Honda, Honda, Honda. No contest. Check both for recalls, IIRC 2015 was the first year for the KTM 390 and had a bunch of issues but the Honda might not be far behind. Googling Duke 390 reliability should solve this dilemma. The Duke and CB500F are polar opposites for reliability; the Honda will rarely break.

I test drove the 790 and was impressed with how smooth the power delivery was, but was it TOO smooth? Not enough of a test drive to know, but I'm leaning heavily towards the 790 at this point, given the reported reliability issues with the 690. Would much rather save $5kUS and get the 690 but the 790 might be too nice, and the 690 too unreliable.

By Tim Thompson. My long-term test KTM 1290R Super Duke was returned to its rightful owner (KTM) last week, leaving me to reflect on a year of ups and downs. I wrote in the paper edition of MCN Joined Jun 11, 2014. 143 Posts. #41 · Jul 21, 2022. marto0189 said: I understand that all things with moving parts and electrical can and probably will have issues at some time. My problem is that the KTM's seem to have major melt downs and on a more regular basis. Motors letting go and ECU failures are common to KTM's across all their line up.
So the 790 duke was released in 2017 and superseded by the 890 Duke in 2022. Did KTM change anything between the standard 2017-2021 models? I'm looking to buy a 790, heard about some reliability issues and wanted to see if the later 790 are a better option.

Just bought a 2018 690 Duke and am still breaking it in. Barely hit 50 miles when it started lurching forward and/or stalling when going from neutral to first at a standstill. Clearly the clutch is not working properly. Adjusted the lever travel, very little free play. Checked the clutch fluid, there is plenty.

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ktm 790 duke reliability issues