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KTM 690 - how long do they last?

J

Junkie

gone for now
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I came across a 690SM for $2k. Downside is that it has 43k on it.

How long do the older KTM 690s last?
 
35k on mine and running strong. Rocker arms, Cam chain tensioner, fuel pumps are the big things that go wrong with them. Ask when they were last replaced, and be cautious if they hesitate to answer. Although, 2k is a smoking deal even if you had to replace all of those things.
 
He had a dealer take a look at it ~1k ago. They replaced both tires, did rear brake pads/fluid, chain maintenance, said front brake pads are pretty close to done and rotor buttons are fairly worn, replaced CCT, replaced fan thermo switch, coolant change, plug, valve check, tested leakdown (20%), oil/filter. I'll ask about rocker arms.
 
I asked how long he had it and if he'd had any problems with rocker arms or fuel pump. He says he's had it a year, bought it from a friend who bought it new, and the friend didn't have any problems with either.

How expensive are those? I imagine rocker arms are likely to cause significant damage to other things, fuel pump not so much.

edit: looks like rocker arms are $165 or so for the pair, fuel pump $330.
 
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I would say that it depends A LOT on how/where it is ridden. I’m guessing this one was babied quite a bit to make it that far without so much as a top end rebuild. My 690 Enduro blew up after about 15K, but many of those miles were single track and low speed trail miles, as well as plenty of desert riding. I upgraded the rocker arms when I bought it, but that wasn’t where the failure was. No big deal, as I had the jug and a couple of valve guides repaired, new piston/rings (installed by buddies of mine because I was too busy/lazy to do it myself) and it runs like a champ now.
 
One of the key points in the items you posted is the leak down result of 20%. While the motor may still start and run ok, to me that is indicative of the motor being on the down side of its useful life curve IMO and I certainly would expect to be rebuilding it sooner than later if it were my bike.

Whole long thread a while back in the general section where I've already provided my opinion.
 
Junkie said:
He had a dealer take a look at it ~1k ago. They replaced both tires, did rear brake pads/fluid, chain maintenance, said front brake pads are pretty close to done and rotor buttons are fairly worn, replaced CCT, replaced fan thermo switch, coolant change, plug, valve check, tested leakdown (20%), oil/filter. I'll ask about rocker arms.
Click to expand...

That leakdown is pretty high. Could be as simple as a valve adjustment but I'd want to know more.
 
I don't know how much a top end rebuild would be on one of those, but at 43K, I would have some room in the budget for one if you were to get that bike.

I'm not one to be scared of high mileage bikes, but the exception for me is a big single.
 
2009 690 SMC kapoooooeeeeyyyyyyyy Rocker Arms at 19K. Very expensive rebuild.

I love my 690 SMC when it was up and running, no other bike like it.
I hate KTM now for building such a sweet machine but lack the quality on the newer bikes. Compared to my other KTM 2003 450 EXC that's bullet proof. I hate their new product so much that I did not even consider the KTM Adventure when i looked into Adventure bikes. I went with BMW after a test drive.
 
Rocker arms are not expensive and are really simple to replace.

Why so conflicted? Do a compression test on the bike, if it checks out, just pick up two rocker arms and proactively reinforce: done. No guesswork.
Put the good oil in the fucker and you're set.
 
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jumph4x said:
Rocker arms are not expensive and are really simple to replace.

Why so conflicted? Do a compression test on the bike, if it checks out, just picked up two rocker arms and proactively reinforce: done. No guesswork.

Put the good oil in the fucker and you're set.
Click to expand...

This!

/Soren
 
Mines at around 16k, bought at 13k after a top end rebuild. Ran out of oil leading to rocker arm bearing failure. Right on cue the fuel pump stopped working. I think it might have just been clogged filters, as the shops never seem to change them and mine were filthy. But I went ahead and replaced the fuel pump with the CA cycleworks one while I had the tank off. Was around $100 and is supposed to be better than OEM.

If you're comfortable working on the engine yourself you could do rocker arms and new piston/rings for like $500 in parts and be set for a while.

They all burn oil, some more than others. So be mindful of it and check frequently. I'm switching to Motul 300V which is supposedly more resilient to thinning out and burning up.
 
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