By the way, I finally got around to taking a pic of the ignition cable that activates the ignition position I (more info read above Post#66). Since I got quite a few messages about it, I'll post it here. On my bike the orange cable in the pic below (see red arrow), had been disconnected to disable the 'cloaky' ignition setting.

I'm still looking at getting one of these, a couple of questions:

1) what is the typical fuel range of these given the tank size and mileage? Someone posted that it "should be" 300 km, which seemed a bit short to me--can anyone confirm?

2) Also, I'm confused about the seat height--Popex reports that the seat height is 890mm, which is taller than a R1200GS, but someone else said that they are 180cm and they can easily flat-foot the bike. I am about 190cm and would prefer the bike to be as tall as possible, but just trying to understand...

I typically refuel somewhere between 350 and 390 km. In rainy Romenia I wend over 500km (around 3.5l/100km) on a tank. So depending on the conditions and riding style, you're looking at 3-500 km on a tank.

Fuel range is definitely > 300km and might get close to almost 400km, but it obviously can vary a lot with luggage, weight, terrain, riding style etc Also the carb needs servicing every now and then, otherwise consumption can become quite high. The needle jet and jet needle have been reported to wearing out easily causing loss of power and increase in consumption, but it's a small and cheap spare to take.

One more thing about fuel: the tank has a bit of a silly shape which means it's difficult to get all the fuel out of it for two reasons: the front is lower than where the petcock is, and you have only one petcock. It's not a big issue, but should you run out, then shaking the bike or laying it on the left side, go get all the fuel from the right tank half to the left, will give you another 30-50km or so. Don't ask me how I know.

Re the stats that popex posted, I'm not sure if they are correct. E.g. the max load looks far too low, but I don't have the numbers here right now. Will check back when I get a chance.

[quote=motoreiter;288333]I'm still looking at getting one of these, a couple of questions:

1) what is the typical fuel range of these given the tank size and mileage? Someone posted that it "should be" 300 km, which seemed a bit short to me--can anyone confirm?

I've seen 400km out of that tank on my 640 riding gently, never less than 320 (except when my carb was worn out), usually about 360. The 400 should do better.

Good point above on the carb, funky fuel use on any bike equipped with a BST carb is always a good reason to clean & inspect the carb for wear.

Cheers
Clint

Guys I am still a bit concerned about this metalic rattle / crackle when I let off on the gas? Is that normal?

When I am at idle, accelerating or maintaining speed the sound isn't there... but letting off the gas or decelerating it is.

ideas?

Also regarding seat height. I am 5'8" & with my boots on at the lowest point on the seat I can just barely flat foot it.

Those numbers where right out of the manual... granted it was in German so I may not have totally gotten it.. but I am pretty sure...

EDIT - the metalic rattle / crackle was simply too long of a chain.

No idea what that sound could be, I don't think I hear any particular noises when slowing down (only misfiring with crappy Bolivian fuel...). I suggest you ask at www.KTM-LC4.net, Alles rund um die KTM LC4, Forum, Tuning, Schraubertipps which is an amazing LC4 forum with many very knowledgeable KTM riders. It is mainly about fixing stuff, less about bike polishing. It is in German, but I'm sure some people there do speak English. If you need help translating, let me know.

About the seat height: Either gain some weight or put some luggage on, then you'll be fine ;-)

bad news guys...

Problem no. 1 in less than 1 month of owning...

As I increased RPM's (in or out of gear) the engine made an unhealthy almost pop-ing noise... this was less than 5min after starting the bike.

less than 10 min later the large coolant hose (left foot) pop-ed off the engine block and sprayed my radiator fluid all over the street... walk the bike home...

Naturally there is not a single KTM dealer that sells parts open on a Saturday... typical Austria

Anybody else have this problem or have an idea what it could be?

EDIT - in the end the problem was just a bad clamp holding the hose in place.

Speaking from my limited experience, I don't think the coolant hose coming off has anything to do with anything. If your bike overheats for whatever reason, the radiator will boil over at the top. Hoses can come off (the same hose as you mentioned has come off on my KTM Mil too), but this is usually because it wasn't tight enough in the first place. You should routinely check bolts/fasteners etc on the KTM (or any other single cyl bike for that matter), I've had a lot of things come lose over time due to the vibrations. Also, the rubber tubings tend to age and fray at the ends, something to watch out for. If you lose coolant, you can replace it with water, no need to walk the bike home. Not distilled water may be corrosive, but only if you leave it in there for months or more, and antifreeze shouldn't be an issue on the way home.

