While the sharp styling of the 250 Duke has been inspired by the 1290 Super Duke R, it shares most of its bodywork and frame with the new 2017 390. Both get the new two-part trellis frame with the exposed, bolt-on sub-frame and 13.5-litre tank. This new look for the bike appears a fair bit more aggressive than the older Duke design. And from a distance, the 390 and 250 Dukes look quite similar. What sets them apart besides the obvious numeric decals is the headlight. The 250 Duke misses out on the split LED headlight setup the 390 version gets. The 250’s headlight still retains that angular, forward jutting contour but is a single unit instead. Another point of differentiation is the blacked out wheels on the 250 Duke.
The all-new metal tank on the 250 Duke is well chiselled, and really accentuates the aggressive styling of the rest of the motorcycle with those angular tank cowls. The key-switch is positioned at the fore-part of the tank and is no longer at the base of the speedometer console. The seat design has also changed, and the new, longer seat has a decent amount of padding for the rider as well as pillion.
The new, quarter-litre Duke uses a 249cc single-cylinder, liquid-cooled and fuel-injected engine which produces 30hp and 24Nm. Crank the engine up and there are a few vibrations that filter through the handle-bar at idle. But once you get to higher revs, this tends to smooth out. When initially pulling off the line in first gear, the bottom-end does feel a bit sluggish; but in a typically Duke fashion, the punch kicks in with the mid-range and the top-end feels strong.
The engine is mated to a slipper-clutch-equipped, six-speed gearbox. Shifts through the gears feel smooth and precise, with the slipper clutch kicking in rather smoothly to even out hard down-shifting. The ratios for the higher gears, however, did feel a bit confusing out on the race track
The 250 Duke also misses out on the ride-by-wire tech and stickier Metzelers from the 390. Instead, it's shod with MRF Revz C1 rubber, which provided decent levels of grip around the Bajaj test-track. Stopping power comes from a 300mm disc with a four-piston caliper up front, and a 230mm disc with a single-pot at the rear, which is the same setup as in the Duke 200. The front brake feels strong and has a decent amount of feedback as well. However, there's no ABS offered on the 250 Duke, even as an option.
