A good bad-boy bike for a first-time rider

For teenagers learning to ride geared bikes, the KTM 160 Duke provides smooth power delivery, controlled thrills and familiar orange charm

- Rishad Saam Mehta

I remember turning 18 with cinematic clarity—standing at the RTO before the counter opened, clutching a learner's license form. I was applying for the MCWG: Motorcycle With Gear. No namby pamby stuff like gearless scooters would do it for me. It was the late 80s and the dream was to ride and eventually own the raucous Rajdoot Yamaha RD350, notoriously nicknamed 'YamRaj'. Furiously fast with bleak braking, riding one was like flirting with the god of death himself.

My parents, with the experience of the way I used to ride my bicycle, said, "Absolutely not." Instead, I got the Yamaha RX100. I sulked, protested, and then rode it.

That little two-stroke turned tantrum into lifelong love. Light, quick in acceleration and gloriously loud, it taught me throttle control, cornering confidence, and the joy of riding for its own sake. I owned an RD350 a few years later, and that was all the more fun because I had cut my teeth on the RX100. So, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu when I heard of Bajaj's decision to add the KTM 160 Duke to its lineup of Dukes (200, 250, and 390).

For today's teen turned driving licence holder, riding means a gearless scooter or an insipid geared motorcycle, with the only motive being maximum milage, or worse, an electric two-wheeler. The 160 Duke is a bike that will help a teen grow up, even though it's been developed primarily to be regarded as 'My first motorcycle'.