Skygo Duke

The Skygo Duke belongs to the category of entry-level underbone commuter bikes, which as a segment in itself doesn’t focus much on form over function. The Skygo Duke, in that sense, looks basic and old school, with some bold graphics at places trying to make it look relevant among more of its other better finished and styled competitors from established manufacturers.

At the front, the Skygo Duke has got a rakish design for the front apron, which looks a bit small and slim and has a pointy front fender positioned just below it. The small front apron houses the clear lens small and angular L-shaped turn indicators on sides, with a Y-shaped garnish in the middle of the apron, just below the headlamp. Talking about the handlebar cowl, it too looks decent with an angular design for the headlamp.

The side extensions of the front apron, which flow all the way down towards the engine below, are styled in a zig-zag manner, which do try to make it look sporty, along with the chequered styled graphics pasted on them. To make it look a bit appealing, the Skygo Duke has its engine painted in a gloss black theme. 

The sloping design for the side body panels positioned below the seat gives it a sense of continuity and thanks to its graphics, it looks a bit sporty too. These sloping body panels end up at the tail piece at the back, which houses the tail lamp along with clear lens turn indicators accommodated in the tail lamp cluster. The presence of spoke wheels, as well as single piece alloy grab rail at the rear, does serve their purpose on the Skygo Duke. However, the long chrome-finished exhaust pipe with a shield on it looks a bit out of place and basic on this bike.

The instrument console of the Skygo Duke looks quite basic, with all the essentials like speedometer, odometer and fuel gauge present in an analog form. The slim design for the handlebar cowl and panels below it makes it look minimalist while making the riders of all size and heights accommodating on the bike as well.

The Skygo Duke gets a decent chassis setup, with the suspension combination of hydraulic telescopic forks at the front and long hydraulic coil springs at the back. Despite its entry-level positioning and basic appeal, the Skygo Duke gets a disc brake at the front, while a more modest drum brake does the duty at the rear for halting the bike. The overall slim profile of the Skygo Duke, along with the fact that it weighs below 100 kgs make it a very easy bike to ride, which is surely an advantage for new riders and budget-oriented buyers.

The Skygo Duke sources its power from a very small and entry-level four-stroke, single-cylinder, air-cooled, 107cc engine, which has been made available with a basic 4-speed gearbox as standard. The engine pumps out a maximum power output of 6 PS and a peak torque output of 6.9 Nm. Even by the entry-level standards, these figures are quite low and make the Skygo Duke one of the least powerful underbone bikes present in the market right now.

The Skygo Duke, apart from a front disc brake as standard equipment, doesn’t get any other sophisticated safety feature to boast of, which is quite understandable, considering the fact that it has been designed for cost-conscious buyers.

The Skygo Duke might not have the finesse of its Japanese rivals, which is quite evident from the fit and finish levels as well as basic styling and equipment list. However, the bike feels adequately designed and engineered for the job, keeping its main focus on the entry-level commuter segment buyers.