Howdy- My 09 was pretty stable on oil use- a little bit but not much. My 08 consumed more, and 08 rings supercede on part number to the 09's. My 10 is still new enough that I don't have a good read- it's only got 30 hours or so on it. Been too busy to ride enough! Interesting to hear that there are now 3 different spec of rings. I don't measure when I drain, though I probably should and it's a good idea. I have a ritual I go through starting it before I get dressed, letting it idle for 3-4 minutes, then checking engine oil level. I don't worry where it is in the window other than at that time. ---- An interesting note- my Dirttricks Ironman Sprocket (50T rear) has been on all 3 530's and even done time on my 300- it's got something like 400 engine hours on it, I'm guessing, all off-road, all being flogged. I was so impressed with it's durability that I ordered another one for my 300, and when I held the new one over the old, the wear was indiscernible. That's amazing to me. The chain holds up a lot better too, since it's not stretching across weird tooth spacing on the sprocket... typically, I get about 60-70 hours out of a set of chain and sprockets. Money well spent, IMO!
Arrgghhh. I'm an idiot! I just realised my bike came with KTM HardParts SX triple clamps. KTM ran a deal here where they threw in "extras" that you chose from a list at no extra cost. I chose the clamps so that's why I have adjustable clamps. Very sorry for the error. I think the standard clamps are 19mm offset fixed.
Thanks Ned. If you could give us an update on your '10 once you get a few more hours on it, that'd be great. Supposedly the new rings work with the '09 piston, so I might swap mine out at some point if it'll help. It'd be nice not to have to chase oil levels.
I don't measure when I drain, though I probably should and it's a good idea. I have a ritual I go through starting it before I get dressed, letting it idle for 3-4 minutes, then checking engine oil level. I don't worry where it is in the window other than at that time. Ned - I'm curious, because the manual says to only check the oil level window when the engine is cold... What gives? Thanks! Toby
Oil use on these bikes comes from super vacuum from air box. Run rocker breather and crank breather to UNI filter up behind radiators, one on each side using 3/8 fuel line. You will be happy. Don't believe me? I bet you have a puddle of oil in the bottom of intake just behind your filter. Just two cents from a Utard.
I'm doing it wrong. Seriously, I found that I got different oil height readings (sometimes higher after being lower without adding anything, therefore it had to be inconsistent), so I came up with something that seems to be consistent for me. Typically, I run it a bit overfull as well- you have to tip the bike slightly away to get the oil down to the top of the window. Mine have all come that way from the factory, and don't pump it out the breather which is the typical sign of overfull in my experience. If you're blocking off the breather as Ryman suggests (did it on my 08 and 09, haven't yet on the 10 but it hasn't consumed any) then you may be able to find a Zerk grease fitting at your hardware store with the correct threads to block the carb entrance more convincingly than just a rubber plug that could split.
That's the thing Ryman...no oil in the intake for me. I run a closed loop vent that I read about on KTMTalk, so the rocker cover breather does a big loop up along the frame then down to the 'T' that leads to the carb...it basically uses gravity to keep oil from getting to the carb, but it doesn't end with a filter. Maybe I should give the Uni a shot. So you're running both the crank vent and rocker cover to two separate filters? Did you see a drop in oil usage after doing this?
Why not just run the vents out the bottom of the bike near the swingarm? Why bother routing them up and terminating in a filter? I don't understand the rationale for this. I think the Blais de-smogging kit just runs the crank and valve cover breather hoses out the bottom of the bike. dc
I think one reason to run them up is to use gravity to keep large amounts of oil from getting out the vent. If oil enters the breather it will drain back down into the engine and only mist/vapor escapes. The filter is so you don't have a mess on the other end or have dust, particles or water getting into the vent. I don't know anything about the Blais kit, but I wouldn't want my crank and rocker cover breathers venting out by the rear tire on a d/s bike. I spend a fair amount of time on twisty pavement getting to the trail, and a shot of oil mid-corner could make a real mess of things, in more ways than one. I'd think this wouldn't be too good in a river crossing either. Could be wrong though...this is my first high performance four stroke single and I'm doing a lot of experimenting.
Yes, I've had very good luck with this setup. I tried the big loopy thing first and ended up at this. It works. Keeps the vent high and there is no way for oil to get sucked back into the intake. Sounds like the newer models are doing better with this problem, but mine is an 08 and sucks alot of oil.
+2 A friend had to rebuild his bike top and bottom end when he neglected to connect the vent tube on the valve inspection cover... sand throughout the motor on a 1000 mile ride in Baja = very sad motor. It still ran, but it was noisy and made no power. I know that tube should be positive pressure but I'm anti anything going into the motor with no filter on it.
makes sense now, thanks guys. I'm about to do this on my new zero-mile 450 so I'll loop the tubes up and terminate in a small filter. dc
Thanks for the reply. I'm going to give the filter setup a try as the current "big loopy thing" ain't cuttin' it. Nice photo. Ned, that story makes me cringe. I'm thinking about running filters on the carb vents as well.
Hey Dan - what did you get? Same as B.F? An 09' 450exc? I was thiking with terminating those vent lines low, would there also be a small amount of vacuum after the stroke or is that only on a twin? I recall having to put a 1 way valve on my old 950 to stop that vacuum. D
yup, an identical '09 450 EXC going for a break-in ride up in the Ottawa valley on Sunday. High of 3 degrees Celsius. Whoo-hoo! dc
What has been the experience for those who have routed the crank/valve cover vents up high to the upper rad area when riding in very wet/muddy conditions? I have some theoretical concerns about potential water ingress to the motor with a high filter sitting up near the top of the rad, when riding all day in heavy rain, or through deep mucky puddles, and so forth. I know the filter sits up high, but it's just so exposed up there. It seems like every ride I do up here in the Northeast is just snotty, nasty, and wet, well over 70% of the time. The closed loop idea seems reasonable too but there is VERY little room along the frame backbone to route any thick hose like that. dc
Sorry for the thread hijack - but I think this is related... all this talk on relocating those vent lines... instead of using small unifilters, how about those one way vents that are used on the fuel lines coming off the gas cap? You can see one here in the bottom of the picture: D
Off topic, but has anybody tried to use the KTM road book holder to mount a GPS? Looks like it moves the headlight forward and would be a perfect solution to keeping the gps out of harms way and also making in more readable while standing.
