims which are shoed on with off-road spec tires. The front end gets a beak type fender along with a windshield and auxiliary lights.

The ride height of the bike has been enhanced along with the ground clearance which makes it better when off the road. The whole look of the bike has been inspired by the KTM Duke 790 Adventure, which is one of the best mid-level adventure tourers. The exhaust is the same exhaust unit but gets a smaller catalytic converter along with altered piping. This gives a throatier note along with improving ground clearance.

According to the guys at HDT Customs who made this bike happen, the total cost of the project was around Rs. 1.5 lakhs and it took them four months to complete the project. That is some serious money to be put on a bike that comes for nearly Rs. 2.50 lakhs without taxes but the owner seemed to quite happy and that’s what it is all about.