• There has been a recent cluster of spammers accessing BARFer accounts and posting spam. To safeguard your account, please consider changing your password. It would be even better to take the additional step of enabling 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your BARF account. Read more here.

How long will a KTM 690 motor last?

If its anything like the blast if you get over 30k miles on the bike before needing engine work you are doing alright. I think it is the no free lunch principle, making 50hp from a 690 single makes them pretty high strung. Are parts pretty pricey or can you piece an engine back together from ebay parts unknown? Some times people upgrade and will sell the stock parts for cheap, but I don't know anything about ktm. I wouldn't let it scare me but I'm a glutton for punishment.
 
They are actually well north of 60 horsies. Hell, even my 2010 (which is only 654 cc) had over 60 horsepower.
 
I had an 08 690SM that had 43k miles on it when I sold it. It was still running like new. I was OCD with the maintenance though. Only probs I ever had was with the water impeller (replaced it) and the o-ring seal at the countershaft exit (replaced it and the bushings).
Awesome motor that pulls and pulls!
 
I hear the Aprilia V-Twin in the supermoto is a reliable engine. V-Twins are less stressed than a single. Maybe you should invest in a reliable Aprilia.
 
HellFyre said:
What I hear you saying is that single cylinder bikes are less reliable than two. So, you're suggesting to get the two-cylinder SXV/RXV. ;)
Click to expand...

I think you need an LC8 (SuperDuke, SuperAdventure, etc). I wonder how long those last?
 
There was a comparison from above with KLRs. The KTM has more than twice as much power, I'd expect 1/2 the mileage before major work. My LC8 ate the water pump impeller at 15k, other than that, the build quality is awesome. KTMs are much higher quality than most other bikes. From the Brembos, to Magura clutch MCs and slave cylinders, to the wheels and such, just really good bikes. Very high performing bikes. Look at what you have to do to make a DRZ run with a KTM (and they still can't keep up with a good running stock KTM).

But what really shocked me, was the maintenance requirements for the legendary 450 and 550 Aprilias. Every one I've ever seen, had been rebuilt before 2500 miles.
 
corndog67 said:
But what really shocked me, was the maintenance requirements for the legendary 450 and 550 Aprilias. Every one I've ever seen, had been rebuilt before 2500 miles.
Click to expand...

Which Barfer(s) had one? I remember a few shitstorm threads where the things had grenaded with just a handful of miles.
 
Yeah, those SXVs were rolling grenades. CRAZY fun when they were running, but wow. Wow. Talk about a pure bred race motor. :wow
 
Kestrel said:
Which Barfer(s) had one? I remember a few shitstorm threads where the things had grenaded with just a handful of miles.
Click to expand...

Not sure about Barfers, but a friend of mine at the Yamaha dealer had one, it had been completely apart at least twice in 6000 miles. Every one I've ever seen advertised, had been rebuilt, no matter how many miles were on it. But my buddy was about one hooligan ass rider on his. It drifted sideways as much as any bike I've ever seen when watching him.
 
HellFyre said:
Yeah, tested it at Buttonwillow last weekend. Awesome having it there! :thumbup Pain in the ass filling/getting it there and emptying/getting it home.:thumbdown Overall judgment is still pending.
Click to expand...

I heard.... nice job, congrats on another podium! Now stop picking on those SV's with your Duc. :teeth

If you tire of the Toy Hauler, you can bring it up to the Chateau de Redneck and I'll move in. :party


Now, back on topic....... I'd very happy if I got more than 25K miles out of any thumper. I just wouldnt expect it, and certainly not fault it if it didnt. Not an indictment of KTMs, great bikes in my opinion. For the OP, I think to expect street bike longevity is more than a bit unrealistic.
 
OaklandF4i said:
Now, back on topic....... I'd very happy if I got more than 25K miles out of any thumper. I just wouldnt expect it, and certainly not fault it if it didnt.
Click to expand...

I've got high hopes that my DR350 goes the distance. There's one out there that had close to 150k miles approx 10 years back, with solid compression and no big failures.. No idea where that bike is now, or how high it went. Seems like a lot of little DRs make it past 50k without issue.

Not the same power league as the KTM, no... but stellar nonetheless for an oil cooled bike. Suzuki threw in piston squirters to keep it all lubed, and supposedly having the oil in frame helped keep it cooler than.. say.. something like an XR.
 
stan23 said:
big difference between a thumper KTM street motor, and a thumper KTM 4T motocross motor.

The LC4s will last a long time. There are dudes with well over 100Ks on them (look them up on ADV rider)

A 4T motocross motor will have typical rebuild MX rebuild schedules counted in hours.

Then there's the anomaly that is the RFS motors. They seem to go the distance in the street, and still have great performance.

A 690 Duke will last a long time.
Click to expand...
This dude knows his shit.
OaklandF4i said:
If you are looking for longevity, thumpers, let alone a high performance one is not what you should be considering. I here about these unicorn thumpers that make 50k miles without their engines ever being opened up, even seen one. But I truly think they are the outliers statistically.

