KTM Duke 250 gen3

The KTM 250 Duke has evolved into its third generation, and it's gotten all mean-looking. And with that, it has also matured as a motorcycle with rider aids that were previously only restricted to the 390 range. Not that the 250 Duke needs them, but it now becomes more approachable and manageable for a rider graduating from the commuter class. It’s laden with features like a bi-directional quickshifter, dual-channel ABS with a supermoto mode, a 5-inch LCD instrument cluster with a 4-way switch cube, and then some more stuff, which we will get to in due course. While the price has gone up marginally over the Gen 2 model, the bragging rights have certainly gone up by leaps and bounds.

2024 KTM 250 Duke design

The new Duke 250 only looks as menacing as the new 390, but that’s not to say it isn’t wild. Major styling differentiators are the paint schemes and the lack of LED DRLs on the headlight cowl. Apart from that, you would be hard-pressed to distinguish one from the other until you get close enough. 

However, once you swing a leg over the 250, the first thing you will notice is that the seat feels softer. But if you are one of the tall guys like me, the seat feels snug (to put it softly) on the saddle. However, that also makes it easy to lock the knees on the tank recesses, and heels onto the heel plates, which feel much firmer than on the previous gen. However, my colleague Mandar (whose review of the Duke 250 is now live on the YouTube channel) felt it was quite roomy for his stature. Once you settle in, the ergonomics are familiar and easy. You definitely won’t have easily fatigued wrists and back, unless your posture and stance are horribly wrong. On the subject, the saddle height has gone down by 20mm to 800mm which makes it even more approachable for shorter riders.