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KTM 640 Starter Gear "Engaged" KTM 640 Starter Gear "Engaged"
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The Pamir highway in an unseasonably
cold late October, Tajikistan



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  #1  
Old 27 Aug 2009
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Location: Galway, Irleand
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KTM 640 Starter Gear "Engaged"
Hi All,
Last week I bought a KTM 640 that was idle for about a year. My dream bike and up to yesterday was really enjoying it.

While driving I noticed a regular, clicking noise, stopped the engine to avoid any damage and after some investigation it looks like the starter gear is engaged, in that when the engine starts it's driving the starter motor. The noise is definitely coming from low down where the clutch to engage the starter motor is.
It seems logical that this might happen to a bike that's been lying idle, the motor is ticking over perfectly, no blue smoke or dodgy emissions from the exhaust and the oil supply is fine.

With the starter motor removed, when I try and turn the gear that the starter motor engages, it will turn in one direction but provides resistance in the other direction. Is this normal?

I'm considering removing the ignition casing and flywheel to have a look at the clutch for engaging the starter motor, my first major surgery on the KTM.
was just wondering if anyone had experienced the same problem and if you had some advice on curing the problem?
Thanks guys
Ronan
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  #2  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NorthVancouver Island
Posts: 137
This thread may help:LC4 640 starter clutch fix - ADVrider
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  #3  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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Location: Galway, Irleand
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cheers for that,
dropped it to my local mechanic as I don't have a flywheel pullers.
Fingers crossed it is the clutch and not the big end.
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  #4  
Old 28 Aug 2009
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: ireland
Posts: 69
Good Luck
Hopefully it is just the sprag clutch.
Was the starter making some nasty noises when you hit the button?
I replaced my hub and sprag clutch on my 02 Adv.
They have been known to fall apart and mangle the flywheel and generator.
So fingers crossed,eh?
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  #5  
Old 1 Sep 2009
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Location: Galway, Irleand
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Turns out it was the rocker arm bushings had worn loose and pitted the cam.
So I now need a new cam, associated bearings and a full set of bearings for the inlet rocker arms.
Might as well replace the exhaust rocker bearings too.
Anyone know where to get a new KTM 640 cam as even KTM don't have one in stock?

Cheers for the reply Cathal, will give you a shout for a spin when I get the bike going again.
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  #6  
Old 6 Sep 2009
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Location: Sydney, Australia
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I had the same noise when I bought my 06 640 Adventure with 32k miles on the clock. I dismissed it as a 'normal' noise of the automatic decompression but it turned out to be the same problem. Am currently on the road to Oz and the first sign of a problem was the inlet valve clearances being 4mm out! Suffered from severe power loss but struggled to Istanbul where I managed to source a new cam and get both bearings changed. Now all is good.

Bikers Jersey (tax free) tend to have a few bits of pieces in stock as well as Red Line motorcycles.

I have kept my cam as a souvenir and the inlet cam has been ground almost round. The LC4 is a pretty resilient engine to keep going with such a major problem for at least 5000km though!
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