I am a new owner of a 2012 690. Read the original "KTM 690 Tank Bolts" thread end to end. The last entry was in 2011; the thread appears to have died there. At the time the "word" was to get Mudguts upper tank bolts and Partsmaker's aluminum lower tank bushings and Delrin upper bushings. I see now that Rally Raid makes something they call "Tank Mount Bolts" ($89.95) and a "Lower Tank Mount Kit" for $55.50 for the 690. Are they serious? Can anyone fill me in on what the deal is now? Mudguts and Partsmaker not making theirs any more? Is the Rally Raid design better or something? Has KTM fixed the problem on more recent 690's? I appreciate the info. Regards, Lee...
I came up with the same as Slidefighter. I assume the KTM bushings are better now. Limited experience with the sight. It might be my search technique. Any info is appreciated. Thanks, Mel
I can't attest to members on his forum making the upper and lower tank bolts, but I did just receive my Rally Raid upper and lower tank bolts today. Nice looking pieces. The one bit of advice I can give you is order them straight from Rally Raid. https://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk . Even with overseas shipping they were still $30 per set cheaper than ordering from KTMtwins.
Well, I wasn't planning to post this yet, but... I bought '08 690 Enduro few months ago so I was after improved tank bolts, upper and lower. Mudguts is not replying on his thread and he is offering only upper bolts. RR solution is great, but to expensive and I didn't like a thing or two on it. I have all resources needed for this kind of work available - machines, materials and staff, so I made complete set for my self (upper tank bolt caps + bolts, lower tank sleeve and bolt and PET lower bushings). I made it to be much stronger then it needs to be, just in case (AISI 4140 steel, heat treated then zink coated - strong as 10.9 bolts, etc). There are few other improvements, but I will bring some details and pictures in few days when I get back home. Beside that one for myself, I made 6 sets for sale. Complete set will be available for 55 Euros shipped to Europe and 60 Euros (82 USD) shipped to USA. I will make a thread about it in few days, with all details.
I bout my 2010 with 193 miles on it and broke the upper bolts in less than 500 miles of semi-hard off road riding. Replaced with the factory bolts, not wanting to pay the RR price, and broke the second set in about 300 miles. So, I ordered the RR upper and lower bolts, as of now with over 5k on the clock, no issues. It sucks when they break... Order the RR and forget about them. Hope this helps. Good luck, Eric.
the biggest issue is that the stock bolts are soft and poor material so they break easily. my upper tank bolts broke after a weekends trail ride - I just replaced them with an 8.8 or 10.2 bolt - cant remember which, and didn't have any problems again. Though if Perun is making a complete kit upper and lower for 45% less than RR for EU customers and 37% for US then he is onto a nice market, im not even adding the additional purchase cost of the bushings! 55 and 60 euro for the full kit is a bargain!
To tighten the male counter screw into the bare metal of the frame without the use of any washer like they do it on the Rally Raid vid on YT - even if that threaded frame spacer might be forged - doesn't look that smart to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOBVgYVZJw4
I have an '08 690e with just over 10k miles, most recently 2300 miles from Yuma to LaPaz and back with a Gen 1 Wolfman rack and soft luggage. I replaced my upper tank bolts when I bought the bike with hardened bolts that I shimmed into place with Delron to mimic the shoulder bolt design of the originals. You can use aluminum sleeves to achieve the same effect. The problem with the original shoulder bolts is so obvious when you pull them, they machine the thread down to the shoulder and that is the weak point that they shear. A solid hardened bolt doesn't have that problem and the sleeve fulfills the shoulder function. The RR design is robust but difficult to access and stupidly expensive, I spent less than $10 at my local fastener outlet. YMMV
