KTM 200 Duke or Bajaj Dominar 250 – What’s better?

Most of us buy a bike that suits our planned budget. There are many times that multiple bikes do occur at a similar price point. Due to multiple options, it might lead you to the confusion. The same confusion might be with KTM 200 Duke and Bajaj Dominar 250.

These are the two bikes that have similar pricing. So let’s find out which is the best suitable bike for you.

Power

If you are buying bikes above 200 cc that means you are really a performance lover. These two bikes will surely not disappoint you. KTM 200 Duke comes with a 200 cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled engine unit. It produces about 25.1 bhp max power and 19.5 Nm of peak torque. The engine is paired with a 6-speed gearbox unit.

On the other hand, Bajaj Dominar 250 comes with a bigger 250 cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected, liquid-cooled unit. It produces about 26.6 bhp max power and 23.5 Nm of peak torque. It also comes paired with a six-speed gearbox. So Bajaj Dominar 250 has a clear win in terms of power and torque figures. However, Bajaj Dominar 250 weighs almost 180 kgs while the KTM 200 Duke weighs just over 140 kgs. So there’s not much of a difference in terms of performance.

Handling

KTM 200 Duke is purely a street fighter, it has low weight, compact length and sportiness that well suits for the city streets. It comes with steel trellis frame lightweight chassis which makes it easy for the rider to manoeuvre the bike. The chassis is almost identical to the KTM 250 Duke which is already popular for its nimble ride. So in that sense, KTM 200 Duke is a real street fighter with a good amount of power and kind of affordable price tag.

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Also read: KTM 200 Duke BS6 – Five major changes over BS4

On the other hand, Bajaj Dominar is also nimble to ride but not as much as of KTM 200 Duke. It comes with beam type perimeter frame chassis. However, Bajaj Dominar is good at maintaining good highway speeds due to its heavyweight which helps the bike to stick with the road. So while cruising on highways, Bajaj Dominar 250 is a very calm motorcycle and makes less drama compared to the KTM 200 Duke.

Hardware and Features

KTM 200 duke comes equipped with a 43 mm USD forks at the front and mono-shock suspension at the rear. The braking duty is done by the 300 mm disc at the front and 230 mm disc at the rear. These brakes are then assisted with the help of dual-channel ABS. The tyre size for the front wheel is at 110/70 while the rear wheel tyre is a 150/60 size.

Bajaj Dominar 250, on the other hand, comes with the smaller suspension at the front of 37 mm USD forks. The brakes are similar as of the 200 Duke which is 300 mm disc for front and 230 mm disc at the rear. Dual-channel ABS comes as a standard. The tyre profiles for the front wheel is 110/80 while the rear tyre is a 130/70 section. So tyre sizes on the KTM 200 Duke are slightly better than Dominar 250.

Feature-wise both of them have a lot of similarities. Both of them do have all LED units on the bike.

The instrument cluster on both bikes are also a fully-digital unit, however, Bajaj Dominar 250 seems to have better-looking instrument cluster.

Bajaj Dominar 250 also comes with an extra smaller instrument panel and also bungee strap for luggage.

Purpose

KTM 200 Duke is meant for doing city duties as well as occasional tours. Contrarily, Bajaj Dominar is meant for doing long tours and occasional city duties. KTM 200 Duke offers quite an aggressive posture which limits its tour ability whereas Bajaj Dominar 250 has a good comfortable riding posture while will help you in long tours.

Also read: Why is the Bajaj Pulsar Series so successful?

Price

The price of the KTM 200 Duke starts at Rs 1,73,760 (ex-showroom) while the Bajaj Dominar 250 starts at Rs 1,60,002 (ex-showroom). So Bajaj Dominar 250 is relatively affordable. Both bikes offer good value for money. People loving performance and cornering of the bike should give the priority for the KTM 200 Duke. While people who really want an enjoyable long touring bike must give priority to the Bajaj Dominar 250. Another bike that occurs in a similar price band is the Suzuki Gixxer 250.