My KTM 990 Adv 2011 conversion into an SE

Hallo all! First of all, english is not my motherlanguage so you'll have to forgive my mistakes

I always wanted an SE but i wasn't tall enough, and changing the suspension setup wasn't as easy and efficient as i wanted: therefor i "had" to buy an ADV, but i never been a rally raplica fan, and all those plastics didn't give me the confidence i need with my bike.

So i decided to strip the bike down and see what i could do.

The conversion came out pretty easy and everything is reversible to original in a couple of hours.

I bought the SM/SE rear plastics and discovered they fit almost perfectly: you just need to cover the original holes (i used some liquid plastic, scratched and painted it) and re drill 4 new holes for the rear luggage holder. I also removed the key from the seat to be able to quickly remove it.



I moved all the electrical i was able to, behind the filter box: i will do a better job next winter because, to do it clean, you need to strip the electrical down to single cables and group them together with a different order. Made also a support for the original odometer and bought a TrailTech X2 Dual Halogen light.









Moved the radiator expansion box under the seat, where the SAS pump was: it fits perfectly once again :)



Now the bike is ready for a new, smaller, lighter tank! The tank was handly made in aluminium, holds 13 liters ( almost the same as the SE ) but developes more in the upper part: the result is higher weights but smaller bike's section (it's like 20cm more compact than the SE: where the radiator ends, there ends the bike as well). I used an SMR used fuel pump: same connectors and same specifics.



The tank is hold in place without bolts: it's fixed with a lip on the front upper part under the handlebar into a C aluminum support fixed to the frame in an elastic way, and it's blocked into place by the seat.



The result is the bike can now be totally stripped in less than 2 mins for regular maintenance.

The tank was the only expensive mod i had to make: i bought every piece i needed used on ebay and such, for about 200 euros total, but the tank costed me 1ooo euros ( i know i got ripped off, but the problem with this stuff is to find someone actually able to do it properly).

Now the bike is like i always wanted it: slim, with heated grips, with two disc brakes, with ABS ( i also installed a switch on the handlebar to disable the ABS on the fly when i go off road). It weights 210 kilograms with full tank and it's eventually reversible to standard tanks in about 15 mins ( for those trips in which i need that extra fuel ): for my average trips i'll equip it with two 1 gallon Rotopax on the sides (like the Kriega setup but handmade) and eventually with 4 Rotopax if i need more range (but i don't really see the need atm).





Comments and suggestions welcome! :)

Last edit: i thought it would have weighted less, considering all the build threads i saw in which people would reach incredible weights. In all honesty i think i could gain still some ( 3kg from the battery, maybe 2 kg from a newer oil tank, 2 kg from the central stand, 3 kg removing one brake and one caliper, 2kg from the ABS removal ) but then i'd have a bike i couldn't use to travel and i'd still be at 198kg.

This week end i had the new Bimota Dbx under hands for 4 days and had the chance to talk to the guy that made it: using litium bolts, one single brake, no ABS, lots of carbonium, they reached 175kg. I highly doubt anything less than 190kg is reachable without a radical de building of the bike.

Atm i am satisfied with this set up: maybe i'll get me a Shorai but that will be all

Molto bravo.

You did all what I wanted ...before getting the SE.
but you got two bikes in one.

Well done,man

Grazie Bootsy :)

Looks great.

Have you got anymore pics of the tank ?

Nice job!!

You could also lose:

Centerstand
1 exhaust
1 rotor

li Ion battery

It all adds up!!

@DRjoe: nope, but i can take them :)

@sailah: the centerstand weights 2 kilograms but it's priceless to change tyres. The gain is not worth the loss imho :) 1 exhaust i tryed already: it's a 2kg gain but i don't like the esthetic 1 rotor: what do you mean? Brakes? Don't like the idea since i use the bike to travel as well as going off road.

Li Ion battery: that's what i'll do next :)

bravo, I really like it.

Thanks :)

Cool bike

Off road travel version: 21 fuel liters (can go up to 26,5/34 of i use stock tanks and 2 more Rotopax on the rear), 210 kilograms.





Some more pics of the tank since i got asked :)

Rediscovered this thread this evening, what a bike and definitely worth a bump up for others to see it.

Thanks, I missed this last year. I've got a similar project that's been waiting for the back burner.

Now it changed a bit: moved the battery underseat with the abs, new exhaust lines and reworked the electrics.

Looks like you are back to the stock gas tanks. What did you use in place of the upper fairing to fill in the shape on the gas tanks?

ben

I bought a couple of scratched fairings and remodelled them with fibreglass.

Did the same with the rear SM plastics.

cool.

Great build thread, it needs a bump!

@KarimADV : do you have more info on the bracket for the original instrument cluster? Would you have a photo of just the bracket?

Any more info on relocating the battery and the coolant expansion canister under the seat would also be great. How did you fix these?

I just bought an '09 ADV990 and want to strip it down for a maximum weight loss, get rid of the fairing and build it back to a SE style LC8.
Winterproject.

To relocate the battery you first need a really small lithium one (I picked up an Aliant YLP model, the 21 if memory serves me correctly).

Then you have to redrill the abs bracket to move it towards the tank as far as you can (this way you gain the centimetre you need to fit the battery behind): then cut a hole in the plastics under the seat and insert an aluminium box opened on top and on the abs back side.





For the bracket to hold the original instrument I simply did cut a polyethylene support to which I fixed the instrument with the original torx: the polyethylene support was then fixed to the handlebar with a U shaped bracket. This is the only picture I have but you can guess how it’s made.



(Now the bike is built back with the original fairings cause I wanted to change for a while, but soon will be back to the off road setup)

For the relocating of the expansion canister it’s really easy: just change the tubes with longer ones and keep the same orientation (just rotate it), fix it with a zip tie and you are set.

Love it!
I'm also not a big fan of the large fairing look, just bought a 2010 990 ADV with body work missing.
I wanted to run a SMT tank and seat but would have to change the radiator so will look at running some cheap adv tanks for now and get pricing for an alloy tank made locally.
I'm slowly learning what can be done and which parts work from other models, have removed SAS system and ABS so far.
What front mudguard are you using, does someone like Acerbis sell a SE front fender?

From my experience if you want to mount the smt tank you need to change radiator, to change radiator you need to change the exhaust headers, to change the exhaust headers you need to change the oil tank: it’s just cheaper to have a custom made alu tank.

The front fender it’s the old SE orange one, painted in black: they still make it as spare part for the older 690E.

The front mud guards are carbon custom made by an Italian guy: if you want I’ll pm you his contact.