KTM 525 EXC as an Adventure Bike

[Colorado4Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Stu

Colorado4wheeler,

He didn't lose a sale, you lost sight of the fact that sales people say stupid, ignorant things and that to get what you want you have to bird dog everyone. You know what you want and what KTM offers. The 525 would be a great bike for that sort of stuff and it would tempt you to explore all sorts of trails. I plan on doing exactly the same kind of riding with my '07 525 EXC. Just buy your bike from someone that knows what the bike is and is willing to support your riding needs. Many 450 SM riders on this site and others have said they have thousands of miles on their engines on the street. Many DS riders have said the same. The racers have reliable machines but racing means more maintenance, as you know.

If you want a turn-key solution they just don't exist. A 400 Suzuki is probably closest. The KTM will need some protective stuff (brush guards, skid plate, clutch guard, radiator guards at the least) and may need some performance stuff (JD jetting kit minimum). Look at the KTMTalk web site for more details on jetting, valve setting, oil changes, etc. If you are going to do a lot of road miles put a cushioned rear hub on it. I bought one for my 525. The 2002~2005 LC4 rear wheel & hub assembly fits nicely (I started a thread on this on KTMTalk.)

When you get one let me know so I can drive out and join you!

Stu

So I would need a new hub and a bunch of stuff the DRZ400 also needs. I just don't hear the KTM guys saying the 525 EXC is a big mileage type of engine. I like the KTM, shop is 5 mins away. Husky is 350+ miles round trip. I don't mind maintence but the valve issue scaries me a little more then anything. Never hear the DRZ guys say the engine isn't good for the long haul. Of course the DRZ is no KTM 525 EXC. Not even close it seems.

[Stu]

Yea, you do have to take your choice. They are built for different purposes.

The DRZ 400 is a great little bike for road and some trail. I have seen guys really hammer on those bikes in the woods but they have to work at it.

The 525 is much better at woods/trails/dez/off-road and good enough to get around on the highway. And valves? Well, learn to check them and then do so. I check mine at 6 hours new and then at 20 hours and then more extended intervals. They are never off by much. Once a year replace the cam support bearings. Not difficult. When I replaced mine the ones coming out were as good as the ones going in new. They don't wear much with reasonable riding and keeping clean oil in it. If you race it or don't change your oil very often then maintenance is more of an issue.

Stu

[Stu]

Leesbian,

I just posted a thread on lousy fuel at:

http://ktmtalk.com/index.php?showtop...&#entry1834226

and will wait to see what shows up there.

Stu

[leesbian]

Originally Posted by Stu

Leesbian,

Welcome back from the Polish Beemer breakdown! Did you get pix to post?

Yeah... I've got a load to upload to my Flickr account - hopefully take care of that sometime this week. The photos of Norwa are great - reflections of mountains in the still water of the fjords can really hurt your head

Originally Posted by Stu

I have thought a lot about the 85 octane, long distance stuff. My thoughts: guys ride in Mexico with crap gas purchased there without difficulty that I have heard about. A thicker base gasket would probably take care of that problem. Octane boosters have carcinogens in them. No thanks. Any dez racers with low octane experience with the 525 out there?

Yeah, we'll have to see how this works out - I'll register at KTMTalk, and see if you get any responses to your crappy fuel post.

Originally Posted by Stu

Oil: the hot setup would be to put an HT oil cooler on it. This would get you about 2 quarts of oil to thrash. I would not be afraid of running 1,000 miles before service with this much oil capacity. The HT has a one-way drain back valve so startups will not starve the top end of oil It also has a drain plug. You can remove the top line to fill it up. This eases servicing. Also, run the Scotts wire mesh filters. They work better than paper and you don't need to change them out--just clean them. A spray cleaner, a cleaning tank when available, fresh oil poured thru, or just carefully removing what fragments you see if none of the above are available and pop them back in. I found that particles on the other screens are rare so I don't pull them every oil change.

Yeah, I still have to order my HT oil cooler and my steering damper yet, but its on the todo list. I already have the Scotts reusable filters. I figured carrying or trying to get hold of filters in the middle of nowhere was a hassle I could do without

[wachs]

interesting views - I had a '95 RXC 620 that I bought new and rode the piss out of it until at about 20k it was smoking and I could feel it just begin to lose power. pulled the motor and sent it to Gresham KTM, they replaced con rod, main bearing and rings. valves, and piston were perfect. $750 in parts and $300 in labor the thing ran stronger than new and continues for the guy that bought it from me. went to the 640 adventure and put 13K hard dirt miles on it with no problems except that the bike was so nice looking I felt sort of guilty pounding it all over the desert and mountains. ordered a 525 to arrive here soon and have been asking the same questions about long distance rides. I think it's a maintenance thing and I'm counting on the bike going 15 - 20 K before I have to look inside. Our trips are almost entirely dirt (maybe 75 miles of pave on a 1000mi loop) so I'm not doing the cush drive. Plan on several enduros and harescrambles a year and just 2 or 3 long multi-day annual trips.

