I found this PDF which has the MRP of almost all parts for our bikes. Many of these are multiplied by a factor of 2 or 3 but it gives a ball park idea of what the prices are
MRP Bajaj(1) - PDFCOFFEE.COM
MRP Bajaj(1) - PDFCOFFEE.COM
Living With KTM Duke 390 BS-IV (2017)
- Thread Starter sacbiker
- Start date
Thread Starter
#17
This site has the same problem as the PDF I referred to with the MRP being in multiples.
The most accurate is to check in 99RPM for any parts common with bajaj. If the parts are KTM specific, I consult the PDF and take a guess what the price will be.
That said, I have a theory on the multiples. If you check on the part number of JG131802 which I have purchased, it comes in a pack of 10 bolts and it is multiplied by 10 on the website
The most accurate is to check in 99RPM for any parts common with bajaj. If the parts are KTM specific, I consult the PDF and take a guess what the price will be.
That said, I have a theory on the multiples. If you check on the part number of JG131802 which I have purchased, it comes in a pack of 10 bolts and it is multiplied by 10 on the website
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Its better to change the coolant at every 10k kms and change the brake fluid with every brake pad change.
That would work but the thumb rule to follow is to replace both the friction and steel plates together. Cause if by chance the steel plates are out of spec then it would cause your clutch to prematurely give away.
Plus they do not cost much to begin, here's a snap of new vs about ~50k km's old clutch plates on my CT100B, as you can see my steel plates are really burnt and beat out of shape;
Now you could let the center hub and basket be if they do not have grooves, if they do then it would make sense to have it replaced. There are jugads done to extend life but they're not worth it, plus it is an aluminum part.
Notice grooves in my P220's hub;
The basket also had noticeable grooves but I for the love of me cannot find that pic.
Not sure about KTM but for Bajaj they do sell the entire clutch as a kit, basically pull the old one out and put the new one in, so had gone for it when I'd changed clutch on my P220 at around ~50k on the odo;
If you do notice any groves on your hub then it is best to get such a kit if KTM does provide the same. It would cost a bit more but the peace of mind on offer would definitely be worth it.
Ride Safe!
Plus they do not cost much to begin, here's a snap of new vs about ~50k km's old clutch plates on my CT100B, as you can see my steel plates are really burnt and beat out of shape;
Now you could let the center hub and basket be if they do not have grooves, if they do then it would make sense to have it replaced. There are jugads done to extend life but they're not worth it, plus it is an aluminum part.
Notice grooves in my P220's hub;
The basket also had noticeable grooves but I for the love of me cannot find that pic.
Not sure about KTM but for Bajaj they do sell the entire clutch as a kit, basically pull the old one out and put the new one in, so had gone for it when I'd changed clutch on my P220 at around ~50k on the odo;
If you do notice any groves on your hub then it is best to get such a kit if KTM does provide the same. It would cost a bit more but the peace of mind on offer would definitely be worth it.
Ride Safe!
HI,
390 is one of the great motorcycles.
Light weight, Super Braking, Power Power Power. Taking the curves is confident inspiring.
But People Stamped the motorcycle with bad impressions because of some riders doing good speeds in crowded places, cities, and doing wheeling in public roads.
390 is one of the great motorcycles.
Light weight, Super Braking, Power Power Power. Taking the curves is confident inspiring.
But People Stamped the motorcycle with bad impressions because of some riders doing good speeds in crowded places, cities, and doing wheeling in public roads.
Thread Starter
#22
T
Thanks. I don't have the required tools to replace the hub. So, I have decided to give the bike to a professional and have him inspect the hub. Will change the whole clutch if it needs to be changed.
Interestingly, something else I noticed is that the clutch slips a lot more when the engine is relatively cold. After the bike has fully warmed up, it barely slips.
I can 100% agree with this. This bike and its orange color have become the sign on squid and chapri riders everywhere. TBH, at times I really feel embarrassed when people eye me as one of those kinds.
