KTM 525 EXC as an Adventure Bike

[yondering]

So how many of you scrolled back up to look at his dink?

[MFS]

WTF? Since gettin a 690, I still often "lurk" around as I miss the 525 daily. I remember the 525 bunch as being "friendly", but is it getting warm in here or is it just me? Let's change the topic boys shall we!!

[Navaho]

Just bought a 2007 450 EXC that came street-legal from the factory. It came with an FMF Factory 4.1 muffler. I'm looking for a quieter muffler. I know the oem muffler was quite a bit more restrictive than the race bikes to meet epa emissions reqts.

I was thinking about an offroad (XCW or pre-2007 EXC) muffler. I suspect that they would all fit the street legal 450. Tried to do a comparison by shopping the aftermarket mufflers but I can't find aftermarket 450 EXC exhaust. I guess that's because it is street-legal?

[crazybrit]

Originally Posted by Navaho

I was thinking about an offroad (XCW or pre-2007 EXC) muffler.

Once you remove the restrictor from the 2007 EXC muffler it's pretty much identical to the 2005/2006 EXC muffler. I know because I removed the restrictor on my 2007 and I had a 2005 at the time too.

[B-Rod]

Originally Posted by Navaho

Just bought a 2007 450 EXC that came street-legal from the factory. It came with an FMF Factory 4.1 muffler. I'm looking for a quieter muffler. I know the oem muffler was quite a bit more restrictive than the race bikes to meet epa emissions reqts.

I was thinking about an offroad (XCW or pre-2007 EXC) muffler. I suspect that they would all fit the street legal 450. Tried to do a comparison by shopping the aftermarket mufflers but I can't find aftermarket 450 EXC exhaust. I guess that's because it is street-legal?

You could try a 4.1 quiet insert, and maybe check the condition of the packing. Packing is cheap, but wouldn't be enough on it's own. Neduro had an insert in a 4.1 on his Dakar bike, at least long enough to get through scrutineering.

[crazybrit]

Has anyone had a problem getting these to work together.

I've had the oil cooler on the bike for a while. Just bought the Trailtech stator.

Unfortunately it wasn't working. Idling I can measure 13.4v at the battery but it drops to 12.6 with low beam and 12.4 with hi-beam. Lower if I short the fan on.

Trailtech tech support said this wasn't normal. After debugging on the phone it turned out that there was a short in the stator. Measuring between each yellow wire and ground it was ~150M ohms when cold but would drop to about 1M ohms when warm. They said there should only be open circuit.

They sent me a replacement but the (lack of) charging symptoms are identical. I'm baffled. I get 1M ohm short to ground on both yellow outputs when warm but I'm not seeing anything when it's cold (open circuit).

I carefully checked that no part of the stator windings is contacting the HT-racing cover. The only part that is making contact (as I can see where it has rubbed) is the metal cable strain relief on the underside of the stator (it's plastic on the OEM) but this is mounted to the center/ground part of the stator which in turn is grounded to the case via the 2 mounting bolts.

Anyone had similar problems? I left a message w/ Bill Sr at HTR. I expect TT (for debugging) will want me to rip off the HTR setup and go back to stock. Otherwise I might truck the bike up there since they're only 20 miles away.

[selaznog]

My HT cooler and TT stator have worked fine. I've never kicked since adding the stator, and the few times I've put the bike on a tender it's already charged.

Removing the cooler to test the difference is the only way to tell if it's part of the problem. If the results are the same, then you know it's not a cooler/stator conflict. If they are different, then at least you have narrowed your problem. It wouldn't take long and I'm sure the vendors will appreciate your attempt at self help.

[selaznog]

I rarely ride at night, but recently I found myself in the desert with a stock headlight that was next to worthless. What aftermarket headlight alternatives have you guys tried, and what do you think about the value (cost vs. improvement) of the product? I don't see myself going top shelf for a HID light on this bike.

[RAZR]

Originally Posted by selaznog

I rarely ride at night, but recently I found myself in the desert with a stock headlight that was next to worthless. What aftermarket headlight alternatives have you guys tried, and what do you think about the value (cost vs. improvement) of the product? I don't see myself going top shelf for a HID light on this bike.

i have the Trail Tech X2 HID and i do like it.

