KTM RC 200: Long Term Review Nepal

August 13th 2018

4 mins read

Introduction

'FUN' is the one word to describe the KTM RC 200. KTM is an emerging brand from Austria, which has earned a lot of titles in its short period. It is looking forward to penetrating the MotoGP section as well. KTM is well renowned for its power and compression ratio of the engine.

KraftfahrzeugeTrunkenpolzMattighofen (yeap, you guessed it, it's the full form of KTM), an Austrian company which started producing motorcycles starting 1953 debut it's the first motorcycle in Nepal back in March 2012.

The Duke 200 was the bike they first launched in Nepal and through this bike, the company wanted to know if Nepalese really were interested in the high performance competitively priced machine and boy they were surprised. In the first year of their launch, they got an overwhelming response from their customers.

Also Read: All KTM Bikes Price in Nepal

Mr Shekhar Golchha, the executive director of HH Bajaj and the man behind KTM brand in Nepal, soon decided to launch the even more powerful KTM Duke 390. Shortly, the company also bought the KTM RC 200 and the KTM RC 390 in Nepal. Even now, all the bikes in their lineup are doing extremely.

Okay, coming back to the KTM RC 200, the bike surprised and excited many! Nepal had seen high-performance bikes in the past but never had they seen one priced so competitively. And I was one of those who just couldn't resist purchasing this monster. And there I was, with a bag full of cash, ready to cash in for my new baby, the KTM RC 200.
After a year of use of RC 200 which is the smaller sibling of the superbike, RC8 is a perfect beginner level sports bike in the scene of Nepal.

Purchase Price: Rs 5,54,000/-

Purchase Location: Gairidhara Showroom, Kathmandu

Looks

RC 200 2017 has the devilish looks with sharp edges and seats. It is supposed to look sporty as it is a sports bike no matter the engine size. Its two halogen headlights are something different and the side-lights mounted in the front mirror gives it a more sporty feel.

Engine

Now talking about the performance of the bike, it is powered by the state-of-the-art, liquid-cooled, single-cylinder, four-stroke 200cc engine with twin overhead camshafts, four valves and electronic fuel injection. All of these provide outstanding power and thanks to the balancer shaft, it delivers the highest levels of smoothness. The engine is equipped with an electric starter powered by a 12V/8Ah battery and it achieves its peak power of 26HP with incredibly punchy torque. The power delivery is smooth, the power band is great, and the bike starts pulling up after 5000 rpm brutally.

Fuel Tank Capacity and Mileage

Now coming to mileage, I have mixed opinions on the RC 200. At the beginning of my journey with this bike, the bike returned around 36KMPL but at present, the mileage is around 30-33KMPL. However, if you are riding on the highway, you can achieve 34KMPL given you ride it at a constant speed on 6th gear.
The fuel tank capacity of just 9.5L is the smallest I have seen. It would be great if the company increases the tank capacity of the bike in the next iteration.

Handling, Suspension and Braking

RC 200 is built precisely and it is an aerodynamic masterpiece. You can feel yourself cutting through the wind while riding and it feels like you and the bike are in unison. So, the handling is pretty easy and it is really fun and easy to lean in the corners. RC also has a hard suspension. Braking is awesome in the RC200. The engine braking is very strong and so are the front and rear brakes. It is however not equipped with ABS.

The Good

- The sharp and sporty looks
- Power
- Exhaust note
- The Braking of the bike
- The handling and aerodynamics
- Tubeless tire with the good grip on on-road.
- Mileage

The Bad

- No ABS
- Hard seats and suspension
- Heating issue
- Sporty posture not suitable for traffics
- Servicing and maintenance cost
- Its Price tag
- Not suitable for double load- Bad pillion and rider experience

The competition

The RC 200 has no competition among the other 200cc and lesser segment bikes. So I believe it's competition is Honda CBR 250, Kawasaki Ninja 250 and the Benelli TNT 300.