I think this phenomenon is worldwide. For example, in the US, gixxer and busa riders seem similar. And for cars, Mustang and Charger drivers!
The point is that, when there is affordable performance on sale, people from all walks of life tend to get attracted to it. Especially when used ones are available for an even cheaper price.
Thanks. I don't have the required tools to replace the hub. So, I have decided to give the bike to a professional and have him inspect the hub. Will change the whole clutch if it needs to be changed.
Interestingly, something else I noticed is that the clutch slips a lot more when the engine is relatively cold. After the bike has fully warmed up, it barely slips.
I can 100% agree with this. This bike and its orange color have become the sign on squid and chapri riders everywhere. TBH, at times I really feel embarrassed when people eye me as one of those kinds.
I think this phenomenon is worldwide. For example, in the US, gixxer and busa riders seem similar. And for cars, Mustang and Charger drivers!
The point is that, when there is affordable performance on sale, people from all walks of life tend to get attracted to it. Especially when used ones are available for an even cheaper price.
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Thread Starter
#23
There has been a lot happening lately with KTMs in our circle.
My Duke 390
Drilled out the broken bolt using a 3mm bit and installed a new crash guard.
The new crash guard did not align correctly with the screw holes at first. There was a few mm difference. I had to bend it using a car jack to make it align correctly with the chassis.
While fitting the crash guard, I saw the radiator bleeding screw of the bike and thought to loosen it slightly and see if there was any air in the system. I have never opened this before in my life even while changing the coolant.
I only came to know about this bleeding screw recently when I was reading the workshop manual before I changed the coolant in my friend's RC390.
After I loosened it and the coolant started dripping out, I tried to close it. Lo and behold it keeps on spinning forever. There was barely any thread in it. I was dumbstruck by this!
How in the world can this happen? I was so disappointed in myself that I touched it!
There have been similar cases reported before in various forums where the radiator came stripped like this supposedly from the factory!
I can say that this was the reason for the 6-month long coolant disappearing scandal in my bike while I got it!
I believe they even found this out and did some jugaad to stop the leak since they were not ready to accept that the radiator bleed screw was stripped since they thought the KTM service center would be blamed for it.
The fix is to use some rethreading tool to rethread it to the next size or to get a new radiator for about 4K.
For now, I was able to put it back with some Teflon tape and it has been holding well. But this is definitely not a fix and only first aid.
RC390
After the coolant change in the RC390, my friend reported some burning smell. Turned out to be the drain tube from the EVAP canister that was rubbing with the exhaust.
There was supposed to be a clip in the fairing to hold it. But that clip was disappearing from the fairing(fallen off?). So, we never tucked it in anywhere.
This resulted in the tube getting burnt. Tried to get a replacement from the service center and as usual, it was not in stock.
Cut off the burnt part (and about 20mL of petrol fell down) and tied it to the frame with a zip tie away from the exhaust.
I have no idea why KTM would put a fuel drain line right over the red-hot exhaust! In my Duke 390, this is situated at the right side tank cover, far from the exhaust.
Once that was done, I went on to bleed the brake fluid of the RC390. Both front and rear were bled. There were some black particles in the rear old brake fluid.
As for the 'ABS Failure' error in the speedo, the OBD scanner returned no errors.
All fuses were OK.
Lifted the front wheel of the bike off the floor and spun it. The speedo was showing 0. The rear wheel spin was showing speed in the speedo.
Swapped the speed sensor from another Husqvarna Svartpilen 250 which belongs to a friend(since I did not have my bike at that time). And ABS was working fine.
The RC390 also never wanted to go into the 1st gear. The friend with the Husqvarna Svartpilen (who also has a Duke 200, he rebuilt the whole engine himself) was able to adjust the shifter linkage of the RC390 and solve the issue.
The rear right indicator is also broken which needs replacement.
Duke 250
There was also a Duke 250 in the house which belonged to his brother and had miss firings at times.
