Know that the 500 has been out for a few years what do you think? Where have you taken it? How did it hold up to your expectations? What didn't you like about it? What type of riding do you do with it? Any and all advice would be great. I looked before I posted this I didn't see anything on it. sorry if it is a double post.
My suggestion would be to read this whole thread. I don't own a 500, but it is on my radar as well so I've been following along: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=682150 It's a couple hours worth of reading, with a lot of repetition (like most all long running threads) but will likely answer more questions than you could think to ask. If you still have questions after reading that thread, I would post them in the same thread as it will get more traffic from actual 500 owners instead of people like me!
there's so many diques around here!....:huh whatta U, the librarian?.... if you don't know the answer to the guy's question, then STFU!.... sheesh......
I must have missed the answer or any other useful information in your response davesupreme? I thought that a link to the 500 thread with the most traffic would be useful to someone who only had 7 posts and may not be familiar with the site. Not trying to be a dick at all... yourself on the other hand?
I have been reading it and thanks for the link. I just wanted some direct real world feedback on the bike. I know I don't have a ton of post but I do read the forum a lot.
Imagine being a Supercross rider, winning the night's main event, and then riding the same race bike home from the race. It's kinda like that. Imagine finally getting the girl of your dreams, and finding out she is even better than you thought. It's kinda like that. Showing up at a dualsport event is like showing up at a swim party with Speedos on. It's kinda like that. Ever seen that Gieco commercial with the motorcyclist with money stuck all over him... with the cash flying off constantly. KTM maintenance... It's kinda like that. I know this isn't quite what you were looking for, but what the hell. It's kinda like that.
You love the 500, stoked you got it riding to your woods where you meet that shiny 350exc newer model and feel you just need that one since he seems less tired after a few rounds. And it's sooo shiny! Still love the 500 though! That's ktm for you as well. An addiction!
Oil is cheaper than pistons. Just stick to 15hours where possible. On a long ride I won't sweat over 30 either. 90hour, no valve adjustment yet. Second chain, several rears and second front twice rear bearings, due to my own fault.
How does the bike do on a 3 day ride? Highway, what speed can you go without pushing it to hard? I know its a bigger bike but how does it feel on a single track? Does it handle like a 450? How many miles/hours do you have to change the top end?
Jury is still out on the top end, lots of riders have been racking up some significant mileage and it's not turned out to be an issue, nor has valve adjustments. Wore out topends usually show up as oil consumption first and that's not been an issue from everything I've been able to discover. Also don't believe the expensive maintenance myth, it flat out isn't true unless you subscribe to KTMs maint intervals based on race use and have a dealer do the work. The 500 has one of the easiest valve adjustments out there, takes all of an hour and doesn't require any special tools or model specific knowledge.
I have had my 500 for a year and a half coming from a 2007 RFS 450. Bike is tight, factory suspension setup is still good. Mine uses no oil but I maintain crazy well. Hard on rear tires!
Do you stick to the maintenance intervals suggests by ktm. Also what's the longest trip you have gone on with it?
Adam Reimann just went from Austria to Egypt on one. Seems to be a solid bike, it handled the longer maintenance intervals well and didnt show any signs of wear on the engine. Looks like a fantastic bike. The movie was called Motonomad. Great film. Ed
I have been meaning to download the movie. I just haven't done it yet for some reason. I will get on it this week though.
I change oil at 1000km checked valves once in 2500km For Adv riding 1500 + km for oil easy ,I'd do 2500 km but for single track no more then 1000km
I have had mine 3 months now. Had 1450kms on it when i bought it,2012 model. Will have 6000ish kms on it after the weekend. I aim for 1000kms for the oil change.Have stretched it 1750kms before and the oil didn't look to bad. Change the filter every 2nd oil change. Checked the valves when i got it. Again at 5000kms they have not moved. Got a genuine topend gaskets and rings off ebay for $75 so I might pull off the topend around 7500kms and throw in the rings. Will checkout the piston and the ring end gap at that time to determine how long I leave it before putting a piston in. Maybe at 15000kms Hoping to get 30000kms out of the bottom end without having to look in there. This is all for adventure/easier trail use not single track. When looking at the hours I think my average speed is 45 kms/h My last singletrack bike I think my average speed was 25km/h.
Great info thank you. this is the kind of stuff I am looking for. anything you don't like about the bike? Have you taken it on any freeways for any distance? I know its not meant for that but some times you have to take it on one.