KTM in trouble

..and I love my KTM 690 engined Husky 701sm...on the back roads it is simply sublime, no weight, great suspension, brakes, grip..power, yes power from that single. Everyone should try one..though Piero didn't seem too interested when I suggested it at Baskerville..but believe me, to try one is to want one. Hope KTM can be restored to health...seems to owe rather a lot of money though!
 
Always found the larger models a little uneasy on the eye , but always fancied the RC390 , ( the sporty version of the 390 Duke ) ......... still slightly strange styling , but kinda nice at the same time ....... Indian built .......

There was a bloke who had one who took the same route to work as me ....... Wearing full leathers for his daily commute ( ! ) , he would fairly scythe through the bends.......

I also believe they were amongst the first bikes to feature lit up handlebar switchgear .... Wow ... !! ........ :D .........


At the other end of the bikes to commute on scale ....... There was a guy who rode a Kawasaki ZZR 1400 who I saw almost daily....... He seemed to have a new one every seven or eight months or so ..... maybe leasing it , or on PCP or whatever it`s called ........

The thing is , every time I saw him , he would be wearing trainer type footwear , but no socks ........ Never any socks , ever ........ Just flashing bare ankles every time he rode down the road ........ strange ...... ( well , to me anyway ... ) ...........
 
Last edited:
I’ve owned 4 KTM off roaders. I still have a 2010 400 exc and a 2012 690enduro both owned from new. The 400 single is the love of my life (don’t tell my Mrs 😬).
 

Painful to watch ......... seems a bit of a lottery to me as to whether you end up with a good one or not ........ £700 for an update which will cure all the problems though , so that`s alright then .....

That " Ready to Race " popping up every time ..... ( and just to rub it in , also printed on the handlebars ) ......... o_O ..............
 
rocketonarail said:

Painful to watch ......... seems a bit of a lottery to me as to whether you end up with a good one or not ........ £700 for an update which will cure all the problems though , so that`s alright then .....

That " Ready to Race " popping up every time ..... ( and just to rub it in , also printed on the handlebars ) ......... o_O ..............
Click to expand...
Ya,,,,hard no from me!
 
To be honest I’ve been at the sharp end with Triumphs with cutting out, loom, ECU , frame, fuel sender problems, ( which they sorted , sometimes twice! )Kawasaki & Honda with Cam follower wear problems( which were sort of sorted) Kawasaki carb icing problems that effected nearly the whole range ( a problem that wouldn’t even be noticed nowadays!) and I have done my fair share of Ducati warranty work.
The problem is R&D is expensive & time consuming so they let the customer do it and underwrite it with warranty ,Ducati had the most warranty problems in my day but sales were booming. The problem with companies like KTM is they are a mismatch of design/ engine manufacture/ assembly / management not under the same roof. When I worked with Triumph I could talk to the guy that designed the engine, the guys that built the engine, event the people who painted the engine. Vice Versa, I would get Triumph phone me to ask what I thought - it was very much hands on . I had a 955i using a lot of oil ( due to not working the motor during run in..) the head of Triumph technical dept told me to “ Birch the arse off it on the motorway- bed the rings in..” Don’t suppose KTM have got someone like that working for them!
Too many Pop up manafacturers now that use an old name to trade on.
 
Owners of expensive bikes are doing the Beta testing. It's a good idea not to buy the first-year run of a model. In 2004 Huskys came with Titanium valves and lots had issues, the next year they pissed off the cheap version of those valves and bought the expensive Del West made valves and warrantied the earlier ones with the same valves used in 05. No issues after that fix. I bet the accountants made that decision to buy the cheaper valves and it bit them big time in the long run.
 
Here’s an odd one- Kawasaki KR-1 250 two stroke , piston ring locating pins used to work there way into the piston causing the ring to revolve and cause catastrophic piston/ bore failure. This was remedied with a modified piston BUT warranty claims made were issued original non modified pistons until remaining UK stock was exhausted. I suppose by the time the engine had seized for the second time it was out of the warranty period🙄
 
Exmoor beast said:
Here’s an odd one- Kawasaki KR-1 250 two stroke , piston ring locating pins used to work there way into the piston causing the ring to revolve and cause catastrophic piston/ bore failure. This was remedied with a modified piston BUT warranty claims made were issued original non modified pistons until remaining UK stock was exhausted. I suppose by the time the engine had seized for the second time it was out of the warranty period🙄
Click to expand...
Another thing I heard about the KR-1 was that some barrels that were fitted to the same bikes were machined at different heights , causing gasket sealing problems ..........

Never quite sure about Kawasaki build quality ..... There was an article about a ZX-9R C2 or C3 which had covered 80 or 90,000 miles ........ Only thing was it was on it`s fourth engine .... ! .........


Regarding Triumphs ......... I`ve mentioned this before , but I bought a 1200 Bonneville Bobber from a London dealer ...... only 350 miles on the clock ..... an ex demo bike .

At around 2500 miles I was out on it , about half way between Cirencester and Cheltenham , when suddenly all the warning lights came on .

I stopped , and switched the ignition off , thinking that would clear it .............

Big mistake .......... When switching back on again , all the electrics were there ( including the warning lights ) , but the starter circuit was dead ....... nothing at all on the starter button .

Called out the AA ...... ( " nice looking bike , mate " ) ........ and we took it up to a Triumph dealer in Cheltenham . They kept it , whilst the AA transported me back home .

Caught the train up to Cheltenham the following day ..... Dealer said they had checked it over , and it was now starting and behaving properly ....... Nothing wrong as far as they could tell ..... see how it goes on .......