Scanned it with the OBD.
Got the following error code.
It is pretty self-explanatory. The sensor might have gone bad or some issue with wiring and the vehicle is not able to identify the Crankshaft's position.
Since checking and replacing this sensor was outside my technical skill as the left side engine cover had to be opened to access the sensor, decided to stop the diagnosis at this point.
Would have probably opened it if it was my own bike.![[;)]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Wink.gif "Wink [;)]")
(I accidentally closed the tab while typing this at this point, but whatever I had written was autosaved. Thanks to the developer who made this feature!)
Went on to flush the brake fluid of the D250, was easier since it did not have ABS and the new fluid came out through the bleeding screw so much faster.
Duke 200
Another Duke 200 friend who was present there was so furious about the bill he got for giving his bike to a superbike service center in Trivandrum.![[lol]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Laugh.gif "Laugh [lol]")
Sharing the bill here.
12.5K in total. 7.5K in labor charges.
BS3 RC390
Another friend with a BS3 first gen RC390 is planning to sell it now. The bike has not been used for several years as he is working abroad.
I have to make that bike in a sellable condition soon. Will update you about that as well on this thread since all these are essentially the same bike!
Why do we do it?
Why do we put on with all these headaches and still own these bikes?
For moments like this.
A short ride to Vellanikal Hill.
17 years of friendship which started from the 5th standard. We have lived in different cities since. But the common passion for motorcycles has kept us connected till now while I don't even know anyone else from school now. Both of us started out in FZ, rebored it to 180cc and blew both engines.![[shock]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Shock.gif "Shock [shock]")
. We started to dream for a 390 from 2013 when it was first launched. We were able to get ours in 2017 and 2018. Currently, intentionally delaying superbike plans till the roads are in a better shape.
My Duke 390
Drilled out the broken bolt using a 3mm bit and installed a new crash guard.
The new crash guard did not align correctly with the screw holes at first. There was a few mm difference. I had to bend it using a car jack to make it align correctly with the chassis.
While fitting the crash guard, I saw the radiator bleeding screw of the bike and thought to loosen it slightly and see if there was any air in the system. I have never opened this before in my life even while changing the coolant.
I only came to know about this bleeding screw recently when I was reading the workshop manual before I changed the coolant in my friend's RC390.
After I loosened it and the coolant started dripping out, I tried to close it. Lo and behold it keeps on spinning forever. There was barely any thread in it. I was dumbstruck by this!
How in the world can this happen? I was so disappointed in myself that I touched it!
There have been similar cases reported before in various forums where the radiator came stripped like this supposedly from the factory!
I can say that this was the reason for the 6-month long coolant disappearing scandal in my bike while I got it!
- My coolant only used to disappear from the reservoir. There used to be coolant to the brim of the radiator cap.
- The issue was not resolved despite changing the head gasket and water pump seals.
- There was no sign of coolant mixed with the oil ever.
I believe they even found this out and did some jugaad to stop the leak since they were not ready to accept that the radiator bleed screw was stripped since they thought the KTM service center would be blamed for it.
The fix is to use some rethreading tool to rethread it to the next size or to get a new radiator for about 4K.
For now, I was able to put it back with some Teflon tape and it has been holding well. But this is definitely not a fix and only first aid.
RC390
After the coolant change in the RC390, my friend reported some burning smell. Turned out to be the drain tube from the EVAP canister that was rubbing with the exhaust.
There was supposed to be a clip in the fairing to hold it. But that clip was disappearing from the fairing(fallen off?). So, we never tucked it in anywhere.
This resulted in the tube getting burnt. Tried to get a replacement from the service center and as usual, it was not in stock.
Cut off the burnt part (and about 20mL of petrol fell down) and tied it to the frame with a zip tie away from the exhaust.
I have no idea why KTM would put a fuel drain line right over the red-hot exhaust! In my Duke 390, this is situated at the right side tank cover, far from the exhaust.
