How long will a KTM 690 motor last?

[Lunch Box]

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

I've heard of some of the newer 690s eating oil. Mine never really consumed much oil, except when I was thrashing it on single track for extended periods or during triple digit desert runs.

So...wanna sell me your motor?

 

[xanthia]

I've heard of some of the newer 690s eating oil. Mine never really consumed much oil, except when I was thrashing it on single track for extended periods or during triple digit desert runs.

So...wanna sell me your motor?

Of course! Though it blew up with my daily commute of 101 potholes not anything close to dirt, so YMMV

 

[Lunch Box]

Oh, I meant your new motor.

What's the status of your old motor? I might be able to use it for parts, even though it is the newer version with more displacement.

 

[vizcarmb]

Sure it didn't just run out of oil? #lameoldharleyjokes

I knew it was running out of oil when it started vibrating more. That was my indication that it was low on oil

 

[xanthia]

Oh, I meant your new motor.

What's the status of your old motor? I might be able to use it for parts, even though it is the newer version with more displacement.

It was a half rebuild, not a brand new engine, sorry! Hah.

 

[Lunch Box]

Well, if you are interested in selling it (assuming it is a functioning engine) shoot me a message.

 

[vizcarmb]

I think the service intervals of 6213 miles or 10000km are way too long. Knowing that the engine barely holds about 2 quarts of oil. I started doing oil changes at 3000 miles. I knew something was wrong when I noticed that the oil turned black after only 1000 miles of riding. Even after taking it to the dealer to check it out they told me it was normal and was within spec of oil consumption. Checking valve clearances are important too.

Also for those that dont know already you can get the valve shims at a Harley Dealership rather than going to a KTM dealer since they use the same diameter shims for their VRODS

 

[xanthia]

I think the service intervals of 6213 miles or 10000km are way too long. Knowing that the engine barely holds about 2 quarts of oil. I started doing oil changes at 3000 miles.

I did my oil changes every 3k. That was what was in the book, it's the bigger maintenances that are spread out to 6k.

 

[auntiebling]

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.

The lesson here is really that you shouldn't baby it, beat the snot outof it. That way, when it grenades at 11 you can say "I blew up a ktm in only 11k miles because Iam a hard core rydah"

Or, if it goes to 30 or so you can say "I beat that thing like a rented mule and got 30k miles out of it, we are both awesome!"

Sorry to hear of the bad luck tho. That's a pile of suck

 

[redtail]

Also for those that dont know already you can get the valve shims at a Harley Dealership rather than going to a KTM dealer since they use the same diameter shims for their VRODS

Not that I'm worried about a Harley part in my KTM (ok I am), just curious, what is the advantage of getting the shims from a Harley dealer?

 

[flying_hun]

More Harley dealers than KTM dealers?

 

[rjbrittain11]

I got my 2010 SMC 690 in January 2013 with roughly 3500 miles on it. The guy before me who owned it runs the Harley Service Dept. in San Jose if I remember correclty. He babied it like no other. Oil changes every 500 miles and never ran it hard. When i got it the gauge cluster didn't work. He ordered me a new one. I changed the suspension back to stock since he had lowered and stiffened it.

Since then i've just one oil changes (yes, uses a little oil). I also changed the thermostat to the one that turns the fans on earlier. I have about 23K miles on it now. I've crashed it 3 times, with no major damage except for a shift lever, so rashed brush guards, and a license plate bracket.

I'm gonna have the valves checked soon and oil changed. Other than that its ran pretty strong. I commute on it most days on Hwy 24 from the east bay to Alameda. I can tell you I don't baby that thing at all. It doesn't have many trips where its not on 1 wheel

 

[strictlyJDM]

I had a 07 690 SM. Did everything to the book and it blew at 6.6k miles on the freeway home. There were no warning signs to the naked eye. I'm sure I got a lemon but when I was doing valve check I noticed they missed when drilling the hole for the valve cover, moved over a few millimeters and redrilled. Their quality control has definitely gotten better last few years

In my experience KTMs have always been a hit or miss. Either they have issues or they don't and run forever

