2012 ktm 500 exc?

[Bengt Phorks]

Originally Posted by bill1960

A few days ago I took delivery of my new 500 xcw.

The bike runs well. I've done the first oil change and at this stage the bike has 5 hours on it.
When I changed the oil, there was almost no steel filings on the magnetic drain plug, none on the gearbox oil screen, and a few flecks on the engine oil screen
Its my first KTM after running two DRZ's and an XR .

There's a clunking noise I'd like some opinions on. It seems to be coming from the clutch when the bike is idling, in neutral, clutch out.
If the revs are increased or the clutch is pulled in, the noise goes away. This noise was there from zero hours.
Idle is set correctly at around 1800rpm.

Is this normal ?

At 180 hours it still makes the same clunking sound. It sounds worse with the stock muffler because the bike is so quiet.
Later on you will hear a ticking noise at idle. Its the decompression mechanism rattling.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by avconnect

Plug and play. Plenty of power on board already. No need for a stator upgrade. It is not street legal but Baja Designs makes a dimmer switch that allows you to control the brightness and theoretically get around the street legal issue. The kit provides spacers that push the stock shroud forward to provide clearance for the backside of the light assembly. It actually helps solve clearance issues if you have a HDB setup.

does the squadron allow you to use your current headlight switch?

[LukasM]

Originally Posted by Nomad

does the squadron allow you to use your current headlight switch?

Sure, you can use any switch with it. But it doesn't have a high and low function, for that you need to buy a dimmer.

[avconnect]

Originally Posted by garrett

What's the clearance issue with the HDB setup?

Thanks
Garrett

The HDB top clamp plus the stock computer mounted in an HDB billett protector requires moving the headlight forward to make room. The Squadron comes with extenders to make space between the triple clamps and the backside of the shroud and headlight assembly. You will see elsewhere in this thread where people made their own extenders.

[SteveO]

Originally Posted by avconnect

The HDB top clamp plus the stock computer mounted in an HDB billett protector requires moving the headlight forward to make room. The Squadron comes with extenders to make space between the triple clamps and the backside of the shroud and headlight assembly. You will see elsewhere in this thread where people made their own extenders.

When using the HDB bottom clamp (for a steering stabilizer), I found that it wasn't really the HDB parts that necessitated the move of the head light forward, but the depth of the TrailTech X2 light. This light has a much deeper back, and there was just no room for this depth due to the wiring harness. I had to make my own little plastic extenders, which have been working quite well. However, I believe Paul (HDB) was looking at making some fancy aluminum ones that would allow the headlight to be moved forward, allowing for more room of the TrailTech headlight housing.

[Night Crawler]

What KTM parts supplier are you guys using for these bikes? I see a lot of the places don't even list the 500. Are most of the parts interchangeable with the 450?

[DaveRMS]

Originally Posted by Night Crawler

What KTM parts supplier are you guys using for these bikes? I see a lot of the places don't even list the 500. Are most of the parts interchangeable with the 450?

Join KTMTalk as a lifetime member and you get 25% everything from Munn Racing. They have all the years/models parts fiches online.

Dave

[garrett]

Originally Posted by avconnect

The HDB top clamp plus the stock computer mounted in an HDB billett protector requires moving the headlight forward to make room. The Squadron comes with extenders to make space between the triple clamps and the backside of the shroud and headlight assembly. You will see elsewhere in this thread where people made their own extenders.

.
Thanks
Garrett

[garrett]

Originally Posted by SteveO

When using the HDB bottom clamp (for a steering stabilizer), I found that it wasn't really the HDB parts that necessitated the move of the head light forward, but the depth of the TrailTech X2 light. This light has a much deeper back, and there was just no room for this depth due to the wiring harness. I had to make my own little plastic extenders, which have been working quite well. However, I believe Paul (HDB) was looking at making some fancy aluminum ones that would allow the headlight to be moved forward, allowing for more room of the TrailTech headlight housing.

Steve
I have the HDB setup on my 690, which I am moving over to the 500. I also have the TrailTech X2 that I am going to try and swap to the 500. With an HDB gauge protector mounted up high on the top clamp will the light still need to be shimmed forward?

Garrett

[SteveO]

Originally Posted by garrett

Steve
I have the HDB setup on my 690, which I am moving over to the 500. I also have the TrailTech X2 that I am going to try and swap to the 500. With an HDB gauge protector mounted up high on the top clamp will the light still need to be shimmed forward?