Once that was done, I went on to bleed the brake fluid of the RC390. Both front and rear were bled. There were some black particles in the rear old brake fluid.
As for the 'ABS Failure' error in the speedo, the OBD scanner returned no errors.
All fuses were OK.
Lifted the front wheel of the bike off the floor and spun it. The speedo was showing 0. The rear wheel spin was showing speed in the speedo.
Swapped the speed sensor from another Husqvarna Svartpilen 250 which belongs to a friend(since I did not have my bike at that time). And ABS was working fine.
The RC390 also never wanted to go into the 1st gear. The friend with the Husqvarna Svartpilen (who also has a Duke 200, he rebuilt the whole engine himself) was able to adjust the shifter linkage of the RC390 and solve the issue.
The rear right indicator is also broken which needs replacement.
Duke 250
There was also a Duke 250 in the house which belonged to his brother and had miss firings at times.
Scanned it with the OBD.
Got the following error code.
It is pretty self-explanatory. The sensor might have gone bad or some issue with wiring and the vehicle is not able to identify the Crankshaft's position.
Since checking and replacing this sensor was outside my technical skill as the left side engine cover had to be opened to access the sensor, decided to stop the diagnosis at this point.
Would have probably opened it if it was my own bike.
(I accidentally closed the tab while typing this at this point, but whatever I had written was autosaved. Thanks to the developer who made this feature!)
Went on to flush the brake fluid of the D250, was easier since it did not have ABS and the new fluid came out through the bleeding screw so much faster.
Duke 200
Another Duke 200 friend who was present there was so furious about the bill he got for giving his bike to a superbike service center in Trivandrum.
Sharing the bill here.
12.5K in total. 7.5K in labor charges.
BS3 RC390
Another friend with a BS3 first gen RC390 is planning to sell it now. The bike has not been used for several years as he is working abroad.
I have to make that bike in a sellable condition soon. Will update you about that as well on this thread since all these are essentially the same bike!
Why do we do it?
Why do we put on with all these headaches and still own these bikes?
For moments like this.
A short ride to Vellanikal Hill.
17 years of friendship which started from the 5th standard. We have lived in different cities since. But the common passion for motorcycles has kept us connected till now while I don't even know anyone else from school now. Both of us started out in FZ, rebored it to 180cc and blew both engines.
. We started to dream for a 390 from 2013 when it was first launched. We were able to get ours in 2017 and 2018. Currently, intentionally delaying superbike plans till the roads are in a better shape.
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Thread Starter
#24
Not a maintenance post.
I wanted to share an incident that happened to me last week while I was returning home from work.
It was a wide-open one-way road at around 80-90 kph on my Duke 390. As soon as I overtook a car, a dog came running across the road through the front of the car.
I panic braked and hit the dog at the same time since it was so close.
The front wheel of the bike ran over the dog and the dog came out through the other side of the bike before the rear wheel could run over the dog.
The dog's head hit the back side of my leg. Neither I, the bike nor the dog had any visible injuries.
It is only the ABS that saved me yet again in this event. The moment the wheel touched the road after running over the dog, I had it fully braked, and if there was no ABS, it would have skidded.
If I recall correctly, the impact shook the whole bike and the front landed on road at an angle. Yet, it didn't skid. I take this moment to thank all of who those were behind the design of this system.
It was a huge decision for me to buy a Duke 390 over a Yamaha R3 in 2017. ABS was the only reason I did it. ABS has saved my life multiple times on this bike.
Always buy a bike or car with as many safety features as you could.
I wanted to share an incident that happened to me last week while I was returning home from work.
It was a wide-open one-way road at around 80-90 kph on my Duke 390. As soon as I overtook a car, a dog came running across the road through the front of the car.
I panic braked and hit the dog at the same time since it was so close.
The front wheel of the bike ran over the dog and the dog came out through the other side of the bike before the rear wheel could run over the dog.
