What Did You Do To Your KTM Today?

Changed out my rear tire last night after 9 months of abuse. Took the K60 scout off and put on a MEFO SE. Did the change by hand to see if I would be able to do it in the field. It...was....not.....fun. At one point my wife asked me what all the cursing was about. I would not want to have to do that again trail side.

Ayway, got it done, and first impressions tell me that the K60 was much more planted on the street. Haven't been able to do a dirt test yet.

Did just the opposite on my 990ADV. I've been running a MEFO SE in all kinds of weather on good and bad pavement but only moderate off road. It has 8k miles on it and probably another 4k-6k before it's worn out. I absolutely love it.

However, I wanted to run my homemade tubeless rim on a ride to the Arctic Circle so had to go with the K60. I figured it would make tire repair much easier on the off-road stuff.

Arrrgghhhhh... I've NEVER struggled so much changing a tire. I finally sent the little woman to the parts store to get some long truck tire irons. Even at that I had to put wood blocks between the bead and the rim to hold the bead down in the drop -my Motion Pro Bead Buddy 2 wouldn't reach the spokes of that big KTM rim.

I swear, I'd rather mount a tire with a Bib Mousse which I used to think was the worst tire job in the world.

The front K60 was a snap after slaving over the rear. In fact it was so easy I took it off a couple of times to rotate it a bit each time to optimize balance.

Long story short, the K60 ran fine on long highway stretches in very hot weather and stuck good on the rainy days. They seemed OK on the Dempster Highway which is a mixture of gravel and mud. I had a pretty heavy get-off in some deep gravel but I chalk that up to poor riding technique.

Overall, I think I'll go back with the MEFO SE which is on my other non-tubeless rim. There's no way on earth I could change that K60 on the road if something happened that couldn't be repaired with a tubeless tire plug.

-Shov

Just rode the Dempster in June this year.
Picked up a nail in the K60 and had to change the tube.
It wasn't hard at all. I think the tires get more pliable as you put miles on them.
This one had about 4000 miles on it when it flatted.

New chain and sprockets went on. Went with a 16-45 combo to bring the rpms up a bit in 6th. With the previous 16-42 combo, the engine always felt like it was lugging a bit at cruising speed. ~75 in 6th gear, rpm was ~4800. Now, it's a tick about 5K at the same speed, and has a better roll-on. It's a bit buzzy in the lower gears, and the shifts come on a bit faster, but I think I can live with it.

I feel like I've been neglecting the 950 and instead giving all the love to the boat I bought two years ago. Re-did the carpet and interior, did some engine work, rebuilt the back seat and generally loved it up for the last two summers. I think next summer, the KTM is going to be pampered, probably new pipes and maybe a suspension revalve and rebuild (funds permitting).
G

I agree, I would not want to have to do that job on the road. It took forever just to break the bead loose on both sides.

I dunno, my rear had almost 12k miles on it when I changed it, and it was definitely NOT pliable. That being said, yours may have been easier to remove since the tire was warm? Rolling around on a flat tends to get the carcass very hot. Either that or you are one seriously burly dude.

~~~Bravo Bravissimo Salvador!!! The paint shop you chose did a very nice job with your tanks. I'm curious...did they re-spray or only remove the vinyl?

Here's my 05.5'-




wasn't always this way...I'm 3rd owner. When I bought it from the 2nd owner, the vinyl on both sides was perfect (June 2010). IIRC, the bubbles didn't appear until 2012 in the spring. There was only one or two bubbles and I didn't think much about them then one time I met up with a few others and someone mentioned what was there and asked if there was something I could do get rid of the air under the vinyl

I went on to explain it happens to this model and that I never really gave it any thought, so later that day after getting home I used a sewing needle to create a way for the air to release. Big mistake...doing so only created many mini bubbles

For sure, I'd like to drop off the tanks to a pro and let em' strip the vinyl, see if they can clean it up w/o having to re-shoot the paint, and as fugly as it looks...it really is on the bottom of my to do list with this bike

Anyways, your bike came out real nice Salvador...it's a real looker!


Best,


Jake
Reddick Fla.
Our FREEDOM rests on 4 boxes:

Soap, Ballot, Jury, and Cartridge

Hi Shakin_jake, the job was a full re-spray. It took them about a week. I'm glad you like it!!

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk 4

Here's another photo.

Hmmm....Im no tire expert by any means, but I've been changing my own tires on my Ducati 748 and SPS without much fuss. The trick is leverage (obviously ....). Granted I have a block screwed into the garage wall and use a couple of 2x4 pieces to pop the bead....but In the field Im sure something similar can be jerry rigged.

This is pretty muc what I do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC_QNHU4c64

As for tire irons, Crappy tire here in Canada has ATV tire irons that work like a charm and are not too big so they can be stashed in your kit: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/Powersports/ATVAccessories/PRDOVR~0270900P/Ignition+Tire+Iron%2C+9147.jsp?locale=en

My 2 cents

I have the Motion Pro bead breaker. It works like a charm to break the bead. I brought them in March and have used them for 6 tire changes and one flat since then. Fantastic much faster and easier to use than something like a C clamp or Tyre Pliers.



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I saw those Motion Pro breakers at last years Adventure rally, but have never tried them. I sounds like they are the hot ticket? I may have to give them a go.

I got a hand delivery of parts I ordered from Hawaii, from speedmonkey7. (great guy btw)
Stood around and jabberjawed for hours (hope I didnt kill his plans for the day)

Then I wheeled my 950 out in the heat (95*), geared up, realized I was out of gas, wheeled it back in and had some food.

I now have to fit the rear rack and take a quick one to a shop and weld up a rear cross bar, will that count as doing something if it is not at home?

(Although he did find a solution to something I had noticed but had not taken a detailed look at, a bolt for the footpeg mount was too long and had contacted the swingarm under compression [prev owner], I shimmed it out until rack goes on.)

been busy;

525- new clutch cover gasket, oil change, bled front brake, actually took it for a ride on sunday!

xr400- (Ok, know it's not orange) new fork oil, new fork boots, new brake fluid, new headlight mask, new throttle cables

990- new Mori bar risers. pretty happy so far. just rotated the bars a bit more forward and i will see what i think of that, but for anyone that doesn't need a lot of lift, cant beat these. only $20 from Chip.



laters,

laramie

got the bike picked up from Mr Tim Robel who did a fantastic job as usual!


-Adjusted the suspension as much as possible without a revalve (that will be my next visit)
-Fitted the Michelin Power One 160 :)
-14/47 Gearing
-Orange Non-O Ring Chain
-Shortened side stand
-Anodized and fitted Akrapovic slip-on

Cant rate him enough, the sort of guy who charges you for the work you ask for than lists off a bunch of other things he did along the way to clean it up and improve any potential issues arising at no charge..top man..if your in LA and you ride orange..you owe it to yourself to pay him a visit

Dropped the 990 for the first time today on a gravel road today. Had it just over a week. Scratched the Orange crashbars and the hand gaurd and the mirror. Oh well.
Glad I got that over with. Now hopefully I won't be so nervous.

I put the seat on and made vvvrrrroooommm vvvrooommmm noises.

Put the tall windshield on and added a Laminar Lip to it.
Put a sticker on it
Sent my seat to Renazzco, Hope to heck it gets back before I head to the rally!!

Good news:

My new 2012 990 was delivered today. 276 miles on the clock





Bad news:

ABS light remains on, and no speedo. Ground cable looks good, battery leads on tight, everything looks to be plugged in, so it goes to the shop tomorrow for what should be a new front sensor.

Also installed my first two mods.