Hi, gang. Really concerned here. My second day out on the NEW 990. Took pavement home yesterday from the dealer and took it easy on the bike whilst varying the load and gears...etc. At about 150 miles on the odo, today, I decided to take an easy forest road back home. Uphill, twisty, but not tight: 10-20-30 mph. 90 degrees ambient temp. 3/4 the way to the crest(10 miles in or so) the temp light comes on. Coolant level OK. Fan(s) on What to do? so I stop in the shade and point her into the breeze and let her idle for a few minutes. Light off, So I continue. Just shy of the top, light comes on again, so I head for the down hill(100 yds away). As soon as I get some speed on the downhill, temp light off, and stayed off. Got home and looked in the owner's manual. It don't say crapola about what to do if you experience the temp light. It just says its there. 1. have any of you had this? 2. what is best to do if this happens on the trail? 3. Could this new bike still be just tight and not ready for a mountain? Thanks and laters.... Bobby
Outside of a major problem that you should have a Dealer work with, here is the link for the Burping Process...you may have an airpocket in your cooling system: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=13432304#post13432304 Hope this works for you...
Agree, probably some air in the system. I've noticed on my 2011 990 a number of questionable factory build items on the bike, including a number of finger-tight fasteners. I did put the second fan on my bike, and its never gone over 6 bars since...
Here's the link to the Dual Fan setup: http://www.advmachines.com/category_s/93.htm http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=465977&page=6
Easy mod, about an hour to do. Around $ 100 for the kit, well worth it for the bracket. Prior poster has the link. Duane
I have a 2009 990 and live in Greece (quite a hot place, especially these days..) and never seen the temperature light. I ride the hell out of it in heavy traffic too and have just one fan (factory) set up. The temp always gets up high when it idles but never overheats (no light nor the two last temp bars on the instrument panel). Imho you first need to break-in your bike (again imho do it aggressively from the start) and after first service see if it still overheats. Hopefully it won't. About the second fan, it's great (from what I hear) but in your case it'll mask an existing situation, I'd rather short that out first before any mods....
So, from what I understand, if the cooling system has air in it, it is not moving coolant and the pump is cavatating sometimes, alot of the time, or all the time? One symptom is the level in the remote coolant reservoir has never changed.
Agree on both the burp and the second fan. Worked for me! I also have noted a number of finger-tight (or looser!) fasteners off the showroom floor and HIGHLY recommend you spend some time with the tanks off checking the important ones.... As much as I love Wretched, she sure ain't a Honda! Check everything, multiple times, often. Steve
I have an 06 and ride sand in the summer in fl and never had the overheat light come on. Single fan and run engine ice premix, but I'd definitely try what the other guys said about burping the system. Something is wrong there.
In the conditions you describe the bike should not have overheated. Something is wrong, I suspect the cooling system needs burping. If it's new you should go to the dealer and have them fix it. A second fan is a bandaid for your actual problem, and would only be needed for higher temps, slower speeds, and steeper hills. Get the root problem fixed first.
your owners manual shows how high one must lift the front end to get the air out... about 25"! If you don't know about http://www.ktm950.info/ which is the best of Orange Crush distilled essentially then you need to get over there now... many many tips & how-to's... Seeing as how you live in Arizona (:huhTOO Hot:huh) I'd be buying a 2nd fan kit, and perhaps more importantly, the fan switch that turns the fans on at a lower temp. I did both at the same time on my 950 & it changed everything related to temps riding slow(er) in the single-track & tight stuff you find here in West Virginia. The 2nd fan comes one with the first and doesn't run as long as one does to bring the temp down. Ken is the guy to go to at Adventure Machines on this, though you could search our forum & find ways to do it yourself. I like his bracket so I didn't do it myself this time... looks good, fits well and left me time to ride Our engines live in a sea of plastic and need air movement to cool, the combo of these two (plus your system being free of air pockets) will be your long-term solution.
If it is brand new then it's covered by warranty. Stop worrying and call the dealer, it should be his worry. Good luck OT
One of my buddies showed up to our camp after riding highway to get there and said he was running hot. We took his right side fairing off to access the radiator cap once cooled. We put the front wheel up on a large rock getting the wheel about 24" up. We started the bike with the cap off and it almost immediately FARTED!! It was great. We took off up a sand wash from there and he never got hot. Burp it and let us know, who wants to go to the dealer if it could be this simple??
Does anyone know if these bikes are shipped dry: without coolant. I figure the dealer smurfed it up to start with. Besides, they're 120 miles away down in Scottsdale. But that's another story. If they were local, .....maybe. Really appreciate everyone throwing in. Its helped the thought process alot. Did the burp this afternoon. Test run to come. Thanks again and laters.... Bobby
I worked at a KTM dealer for the last 12 years. They come shipped with all fluids except gas from the factory. Actually the fuel injected bikes would usually have a few cups of gas in the tanks, Im not sure how KTM got away with that though. Did you see any air come out?? Did you run the bike with the front elevated??
Probably not the best thing for cooling down a hot motorcycle. If you are not in an open place where you can ride it at speed to get air flow through the radiators, then you would be better off just shutting the bike off until it cools down instead of letting it idle.
Both me and my friend bought new 990 advt's 2009 and both overheated in stop and go traffic. He took his to the Dealer and he was told he had a cracked cylinder witch they replaced under warranty. Three weeks for repair bike had less then 600 miles. My bike seems to be a little better in stop and go but still climbs to 11 bars in 90+ degree heat. But not to concerned because I do not like riding in that kind of heat anyway.