• 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.

maintenance for ktm

dejavo0

dejavo0

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2003
Location
San Mateo, Davis
Moto(s)
CBR f4i, XR650r SM
hi

Could someone please tell me about maintaining a ktm...as in cost-wise? Are they reliable bikes? I have no prior knowledge of dirtbikes/enduro's
 
Most service items happen on a 5,000km (3,100 mile) interval, such as oil & filter changes and valve adjustments. The cost will vary greatly with whether or not you can do the maintenance stuff yourself. The valve adjustment is fiddly to do, but at least they are screw-type adjusters instead of shim under bucket as on many Japanese bikes. The oil change procedure is also fiddly... you have to replace TWO filters (one on the frame and one inside a cover in the engine) and five sealing washers with each oil/filter change, but it only takes 2 litres of oil. The OEM KTM oil filters are pretty expensive, but there are K&N high quality substitutes for the OEM filters at about 1/2 the cost.

As far as reliability goes, they probably aren't as care-free reliable as your average Japanese "appliance" where you can ignore maintenance items, but they are far more reliable than some Italian marques I can think of. KTM has quite a winning record in motard, mx, and enduro racing, and reliability sure comes into play there. The KTM LC4 motor has been around a long time and has been incrementally improved over the years to the point where by and large they are very solid and reliable.
 
michaeln said:
Most service items happen on a 5,000km (3,100 mile) interval, such as oil & filter changes and valve adjustments.
Click to expand...
An oil change every 3000 miles!!?? :wow

We have always, and have always been told to change to oil every couple rides. There is very little oil and it's used by the whole motor/tranny.

I've seen what the oil looks like after 10-20 hours - I can't imagine what it would look like after not changing for months.
 
Tude said:
An oil change every 3000 miles!!?? :wow

We have always, and have always been told to change to oil every couple rides. There is very little oil and it's used by the whole motor/tranny.

I've seen what the oil looks like after 10-20 hours - I can't imagine what it would look like after not changing for months.
Click to expand...

Well, the off-road models carry a lot less oil than the street models. The SuperMoto and Adventure models carry oil in the frame and have an extra oil filter, hence the longer oil change interval recommended by the factory.

And 3,000 miles isn't months for me... it's about a month at the rate I've been riding the SuperMoto. :laughing
 
I'm just saying you cannot compare maintenence between a street bike and off-road bike. Even if one rode every weekend and rode 100 miles a day, your lucky to ride 3000 miles in a few months. Typically one ride 50 miles or so a day and ride 2 weekends out of four, your talking 200-300 miles a month.

We typically change to oil on the bike every 2 or 3 weekends, or after a big 3 day weekend where we know we have put in a couple/few hundred miles. The oil changes on the KTM thumpers are a royal PITA, part of the reason Kevin doesn't ever want one, he doesn't want to deal with that every few weekends. The 2 strokes aren't any worse than any other bike.

But to answer the original question: yes, KTMs are more maintenance and more expensive than just about any other dirtbikes out there, but they seem to be just as reliable as anything as long as you keep fresh oil in them and the valves properly adjusted. The 2 strokes aren't any more maintenance, but they are more expensive.

Kali
 
My manual says 5,000 km for oil & filter change as well, but it seems that most folks recommend 1-1.5K. Sounds like a KTM poll required.
 
OK boys and girls, you are mixing answers about KTM road bikes (LC4 based supermoto) and KTM dirt bikes (RFS-based race bikes) here. These are totally different bikes, with different specs, designed for different usages and they require different maintenance schedule....

So, before starting an argument, why not ask dejavo0 if he was asking about maintenance on LC4-based KTMs or RFS-based KTMs.




Hint: Sounds to me like the answer is in the original question since Enduro (EXC) KTMs use RFS engines... ;) :p
 
Could someone please tell me about maintaining a ktm...as in cost-wise?
Click to expand...

Two stroke? Four stroke?

Parts from your local shop are likely to be more expensive than for the Big 4 manufacturers. But for a four-stroke your main consumable item is oil filters, which are available cheap via mailorder.

I change my oil and filters every 200 miles at the most. What Kali said is correct: comparing street and dirt maintenance cycles is apples and oranges.

Are they reliable bikes?
Click to expand...

IMHO the difference in reliability between recent (2-4 year old) dirt bikes is pretty small. Read the various owner forums for any brand and you'll see that each has its issues, just choose the set you don't mind dealing with.

If you're just getting into dirt and want a cheap to maintain and hard to destroy bike, look at the Honda XR line.

Can we get a separate Motard forum already??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top