Problem is, you really cant tell the condition of them until you tear them open.... and then you may as well rebuild it anyways. I know of plenty of thumpers like XR L's, DRZ's etc that are far less high strung than say the KTMs..... going boom long before 20 or 25k miles. I'd budget for at least that if not sooner if it were me. But I tend to rebuild before they go boom.... its cheaper that way.

You dont buy these kinds of bikes and expect low maintenance or high miles between rebuilds like a street bike.

Just my opinion and experience, others may vary. Take with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...
This one does not.
 
jumph4x said:
This dude knows his shit.

This one does not.
Click to expand...

:rofl Care to explain and bless us with your experience with thumpers? I can tell you that within the last 12 months I have personally seen and touched 4 KTM thumpers that went boom. 2 LC4's, and RFS, and 690. What was common among them? I can tell you they all had less than 25k miles on them. :wow

Can they go longer, yes. Do some go far longer, yes. Should I budget when buying a new thumper to go 100k miles like the OP was asking. I wouldnt, nor would I ever suggest that to anyone. Been my experience it isnt reasonable. My personal experience with many many thumpers has shown me otherwise. But you obviously know more, so explain why we all should expect 100k from our thumpers. I could be wrong? :party

Thats not a condemnation of KTMs as I previously stated. Its thumpers. And yes Stan does know his stuff (only thing I can agree with you on.) But I doubt he would even suggest some one should expect 100k from a thumper as the rule.

I've torn down plenty of thumpers. Have you? whats your long term personal experience with thumpers?

I challenge you to go into any KTM dealership, ask to speak with the service manager, and then go on the record by providing his name and dealership here online in this thread that yes an owner of a new KTM xyz thumper should expect to not open their engine other than valve adjustments in a 100k miles.

So please enlighten us with your superior knowledge and experience. I'll be waiting for that Service Manager willing to put his and his authorized dealership's name on record here in this thread. Also curious to hear about your vast and deep experience with thumpers. Share with us what % of thumpers make it 25k, 50k, 75k, 100k miles with out a top end?

Want to know my guess? You dont know your shit. But please prove me wrong. If not enlightening, it might be entertaining.
 
stan23 said:
The LC4s will last a long time. There are dudes with well over 100Ks on them (look them up on ADVRIDER)
Click to expand...

The LC4 (640) that makes it past 30k without a blown up cam follower bearing is an exception. Also, the LC4 until 2003 came with a ball bearing on the transmission input shaft that had a tendency to fail long before that. That is why they're on craigslist for cheap or parts all the time- they need a rebuild.

If by lasting a long time you mean "after a rebuild" or roller bearing upgrade, then yeah, they go forever once you fixed the factory set up. They were, and continue to be fantastic engines. But they aren't without their faults or reliability issues.

The 690? I don't know. I never owned one.
 
Well, I have a 13 Duke 690 with 11k and it blew up. It ate oil randomly and I would top it off, and I made sure to check it every fill up (150 miles). It sat a bit over the holidays, no leaks or anything and then it started getting louder in Jan (again, oil levels were fine).

Then, it ate ALL THE OIL in 100 miles. I wound up on the side of the highway trying to figure out what's up. Shop took it apart, couldn't find a cause or a leak and had to do an upper rebuild. At 11k.

I baby the hell out of my bike, no stupid shit, rarely running hard and it just decided to eat every ounce of oil in 100 miles. Seriously. ZERO leaks. I've done every oil change and service per the books too.

Pretty pissed, but I have a 13 with a new engine if you want one, I'm moving on.

I've had it back a couple of weeks now and I do smell oil once in awhile and I check it every time I get off the damn bike now. It's been fine, go figure, but I feel the one day I don't check I'm going to be sorry. I can't honestly handle that stress on a commuter bike.
 
It should also be pointed out that miles aren't the only factor. My 690 blew up at a bit over 15K miles, but that's hardly the whole story. I am VERY good about maintenance, including things that most people never even think about unless they have already failed, like bushings/bearings/seals. While my bike only had 15K miles on it, it probably had A LOT more hours than most bikes that had 30K+ miles. This is because the bulk of my riding on the 690 was on dirt. By dirt, I don't mean the Beemer GS version of dirt. I mean proper dirt. Stonyford, Carnegie, Baja, etc.

Had I thought a bit more about the number of hours on my motor I probably would have freshened-up the top end before Baja this year. Oops. My point is that CJ is absolutely correct that big bore thumpers are simply not built to do 50-100K miles without some engine love. Sure, some of them are able to do it (usually KLRs and DR650s) but they are usually babied and live easy lives. I big bore single that is ridden hard, particularly in the dirt, will need some engine work long before 50K. There will always be exceptions, but knowing a guy who knows a guy who had heard of another guy who got 100K on his 690 with only basic maintenance does not mean that is the norm.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top