The dog's head hit the back side of my leg. Neither I, the bike nor the dog had any visible injuries.
It is only the ABS that saved me yet again in this event. The moment the wheel touched the road after running over the dog, I had it fully braked, and if there was no ABS, it would have skidded.
If I recall correctly, the impact shook the whole bike and the front landed on road at an angle. Yet, it didn't skid. I take this moment to thank all of who those were behind the design of this system.
It was a huge decision for me to buy a Duke 390 over a Yamaha R3 in 2017. ABS was the only reason I did it. ABS has saved my life multiple times on this bike.
Always buy a bike or car with as many safety features as you could.
Thread Starter
#25
THE MOTUL 7100 CURSE
I had to change the engine oil for the 390 earlier than I anticipated due to the Motul 7100 dropping to a low level yet again. In a span of 10 months and about 2500 km, I had to top up with 400ml of oil.
While I drained the oil, I got only about 1.4L. Considering that around 100ml of oil stays back in the engine and gets absorbed in the oil filter, there is a loss of about 500ml in 2500km.
I did some digging around on the internet over the same issue and I found countless people complaining about the same issue with motorcycles of different brands and engine capacities.
Some of them are given below.
The Sportztourer
Reported the issue with,
Travel Hunter
Reported the issue with
Highly unprofessional, considering the fact that previously I have had even the Technical Head of some other Oil brand replying to me on a query.
I am putting an end to my time with Motul 7100 after 9 years of using it until the company stops acting as if nothing is happening and fixes this issue.
As was previously reported by many, this issue started cropping up after Motul started manufacturing the 7100 in India.
For the current oil change, I used Shell Advance Ultra 15W-50. I felt that the gear shift is not as smooth as the 7100. Everything else is good.
The heating is slightly lower. The bike is able to cruise at lower RPMs slightly easier than 7100.
I had to change the engine oil for the 390 earlier than I anticipated due to the Motul 7100 dropping to a low level yet again. In a span of 10 months and about 2500 km, I had to top up with 400ml of oil.
While I drained the oil, I got only about 1.4L. Considering that around 100ml of oil stays back in the engine and gets absorbed in the oil filter, there is a loss of about 500ml in 2500km.
I did some digging around on the internet over the same issue and I found countless people complaining about the same issue with motorcycles of different brands and engine capacities.
Some of them are given below.
The Sportztourer
Reported the issue with,
- Honda CD Dawn 110CC
- Bajaj Pulsar AS200
- Honda Unicorn
- Suzuki Gixxer 150
- Honda Hornet 160R
- Yamaha FZS
- Bajaj Pulsar 150
- TVS Apache 200
- Hero Pleasure
- Bajaj Discover
- Bajaj Pulsar 180
- Bajaj Pulsar 200 NS
- TVS Jupiter
- Bajaj Pulsar 220F
Travel Hunter
Reported the issue with
- Honda Dio
- Suzuki Gixxer
- Apache
- KTM Duke 390 BS3
- KTM RC390 BS4
- KTM Duke 200 BS3
- KTM RC390 BS3
- Husqvarna Vitpilen 250
- KTM Duke 250
Highly unprofessional, considering the fact that previously I have had even the Technical Head of some other Oil brand replying to me on a query.
I am putting an end to my time with Motul 7100 after 9 years of using it until the company stops acting as if nothing is happening and fixes this issue.
As was previously reported by many, this issue started cropping up after Motul started manufacturing the 7100 in India.
For the current oil change, I used Shell Advance Ultra 15W-50. I felt that the gear shift is not as smooth as the 7100. Everything else is good.
The heating is slightly lower. The bike is able to cruise at lower RPMs slightly easier than 7100.
I think these issues are very much "your-engine-specific" and cannot be generalised. I have an almost 120 year old duke 390 and have done 2500+KM on it with Motul 300V. The oil is still green, looks new and has barely reduced by 100ml since initial fillup with a slight oil weep from the wire that comes from the stator out of the magnet side cover.