[Stu]

Wachs,
"Ride while you can." A friend who just retired and was ready for long excursions discovered a month ago that he had pancreatic cancer. He died a week ago. I would modify that to, "Ride EVERY opportunity while you can." My friend's conclusion, "Retire early!"
Stu

[wachs]

Originally Posted by Stu

"Ride EVERY opportunity while you can." My friend's conclusion, "Retire early!"
Stu

I hear ya - anything can happen.

[Lunatic]

Any suggestions as to a rear rack and panniers for the 525 ?

Danimal

[Stu]

I hope to get the subframe off my '07 525 next week and take it to a good welder. I want to add tabs at the rear similar to the muffler tabs. I'll drill these for the Dirt Bagz I just bought for the earlier EXC subframe. I am going to see about reinforcing the subframe to carry the load as well. However, I am not going to add a rear rack since that is just going to put a load way out there in back and possibly break the subframe (something that has been happening to the ProMoto rack, reportedly.) In place of the rack I am going to use the Dirt Bagz for short trips and add the Wolfman Baja with the 8" channel for the seat for extended trips. The subframe should support all of this even with a crash or two thrown in. Pix when I get time to get this project underway.

Stu

[Odin69]

I'm thinking very hard about getting a 525 as my next bike. I want one for more technical stuff. I thought KTM mentioned that it should not be used as a regular street bike though and recommended road use for just going from trail to trail?

[Stu]

I cannot speak for KTM's motives in saying, when the 520 was released, "This is not a bike to be ridden anywhere but closed course racing." to, "This '07 EXC is street legal so you can ride on road sections between enduro sections." Uh-huh. As if guys have not ridden them all over the place and long distances. As if KTM does not sell a street legal version to be ridden on the streets in Europe.

If you want to ride it full throttle on the street why don't you just get a crotch rocket? If you ride it reasonably on the street and hammer on the trails the RFS is a fantastic bike. Haven't we been asking for a lightweight, powerful, great handling bike for everything? Well, here it is.

Sti

[reconsmr]

04 KTM supermoto conversion with over 14,000 miles is at Americade right now, 250 miles each way and he's riding it all over the twisties till Sunday before riding it home again. He'll have a 1000 mile weekend for sure. Passed many trailered Gold Wings and HDs, sportbikes too, on the NYST on the way up. Same bike ridden from Daytona to NJ last year, motor like new. 2K mile oil changes, valves never out of spec and ridden hard.

[dwrads]

My friend Mikes 525 Adventure. Corbin seat, 6+ gallon tank, rack on the back and a homemade windscreen. Seems to work well for him.







Nice bike for a 62 year old!

DW

[moragabiker]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your excellent advice on how to set up my '07 525 EXC -- I recently returned home from a 3 week, 3400 mile dual sport vacation through New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. We posted the story and lots of photos in the ride reports forum at http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240023.

I typically ride my KLR 650 on long rides. This is the first time that I used the KTM on an extended ride. It performed flawlessly. However, it does chew up tires quickly (I went through 3 rear tires on this trip). And, it took a few tries to find a comfortable seat (don't use the stock seat or a Corbin seat on a long-distance ride unless you are wearing padded bicycle shorts and abundant amounts of an anti-friction product called "Bodyglide").

Key modifications for this trip included:

• Enduro Engineering tall seat with soft foam (I started with a Corbin seat, but replaced it with a more comfortable EE during the trip)
• Rear "cush" wheel (built by Woody's Wheel Works)
• Acerbis gas tank (6.6 gallon)
• Scott's Steering Stabilizer
• Continental TKC80 tires (I prefer size 140/80-18 for the rear)

I scheduled service appointments along the way to have my valves adjusted, oil changed, tires changed, etc. By the way -- the guys at KTM of Grand Junction Colorado provided extremely prompt, high-quality and friendly service. Thanks Guys!

After "living" in the saddle of this bike for 3 weeks in a row, I can say that it is an incredibly versatile and fun bike! It will crawl through tough single-track sections at 15 mph, and it will gobble up two-track dirt roads at 80+ mph. And, it will go places that are "off limits" to my KLR.

Thanks again for all of your helpful set-up advice!

[leesbian]

Originally Posted by vuugti

Stu,
Ok, part numbers.

'05 Adv rear wheel complete - 582 10 00 11 44 30 has been changed to '06 wheel. Same thing.

Sprocket carrier - 583 100 50 144

Dampners - 546 10 45 9 000

OK guys, I've been away for a while - but now I'm back. Just lot's of catching up to do...

My parts from DirtWorks arrived about 6 weeks ago - yeah, it took a LONG time to arrive. Anyway, I've just double checked all my part numbers against those above - and all are correct.

I noticed that the rear rim doesn't have a rimlock bolt like the stock 525 one does... hopefully, that won't make much difference. It DOES look gorgeous though... I'll end up having to get a talon front in black so that it doesn't look odd

Hopefully gonna fit this at the weekend.

Just a quick question though... take a look at the picture below... I've placed the damping rubbers inside the rim, ready to lube up and fit the sprocket carrier on... I assume that I've put the damping rubbers in the correct way round?



Also,the sprocket carrier - I assume its best to strip everything from my existing wheel and fit this to the sprocket carrier before I fit it into the hub? seems like it will be almost impossible to fit all that stuff afterwards...