Garrett

Yup. The root of the problem is the TrailTech light. It's pretty deep, and interferes with the wires behind it.

Being the cheapo that I am, I used an old Oil-pan, and cut sections to fit what I needed.

Here is my current setup



Here you can see just how deep the TrailTech backing plate is....






Unfortunately.....being the knot-head that I am, I can't seem to find any pictures at this time of my TrailTech upgrade and the extensions I made.....


I would contact HDB about those little extensions......

I believe he even put up a picture of a prototype.....

[garrett]

Originally Posted by SteveO

Yup. The root of the problem is the TrailTech light. It's pretty deep, and interferes with the wires behind it.

Being the cheapo that I am, I used an old Oil-pan, and cut sections to fit what I needed.

Here is my current setup
Here you can see just how deep the TrailTech backing plate is....





Unfortunately.....being the knot-head that I am, I can't seem to find any pictures at this time of my TrailTech upgrade and the extensions I made.....


I would contact HDB about those little extensions......

I believe he even put up a picture of a prototype.....

Thanks Steve. I'm going to use your setup as a template. I like the the ignition switch setup. Uh oh, I feel a new top clamp coming on
Whats the other switch for? I like the ramball mount too. Great ideers.

Garrett

[SteveO]

Originally Posted by garrett

Thanks Steve. I'm going to use your setup as a template. I like the the ignition switch setup. Uh oh, I feel a new top clamp coming on
Whats the other switch for? I like the ramball mount too. Great ideers.

Garrett

The other switch is a ON-OFF-ON switch that interfaces with the kill-switch button. If the switch is not in the correct position, it opens up line to the kill-switch button; effectively creating a second kill switch button that would deter a thief who may be trying to start the bike......I know, simple and maybe silly, but dangit, if a thief wants to steal it, they are going to have to work for it.

I'm also going to use the same switch to activate my second and primary cooling fan. After the bike is started, the switch can be moved to any position without killing the engine. The second position will be used to manually engage the primary cooling fan, and a second waterproof fan that I'll be mounting on the second radiator. With the larger Acerbis tank, air flow is somewhat reduced, and another fan would really help things out.

The Ram ball mount is for my cell phone mount. I have used DualSportMaps in the past, and having a phone up front helps when taking milder rides. I have done single track with the Droid X2 and it has stayed in place.


I have a larger Garmin 276C that sits in a custom mount further forward of the TrailTech display. This ensures that I can still see the screen when I'm standing and riding across the desert at high speed, and keeps my helmet from hitting the screen when going over some nasty bumps.... works pretty well..

[bill1960]

Originally Posted by Bengt Phorks

At 180 hours it still makes the same clunking sound. It sounds worse with the stock muffler because the bike is so quiet.
Later on you will hear a ticking noise at idle. Its the decompression mechanism rattling.

Someone on TT reports the same noise on a 2013 450 SXF and posted a vid on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=CbXmYh3XMRs

My 2013 500 xcw clutch is as loud from new as the 450 SXF in the vid.

This 500 exc ? thread has been running for a while and no one seems bothered with any clutch noise.

If mine is a problem, perhaps its something new with 13's, hence not many reports yet.

[the_babaji]

By chance, the other day I noticed a difference in sound between clutch on clutch off. However it was not THAT pronounced!

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk 2

[avconnect]

Originally Posted by SteveO

When using the HDB bottom clamp (for a steering stabilizer), I found that it wasn't really the HDB parts that necessitated the move of the head light forward, but the depth of the TrailTech X2 light. This light has a much deeper back, and there was just no room for this depth due to the wiring harness. I had to make my own little plastic extenders, which have been working quite well. However, I believe Paul (HDB) was looking at making some fancy aluminum ones that would allow the headlight to be moved forward, allowing for more room of the TrailTech headlight housing.

My HDB setup did require some spacing but the Squadron kit made it mandatory and the spacers are provided in the Squadron kit. I had a Trail Tech light ready to install and it too needed spacers which Trail Tech does not provide. However, Paul at HDB turned me on to the Squadron and although it is more money it is a superior product to the Trail Tech light while maintaining a stock appearance using the stock headlight shroud. It works with stock switches but I bought the Sicass switch to make more room on my left handle bar. High beam turns on the light, low beam and off turn off the light. Only a dimmer gives you function to create a low beam. I have not installed the dimmer.