BUT,

a friend that just aquired a Husaberg (AKA Blue KTM) and bought and installed a HID light that some guy on ADV is making that looks identical to stock with a little more glass sticking out for the HID light to fit.

i can get more info on this from him, but he's out of town riding. i'll post up when i hear from him.

but where i'm getting at with this is, him and i went night riding and he was behind me and his light made my Trail Tech X2 look like it was the stock KTM headlight. i think he paid $120 and it comes with the headlight cowl unit as one.

[DRjoe]

Did it have high and low beam.

[crazybrit]

Originally Posted by selaznog

My HT cooler and TT stator have worked fine. I've never kicked since adding the stator, and the few times I've put the bike on a tender it's already charged.

I'm curious what voltages people are getting at idle, idle+low beam and idle+high beam (measured at the battery terminals) with the Trailtech stator and voltage regulator.

Anyone feel inclined to help me out?

Removing the cooler to test the difference is the only way to tell if it's part of the problem. If the results are the same, then you know it's not a cooler/stator conflict. If they are different, then at least you have narrowed your problem. It wouldn't take long and I'm sure the vendors will appreciate your attempt at self help.

Yeah. I may have to go the self-help route

Since I get open (correct) when cold and 1M ohm (apparently bad) when warm I was thinking I might see if I can reproduce this outside of the bike first.

Not sure what is the best way to heat up the stator. Leave out in sun, immerse in plastic tub of warm oil ?

If that doesn't reproduce it, I'll have to try removing the HT and re-installing the stock cover.

[hizzo3]

So i skimmed through about 30 pages of the almost 300 pages on this thread... aside from asking where my award is, here is what I gather from the 5XX bike as an adventure bike:

I am looking at the 2013 500 exc as an adventure conversion. I have a dl1000 but want something more fun off road to not only allow me to better my off road skills but tossing around a 550 lbs dirt bike not fun, if you want to consider a dl1000 on loose gravel, sand and open fields. I want to be able to ideally do things like cdr, big bend and the like without trailering.

Pro
light & nimble (cant justify a 350 for such little weight difference @ 6'1 230 lbs)
powerful
aside from trials riding, it can do just about everything else with right set up

Con
questionable rear subframe, needs robust racks if toting gear
small oil capacity, short oil change interval (fix with oil cooler) Ideally want closer to 2k miles minimum interval
not so comfortable on long rides (if i am doing an IBA ride, i have my strom)
headlight is crap and would need a total replacement as 40% of my riding is at night, in deer country


Other notes
valves need to be checked every 30 hrs, but experience shows that 6-12k seems like a realistic interval
needs a cush type rear hub for pavement
possible regear for highway and carry spare sprockets for dirt

Is there anything I am missing if I were to go pick one of these up and abuse it?

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by RAZR

i have the Trail Tech X2 HID and i do like it.

BUT,

a friend that just aquired a Husaberg (AKA Blue KTM) and bought and installed a HID light that some guy on ADV is making that looks identical to stock with a little more glass sticking out for the HID light to fit.

i can get more info on this from him, but he's out of town riding. i'll post up when i hear from him.

but where i'm getting at with this is, him and i went night riding and he was behind me and his light made my Trail Tech X2 look like it was the stock KTM headlight. i think he paid $120 and it comes with the headlight cowl unit as one.

Originally Posted by DRjoe

Did it have high and low beam.

Sounds like the setup from Paul aka PW_Garfield, it uses a KTM ATV lense that fits into the stock 09+ headlight shroud. Haven't tried it but I like the other stuff that Paul makes.


Alternatively if you go the $$s, the Baja Designs Squadron LED with a dimmer is a bad ass setup with tons of light, very durable, light and compact. No ballasts and bulbs to fail, which is a common problem with some HID lights.

[DRjoe]

How does dimming the led compare to a propper low beam?

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by DRjoe

How does dimming the led compare to a propper low beam?

I don't have a dimmer yet, but my guess is at least as well as the stock light, but not as well as a proper HID projector with cut-off. So if you are riding mostly on public roads it's probably not the best option. For mostly off road with occasional road use it's awesome though.

I believe that Justin now has one on his 525/570, and there are lots of guys in the Vendors thread?

Originally Posted by cyborg

Yes I would say with the dimmer it's very acceptable for street use, especially compared to all the glaring HID's cars and bikes run. At the programmed Low Beam setting, it's still plenty of light to ride in traffic with and I don't get irritated flashes from oncoming cars. Already ridden past a few local police cars during the day and night and no issues.

When it opens up, hit the High beam - Oh Yeah!