KTM 390 Duke vs Yamaha MT-03 Comparison - Street Brawl!

When the Yamaha YZF-R3 made its debut almost a decade back it brought a lot of joy to Indian enthusiasts. Finally they had an alternative to the Kawasaki Ninja 300. Yamaha didn’t get it right in its first attempt as it cut down on equipment such as USDK fork, ABS and tyres to keep the pricing competitive. While it eventually made amends with the Yamaha R3 update, the boat had sailed by then and the supersport was discontinued.

However, last year the Yamaha R3 made a comeback into the Indian two-wheeler space and more importantly it also brought along its streetfighter sibling, the Yamaha MT-03. The MT-03 is among the most popular entry-level naked performance bikes globally and we were excited. However, Yamaha played spoilt sport by bringing the bike as a CBU from Indonesia which resulted in an eye-watering price tag of ₹ 3.60 lakh (ex-showroom). At this price, it’s way more expensive than all its rivals on sale.

For this comparison, we kept price aside to see whether the Yamaha MT-03 can match our personal favourite and the TOTM Bike Of The Year winner, the KTM 390 Duke. We put both these motorcycles to a series of real world tests to find out which is the better bike? Find the answer in our comparison video below.