2024 KTM Duke 390 HUGE Updates: Power, Tech, Suspension!

KTM are updating their little Dukes for 2024 and honestly we’re seeing some pretty nice improvements, with the focus of this video being the 390 Duke.

An interesting update is the move to a 399 cc ‘LC4c’ version of their single-cylinder powerplant, adding 4 mm of stroke but retaining the same bore, with a performance increase hinted at but not substantiated. A little internet sleuthing reveals an increase of 1 kW and 2 Nm of torque.

Perhaps bigger news is the EURO 5.2 emissions standard being met, helping future-proof the Duke’s sales. Apparently that’s a completely redesigned powerplant, with optimised head and gearbox, but details are exceedingly light, apart from the claim of being more powerful and… lighter.

This is backed up Ride Modes, with Street and Rain modes, as well as a Track screen mode, tied into a Launch Control system. Cornering Traction Control is also now standard, and the TFT display has been updated, now running a different 5 inch unit. In Track display mode, you guessed it, you get just the basic info you’d need.

The chassis also gets a pretty big overhaul, with a new two-piece trellis street frame and pressure die-cast subframe, as well as a curved swingarm, which makes room for the shock.

A new seat also helps reduce seat height from the previous 830 mm down to a more manageable 820 mm, although the removal of a spacer can drop that further to 800 mm, and you’ll see the cutout on the bike, where the lowered seat will end up. That’s a nice quality of life change for shorter riders.

Also on the chassis side of things are the adoption of up-spec 43 mm WP Apex forks, now mirroring what we’ve seen on the Husky 401s and KTM RC 390 for a while, with rebound and compression adjustment clickers on the top of the forks. To be honest I was kinda shocked to realise the Duke didn’t already have this. Likewise the shock is now the preload adjustable unit with rebound clicker, pushing the 390 Duke up to the top of the class as far as tech and suspension adjustability. Suspension travel is a generous 150 mm front and rear.

The brake systems are largely left alone, except some tweaks to include more anodised parts to reduce wear and prevent corrosion, and to be fair the four-pot caliper and 320 mm rotor has been the comparison point for the class for a while. Apparently that rear caliper becomes a twin-piston caliper for 2024 though.

There’s no pricing information available at this stage, but I’d expect a bump over the 2023 with all those improvements. Working to KTM’s benefit and of course their Husqvarna models, is that they are very competitive in this segment to start with, meaning they are in a good place whichever way you look at it.

For us Aussies, arrival is late Q1 of 2024, January onwards in the UK and September for select markets, with no release shown for North America. But let me know what you think of the new Duke 390 and whether you’ll be buying one!

Images courtesy of KTM, by KISKA & Rudi Schedl

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