I have a friend with a brand new 390 adventure having very high oil consumption issues as well.
I have a friend with a brand new 390 adventure having very high oil consumption issues as well.
I think the issues are with Made-in-India Motuls, after their recent switch, especially 5100 and 7100. Earlier ones were Made in France and later Indonesia, if I remember right. I too faced drop in oil in 390 and two ZMAs, all of which were running on 7100s for quite long time and drop with recent batches. My FZ boy was also on running on 5100, which dropped to the tip of the dipstick and topping up with 200 mL bought it to the minimum level, all at around 2.5 k km. None of these bike had smoking issues, but started having drinking problem ![[cheers]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Cheers.gif "Cheers [cheers]")
. I too made a switch to Shell Advance Ultra. Been a Motul boy whenever I could, but the trust is gone.
. I too made a switch to Shell Advance Ultra. Been a Motul boy whenever I could, but the trust is gone.
I think the issues are with Made-in-India Motuls, after their recent switch, especially 5100 and 7100. Earlier ones were Made in France and later Indonesia, if I remember right. I too faced drop in oil in 390 and two ZMAs, all of which were running on 7100s for quite long time and drop with recent batches. My FZ boy was also on running on 5100, which dropped to the tip of the dipstick and topping up with 200 mL bought it to the minimum level, all at around 2.5 k km. None of these bike had smoking issues, but started having drinking problem . I too made a switch to Shell Advance Ultra. Been a Motul boy whenever I could, but the trust is gone.
. I too made a switch to Shell Advance Ultra. Been a Motul boy whenever I could, but the trust is gone.
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Friend of mine got abundant stock of Made in France 7100s and used to get from him, but hearing the story, he reserved the full stock for self use
300V is still Made in France. There was a confusion between 300V and Shell Advance, but price factor favoured for Shell. 300V was great. Used 2 times on Duke. If any day 300V price drops significantly, just trigger my impulse too![[evil]](https://www.theautomotiveindia.com/forums/images/smilies/Evil.gif "Evil [evil]")
300V is still Made in France. There was a confusion between 300V and Shell Advance, but price factor favoured for Shell. 300V was great. Used 2 times on Duke. If any day 300V price drops significantly, just trigger my impulse too
Thread Starter
#30
It's been 6 years with the 390 and I have been using the same helmet I bought along with the bike all these years. It is a HJC CL-17. (Bought for 9K)
Did not age really well. The hinges for the visor broke and the visor part which attaches to the hinge also wore out.
None of the dealers had it in stock in India. I had to spend around 5K to import both of these parts from the US to fix this.
I did this only because there were no other SNELL-rated helmets available under 10K anymore.
A year later, the linings which were stuck onto the body started falling off. Enough was enough and I decided to retire the HJC.
I guess this happened because I used to remove the liner to wash them occasionally.
I am no longer riding like I used to do years ago and my passion for riding and bikes is nowhere as close to as what it used to be.
So, I am not at all updated about what all are the available brands and models available now. A lot of new brands have popped up in the last few years. A close friend of mine recommended SMK.
Secondly, I was also tired of carrying the helmet in my hand rather than locking it on the bike because of the fear of someone stealing it or damaging the visor.
I also had this wish to get AGV K1 for a long time. It was super light and ergonomic.
There are a lot of helmets available internationally, but not here in India due to higher import taxes. So cheap in US and UK when compared to India!
So, I decided to buy a budget helmet for day-to-day use and get a 'costly' helmet later which I feel like researching about it!
I searched 'budget helmet' on youtube and this helmet, Vega Bolt caught my eye. It had a sleek design which some say is a copycat of AGV.
It came with both ISI and DOT ratings. There is a hammer test for this helmet on Youtube and it performed really well, in fact, better than some helmets which cost twice!
Later I found out that a lot of kids are getting gloss black Vega bolts and sticking AGV stickers these days!
