The Duke gets the "last" part in the puzzle

Peruse the Duke lists and you come across post after post extolling the virtues of changing the carb out. The reason is that the stock 39mm carb is a vacuum slide design which, while easy and efficient, seriously lacks response since the throttle cable doesn't physically lift the slide but only a butterfly which creates vacuum which lifts the slide - as slow as the explanation. As with most racing or performance bikes the hot setup is to switch to a flatslide pumper carb. There are two choices for the Duke - the Keihin FCR 41mm or the Mikuni TMR 40mm. The Keihin can be obtained from several sources here in the states but the TMR has to come from Schneider Cycles in Germany. Supposedly the TMR offers a bit more performance and is a direct replacement so I opted for that while most people go for the FCR since it's easier to obtain here in the states.

The TMR is a bit more expensive but Dietmar Schneider himself speaks English and happily answered emails and calls and the carb arrived in less than two weeks from Germany. I highly recommend them as they have perhaps the largest selection of Duke performance parts out there.

It's going to be a few weeks before we get the carb mounted and the bike on the dyno but that's what's coming next after the exhaust. Along with those oversize headers you see in the box...

An exotic 41mm Mikuni TMR, oversize header pipes and cool German packing chips straight from Europe in less than two weeks time.