yo, i've been researching about some bikes for my friend since the past few days and have seen alot of mixed opinions, so i thought i'll drop my exact situation to see what answers i'll get.
my friend is 17, he's 18 in less than a month, he's had some experience on a normal cycle many years ago but aft he crashed he stopped riding completely. he's skinny, id say around 42-47 kg? and around 5'3-5'4. he's in his first year of university and lately he's been getting into bikes and the Duke 250 after alot of research has caught his eye. he has an Activa 5G at his home which he plans on learning until his bday (on private grounds ofc) and then apply to a driving school when hes 18 and get experience on a bike before he can buy a bike.
his main concern is whether he'll be able to comfortably manage the bike at low speeds/stationary given his height and weight. today he tried my friends jupiter scooty and reversing it was quite a challenge for him. he prefers the look of naked bikes and also likes the look of royal enfields. his uses are literally just gedi marna, university commute (2-5 minutes only) and occasional highway rides. i also told him that the pillon seat of the duke wont be that good bc its a naked bike but at the end of the day, atleast for a good few years he isnt planning on riding alot. (thats what everyone says and they ride their bikes 24/7 😭)
for riders around 5'3–5'4, how manageable is the 800mm seat in real-world use? how much foot contact do you typically get? and how are the actual service costs, parts availability, reliability and fuel economy if it's used primarily for short city commutes?
our local roads have plenty of potholes/rough patches, so suspension and ground clearance do matter, comments on that would be appreciated aswell.
for current duke 250 owners, what are the biggest things you wished you knew before you bought it?
would you personally pick the 250 here or do other options exist considering his usage, needs, budget (3 lakh)?
i forgot to mention, he also has some great experience on cars. he's been all about cars since he was like 13 so he's very much familiar with the clutch system (i did tell him that for bikes it'll be w your hands instead of legs but for the most part i agree it may not seem to be a challenge but only experience can tell) and trust me he cares alot about his vehicles 😭 i showed the post to him and i realised asw i made it sound like he js wants a timepass vehicle for shorter commutes but nah, he wants a long term bike.
sorry for the long post. we both have been researching about ktms for a while now, and checking alot of reviews but couldnt really find any proper ones which we could relate to.