Goodluck

 

[Lunch Box]

I'm gonna have the valves checked soon and oil changed. Other than that its ran pretty strong. I commute on it most days on Hwy 24 from the east bay to Alameda. I can tell you I don't baby that thing at all. It doesn't have many trips where its not on 1 wheel

Even "hard" street miles are much easier on the bike than low speed dirt stuff / sand / salt flats. I checked valve clearance every 5000 miles, changed the oil every 1500 (or less if I had been riding some really technical offroad) and I also have the 990 thermostat, which is a great mod. Unfortunately, mine still grenaded. That said, I love the bike and am looking forward to getting it back on the road in the coming months (spare time is hard to find these days). If I had to pay a shop to have my oil changed, valves checked/adjusted, etc. there is no way I would own a 690. Fortunately, that stuff is pretty easy to do.

 

[rjbrittain11]

Even "hard" street miles are much easier on the bike than low speed dirt stuff / sand / salt flats. I checked valve clearance every 5000 miles, changed the oil every 1500 (or less if I had been riding some really technical offroad) and I also have the 990 thermostat, which is a great mod. Unfortunately, mine still grenaded. That said, I love the bike and am looking forward to getting it back on the road in the coming months (spare time is hard to find these days). If I had to pay a shop to have my oil changed, valves checked/adjusted, etc. there is no way I would own a 690. Fortunately, that stuff is pretty easy to do.

Oh im just waiting for the day mine goes BOOM. Until then i'll treat it how its always been treated and love her for who she is on the inside, even tho shes a 10 on the outside

 

[Z3n]

So here's the thing about KTM 690 engines: let them warm up and beat the absolute shit out of them. If you ride them nicely at low rpm, they vibrate, they chudder, oil pressure is lower, and they pop. I've owned 2 690 SMCs, and they all lived basically on the rev limiter all the time. I'd try to let them warm up before pinging a wheelie into the limiter but most of the time my self control didn't hold out and the thing was on one wheel 30 seconds down the road.

I did 1500 miles in 2 days on my first 690, both of them were sold at around 15-20k with zero issues. The bikes were very clearly not particularly happy below 4K rpm or so, so I tended to ride them above that. There's a couple of guys out there doing round the world stuff on a pair of 690s, feeding them garbage oil at over 50k already. I would expect a well maintained, ridden hard duke 690 to do 100k before requiring a rebuild.

Nearly all of the blown 690 engines I've seen were run low on oil at some point during their life - they tend to consume oil somewhat erratically, so people don't check and then you discover you're low on oil and the oil light has gone on - at that point, the damage is pretty much done already, low oil pressure will munch bearings and shave tens of thousands of miles of life off the engines.

These things were built to run Dakar reliably - warm them up and rev the shit out of them, that's what they were built for. Do not lug them. Make sure you're on the right ignition map. These bikes aren't quite as ride and forget as the Japanese bikes - the downside to dealing with the compromises of 60+hp out of a big single.

Edit: oh yeah, make sure it's not consuming dirt either. Especially if ridden off-road / in dusty conditions.

 

[vizcarmb]

Not that I'm worried about a Harley part in my KTM (ok I am), just curious, what is the advantage of getting the shims from a Harley dealer?

The advantage is that Harley Dealers are open 7 days are week and you can get parts quickly. And you can be assured that they might have the part if you call it in.

 

[Lunch Box]

Harley shims are also way cheaper. I bought a whole set for my 690 at a fraction of the cost of the KTM shims.

 

[jumph4x]

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.

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? arty

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.

Don't ego trip and calm down. I'm sure you have seen one that blew up, I'm here to tell the OP the other side of that story.

Sources:
- owned an '08 690 SMC for three years and rode it harder than anyone you know
- have heard only the best possible praise about Stan, his reputation speaks for itself
- personally knew owners of about 4 other late LC4 690s

Comparing a modern LC4 to DRZ motors and RFS thumpers is asinine. Stop conflating and feeding people garbage.

 

[Sharky]

I'd expect any modern ktm motor ton last till the first rebuild at least

not really English..