Now the rattling/clonking/popping sounds are naturally impossible to diagnose via the web. The best thing to do would be finding an experienced KTM owner (any LC4 will do) in your area and ask them. Otherwise maybe try recording a video with good sound, and try to identify *where* the sound is originating, otherwise it's impossible to say anything about it. Once you have a vid and know where it is coming from, try asking on advrider.com. In my experience it is a much better place to ask mechanical questions than the HUBB. The HUBB is more for travel related things imho. Good luck.

I read from Sirakor's post that the tell tale signs of bad rocker arm rollers are checked by checking valve lash... How does one check "valve lash"?

Also how does the bike act differently if the rocker arm rollers are going bad?

An indicator of rocker arm rollers going bad is a relatively large increase in valve lash over a relatively short period in time. Generally valve lash tends to decrease with time (slowly), so obvious increases are something to watch out for. Valve lash is checked with a set of feeler gauges, take off the tank, breather hose and fan on the left side, unscrew the capacitor on the right, unhook the decompression cable, make sure the decompression lever is back all the way down, unscrew the spark plug, bring the engine to top dead center (very simple on the KTM, read below), ideally lock engine at top dead center with the crank shaft screw (special KTM part of make yourself), take off the valve covers (flat ratchet combo spanners like the Gedore 7R work very well here), slide in your feeler gauges. Straight gauges are near impossible to use, either buy the Porsche type gauges, or buy a cheap set, take out the individual gauges and bend them in a kind of Z like shape, then it should be easy. But if you've never done this, you should really get someone to show you, or at least buy a maintenance manual. I believe there also is a valve inspection thread in the LC4 index over on advrider. You should know what you are doing though, especially if you adjust valve lash, because there is a potential for messing things up. Once you know how, it's easy though.

Now valve lash is only an indicator, and if you have no idea how big the valve lash was previously, then I'm not sure how helpful it will be (unless it's huge ...). To be 100% sure you need to take off the cylinder head and inspect the rollers. I would very strongly recommend doing this before a big trip. Inspect rocker arm rollers, cam bearings etc and replace if in doubt! If left too long, you will need not only new bearings but a new cam as well ...

The only other thing that comes to mind regarding funky noises out of gear would be the crank/bearing ... But as I said, there is no way to diagnose things via the web.

Finally, top dead center on the KTM Mil the easy way: Center stand, fifth gear, turn rear wheel forward very slowly until your hear the auto-decompressor (loud-ish "clack" sound) kick in. After that keep turning the rear wheel forward very very slowly and look at the stator on the right hand side (little glass window). As soon as the dead center marking reaches the window and is vertical in the window, you have reached top dead center. Watch out it's only a short way from when the auto-deco clicks, if you go too far, the next time the mark comes up, it's the other dead center. Double check with a screw driver or similar that the piston is at the top AND you can see the crank mark (where the fixing screw goes) AND check by hand that the valves (both inlet and outlet) have a tiny play to them. If they sit rock solid, either you messed up finding top dead center, or the manual decompression lever is not all the way back down.

Edit: by the way, valve lash on the KTM Mil should be 0.20 mm for both in- and outlet. Just in case you get hold of a maintenance manual for a LC4 620/640/etc, which will tell you something less, like 0.18 or 0.15 mm

The people at KTM TeamWest told me I should use less than .20mm for the Military, I think 0.18mm. I haven't adjusted valve lash yet, but I'm not sure what value to use...

i think i need a motor maintence manual...

I wonder if they sell them for the military in English... I just got my hands on the sevice manual in English of the LC4 640... but that doesn't go into all that much detail...

I just had the KTM dealer in Austria tell me I should check internet forums to see what tires other KTM owners have put on their bikes when they want a more street specific tire?

So what have you guys put on your bikes?

Standard Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara. I've been very happy with them, but then I never tried different ones. Very good on paved roads and in my opinion decent on gravel and dirt and rubbish in sand (I have no comparison though). I have bought TKC80s recently only because I want to try a different tyre before the next larger trip, but I haven't mounted them yet.