I wanted a color that was not dark, since it can get way hotter than a lightly colored helmet under the sun.
I searched for a color scheme that had orange in it to match the bike.
There are a lot of graphics available for this model including Marvel Superhero Editions. All were retailing for under Rs. 2000.
I found an orangish graphic listed on Amazon for Rs.1589. Ordered it right away with my size (M).
Got it the next day and I was dumbstruck!
Let the photos do the talking.
Without a doubt, this is the best 1589 bucks I have spent in my life. I tried registering the warranty and Vega is like, here is a free complimentary 1L ICICI life insurance for you for a year!
This is really a proud moment for me as an Indian as well. 5 years ago if we wanted to get a decent helmet, LS2, MT, HJC, AGV etc used to be the options. It was kind of like a crime to think of getting an 'inferior' Indian helmet.
Time has flown and it is no longer the same India. The import restrictions are paying off. We are seeing a lot of in-house brands coming up with innovative well-designed products.
To all the kids who are getting these helmets and sticking Rs. 50 AGV stickers on them, this is all I have to say, proudly wear the Vega, Made in India brand name on your head, there is no shame in it.
I recommend this helmet to anyone out there looking for a budget helmet.
Did not age really well. The hinges for the visor broke and the visor part which attaches to the hinge also wore out.
None of the dealers had it in stock in India. I had to spend around 5K to import both of these parts from the US to fix this.
I did this only because there were no other SNELL-rated helmets available under 10K anymore.
A year later, the linings which were stuck onto the body started falling off. Enough was enough and I decided to retire the HJC.
I guess this happened because I used to remove the liner to wash them occasionally.
I am no longer riding like I used to do years ago and my passion for riding and bikes is nowhere as close to as what it used to be.
So, I am not at all updated about what all are the available brands and models available now. A lot of new brands have popped up in the last few years. A close friend of mine recommended SMK.
Secondly, I was also tired of carrying the helmet in my hand rather than locking it on the bike because of the fear of someone stealing it or damaging the visor.
I also had this wish to get AGV K1 for a long time. It was super light and ergonomic.
There are a lot of helmets available internationally, but not here in India due to higher import taxes. So cheap in US and UK when compared to India!
So, I decided to buy a budget helmet for day-to-day use and get a 'costly' helmet later which I feel like researching about it!
I searched 'budget helmet' on youtube and this helmet, Vega Bolt caught my eye. It had a sleek design which some say is a copycat of AGV.
It came with both ISI and DOT ratings. There is a hammer test for this helmet on Youtube and it performed really well, in fact, better than some helmets which cost twice!
Later I found out that a lot of kids are getting gloss black Vega bolts and sticking AGV stickers these days!
I wanted a color that was not dark, since it can get way hotter than a lightly colored helmet under the sun.
I searched for a color scheme that had orange in it to match the bike.
There are a lot of graphics available for this model including Marvel Superhero Editions. All were retailing for under Rs. 2000.
I found an orangish graphic listed on Amazon for Rs.1589. Ordered it right away with my size (M).
Got it the next day and I was dumbstruck!
Let the photos do the talking.
Without a doubt, this is the best 1589 bucks I have spent in my life. I tried registering the warranty and Vega is like, here is a free complimentary 1L ICICI life insurance for you for a year!
This is really a proud moment for me as an Indian as well. 5 years ago if we wanted to get a decent helmet, LS2, MT, HJC, AGV etc used to be the options. It was kind of like a crime to think of getting an 'inferior' Indian helmet.
Time has flown and it is no longer the same India. The import restrictions are paying off. We are seeing a lot of in-house brands coming up with innovative well-designed products.
To all the kids who are getting these helmets and sticking Rs. 50 AGV stickers on them, this is all I have to say, proudly wear the Vega, Made in India brand name on your head, there is no shame in it.
I recommend this helmet to anyone out there looking for a budget helmet.