Ten days later it happened again ..... kept going this time , got back to my garage ....... switched off , then back on again , and no starter like before , and all the warning lights illuminated ......

This time it went down to Fowlers in Bristol ........ They kept it for a couple of weeks , then informed me it was fixed , and ready to be picked up ....

Fowlers had got in touch with Triumph , who told them they reckoned it was a fault with the ABS pump / modulator ........ Triumph sent a replacement down to Fowlers , who fitted it .... and that was that .

The Triumph warranty was still valid , so all the work and transporting of the bike was covered ........

I was`nt quite sure about Fowlers at first ....... They are now a big supermarket type dealer , supporting about half a dozen brands at once , but the service and repair work was excellent ...... ( as well it should have been , of course ) ........ The electrical components on the Bobber are scattered haphazardly around the bike ....... the ABS modulator is situated at the lower rear of the engine ..... ( the reg / rect is actually under the engine ) ....... so they had to dismantle half the bike to fit the new modulator ........ You would`nt know the bike had been apart except for some fresh electrical grease on the connectors , and whilst they had the bike they noticed the battery was losing charge , so they fitted a new one of those as well .

All covered by the warranty of course .... but after all that I lost faith a bit in the bike ......... If something similar happened in the future , with no warranty , there would be a fair old labour charge ....... ( the modulators are actually fairly inexpensive , to my surprise ) ........ It would be possible to do the work yourself I suppose , but It`s not something I would relish doing ........

A shame really , as it was a nice bike to ride ........ not a sports bike obviously .... it starts to run out of breath after 90 mph , and would top out at around 115 mph , but very responsive up to 90 or so ....... would leave the Mirage in it`s dust up to then , but where the Bonneville would start to fade around the ton , that`s where the MIrage is just starting to wake up , and from 100 mph onward the Mirage would leave the Bonneville for dead , of course .

As I mentioned , that`s not a criticism of the Bonneville ..... it`s not meant to be a sports bike after all , and you would ride it bearing in mind that lack of top end performance ......

But anyway it`s gone now ........ it went in a direct swap for an extremely simple ( and electronics free ) 7900 mile 1998 R1 .............
 
Last edited:
rocketonarail said:
Another thing I heard about the KR-1 was that some barrels that were fitted to the same bikes were machined at different heights , causing gasket sealing problems ..........

Never quite sure about Kawasaki build quality ..... There was an article about a ZX-9R C2 or C3 which had covered 80 or 90,000 miles ........ Only thing was it was on it`s fourth engine .... ! .........


Regarding Triumphs ......... I`ve mentioned this before , but I bought a 1200 Bonneville Bobber from a London dealer ...... only 350 miles on the clock ..... an ex demo bike .

At around 2500 miles I was out on it , about half way between Cirencester and Cheltenham , when suddenly all the warning lights came on .

I stopped , and switched the ignition off , thinking that would clear it .............

Big mistake .......... When switching back on again , all the electrics were there ( including the warning lights ) , but the starter circuit was dead ....... nothing at all on the starter button .

Called out the AA ...... ( " nice looking bike , mate " ) ........ and we took it up to a Triumph dealer in Cheltenham . They kept it , whilst the AA transported me back home .

Caught the train up to Cheltenham the following day ..... Dealer said they had checked it over , and it was now starting and behaving properly ....... Nothing wrong as far as they could tell ..... see how it goes on .......

Ten days later it happened again ..... kept going this time , got back to my garage ....... switched off , then back on again , and no starter like before , and all the warning lights illuminated ......

This time it went down to Fowlers in Bristol ........ They kept it for a couple of weeks , then informed me it was fixed , and ready to be picked up ....

Fowlers had got in touch with Triumph , who told them they reckoned it was a fault with the ABS pump / modulator ........ Triumph sent a replacement down to Fowlers , who fitted it .... and that was that .

The Triumph warranty was still valid , so all the work and transporting of the bike was covered ........

I was`nt quite sure about Fowlers at first ....... They are now a big supermarket type dealer , supporting about half a dozen brands at once , but the service and repair work was excellent ...... ( as well it should have been , of course ) ........ The electrical components on the Bobber are scattered haphazardly around the bike ....... the ABS modulator is situated at the lower rear of the engine ..... ( the reg / rect is actually under the engine ) ....... so they had to dismantle half the bike to fit the new modulator ........ You would`nt know the bike had been apart except for some fresh electrical grease on the connectors , and whilst they had the bike they noticed the battery was losing charge , so they fitted a new one of those as well .

All covered by the warranty of course .... but after all that I lost faith a bit in the bike ......... If something similar happened in the future , with no warranty , there would be a fair old labour charge ....... ( the modulators are actually fairly inexpensive , to my surprise ) ........ It would be possible to do the work yourself I suppose , but It`s not something I would relish doing ........

A shame really , as it was a nice bike to ride ........ not a sports bike obviously .... it starts to run out of breath after 90 mph , and would top out at around 115 mph , but very responsive up to 90 or so ....... would leave the Mirage in it`s dust up to then , but where the Bonneville would start to fade around the ton , that`s where the MIrage is just starting to wake up , and from 100 mph onward the Mirage would leave the Bonneville for dead , of course .

As I mentioned , that`s not a criticism of the Bonneville ..... it`s not meant to be a sports bike after all , and you would ride it bearing in mind that lack of top end performance ......

But anyway it`s gone now ........ it went in a direct swap for an extremely simple ( and electronics free ) 7900 mile 1998 R1 .............
Click to expand...
BMW’s used to share ABS fuse with the cooling fan- if you get a stone in the fan blades the ABS will fail, great idea🤔all too complicated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top