2005 ktm 640 Had to replace battery after 1200km would not hold charge. Front left fork seal leaking at 5600km and have done only 600km on good dirt also oil window seeping
Regards Dave.

2001 23000 km

Here's my list;

2 front spokes

ehhh,
That's all.

A little (motocross)tip;

A leaking forkseal is not always a broken seal.
Most of the time it's just some dust.
Take a foto-negative(?), cut it so, that you have a sharp end.
oil it, and press it between de seal and the forkleg. Go around the forkleg.
Big change the leaking is over.

[This message has been edited by Freek (edited 07 June 2005).]

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Freek (NL)

The dealer just fixed a leaky valvecover (u know, only sealant) on my 03 at about 24000km's. There were some minor issue's (bolts etc) but nothing worth mentioning, its
very reliable.... (and a beauty to drive offroad)....

A good tip is to insulate your electrical wiring in the cockpit, its a job not well done by KTM. Most wires are rubbing against the frame which has caused a short on me before. While doing that i found some other wires with the insulation rubbed through....

[This message has been edited by gozell (edited 15 June 2005).]

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Amsterdam-Australia 2007-201x Amsterdam-Capetown 2002-2003

the good has turned bad, 200km after the last post the bike was not running good at all. after taking my earplugs out and letting it idle, it was quite clear... big-end bearing needs replacing... at the moment its a the shop, engine being taken out and split...

the bike is out of warranty..


any ideas why this happend at only 24200km??? oil and filter changes were done at 3500km on average with quality shell vsx oil...

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Amsterdam-Australia 2007-201x Amsterdam-Capetown 2002-2003

Argghhh!!!

The reason I spent ages looking for a 2003 model was to remove the worries about exactly this problem!!!! I'd also love to find out why this might have happened. Are there any clues from the garage after they split the engine??

Dave

Jerome,
What are the symptoms of a seized cam follower, is it a show stopper or just a noise generator. I guess it could damage the cam if left too long.

I am up to 40 K and will have a look at the next service.

Steve


the inlet bearing is quite a bit smaller than the exhaust one.

Steve,

Yes, the inlet is weaker because it's smaller.

Symptoms - the valve gaps get very wide very quickly (>40 thou after 500km) once the bearing has seized and/or disintegrated.

The bike runs but only to the nearest shop.

I did 1,500km on mine at speed and buggered the valves as well.

Result
- new cam (lobe really worn down)
- new inlet rocker arm
- 2 new inlet valves and regrinding
- new exhaust cam for safety.

If i go up Africa im going to replace the inlet again (at 70,000km) to hopefully avoid problems further north.


------------------
Jerome

http://www.fowb.co.uk

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Jerome

fowb.co.uk

FYI: make sure to put a small air filter on the brass carb tube when removing EPC... I didnt pay much attention to it and this is prob why sand ended up in the engine and started wearing things out.... As a result th e piston ring broke and caused some dammage, while engine was split big-end and a few other bearing were replaced in the process....

[This message has been edited by gozell (edited 24 July 2005).]

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Amsterdam-Australia 2007-201x Amsterdam-Capetown 2002-2003

Steve

I checked my inlet bearing at 39,000 km. It was in good condition. At 44,000 km it failed and took out the camshaft. Dont bother checking it, just replace it. I had no problems riding over 1000km with the failure. But the failure of a $20 part has cost me $500 (including shipping to Central America).

Oh, bike is a 2003 640 Adv. Same as Jeromes.

Dave

Dave & Jerome
Thanks for the warnings. I had to fix an oil leak in the cam cover at the last service so I had a good chance to inspect them closely, the the inlet bearing looked OK but had some very slight pitting on the surface. Cam and everything else look good. Now I am up to 50k KM and I have a set of replacement bearings and pins and plan to do the job next week.

Steve

Thanks for this great topic. Just as I was concidering selling my trusty 650 Dakar and buying a 2005 640 Adv for my next trip to Africa, I came across this topic and remebered why I didnt buy a KTM in the first place :-)

Performance and cool parts is only of relative interest if it doesent take you all the way home

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Dizzie

Oil leak from starter cover at 1600km on 05 Adventure

Yeh but come on, non of us are stupid (debatably) why do you think we ride bikes that have knowingly less reliability than Japanese bikes.

1. Because the later models are proving to be increasingly reliable (just like the early/late F650 issues), so much so that I doubt there is that much difference from a japanese machine to the average rider using a well run in bike. KTM's are no longer the radical choice they have been used for numerous trips to some of the most remote locations in the world!

2. Utterly unarguably they are the finest handling, most amazingly capable off road large capacity bikes you can buy. They need no modification (Adventure models) and they are relatively cheap (try modding an XR650L to the spec of a KTM for under 4000 pounds).


Come on, give it a try, if you're serious about your off road adventure riding you wont regret it!!!;-)

All the best,

Dave

ps. sorry for hijacking the topic.....

[This message has been edited by davidlomax (edited 24 March 2006).]

Hi,in Cameroun killing time waiting for parts.
getting concerned that I should check my inlet bearing after checking Jeremy's post!

02 adventure
bought for transafrica trip 6 months prior to departure.
Swampy changed my main shaft bearing to 03 spec. Besides that had the KTM front wheel upgrade prior to departure.

On the trip some hassles have ocurred:
-Leaking rocker cover - I resealed this in timbuctou with liq gasket.
-Battery and regulator failure - battery is an Oddysey it is still under garauntee.
The distributer is Tayna electrical.
Tayna are disinterested in honouring the warrantee claiming their supplier needs the battery returned from Africa prior to replacement. the decision took them over a month to come to so leaving me in a compromised situation in Niger.FYI The replacement battery would be brought to SA by a friend to replace the oversize batt I have currently got that required me to raise the seat to accomadate it. I would not take this risk if I were you and travelling remote areas. get a Yuassa,end story.

-Rear shock failure: Happened after a long line of hard bottom outs whilst desert riding with full gear load.Completely my own fault riding the bike like a motocross bike with full panniers, duffle bag and spare desrt tyre on rear.

-Worn carb slide and pin: Important for anyone travelling in dusty conditions get some airfilters for the carb vent hose on the right of the carb. this will definetly save you hassle in the future

-failed ignition Coil/HC coil- not confirmed yet as i'm waiting for replacements from Sommer and will know for sure whether My diagnosis (Swampy and Sommer really) is correct.

That's all there is really. a fair amount for a bike with 18000km's on the clock.