KTM`s need octane booster in Mongolia
 

Hello,
we just got back from Mongolia and it was great, but if you drive a KTM adventure you will need octane booster.
Mine broke down because of the 85 octane fuel.( my dealer just told me)
Just a warning for the KTM riders out there, a DRZ 400 will do fine on the low octane.

You can fit a low octane CDI unit to the 640 motor. This CDI was fitted as standard to the 640 from 2003. Will run fine on 85 octane with one of these, KTM part number 584.39.031.300

Just a little too late for me but thank you anyway.
I will fit it the next time.

Hi,
I am still thingkin about the cdi unit,it makes the engine run better on low octane but it does not boost the fuel so it runs better but it can still damage the engine? Am I right?

Any ideas about this, I sure would like to know.

My engine stalled twice before givin up, first I thought it was the fuelpump or water ( it was raining all day)
It did not give me any warnings like the feel of less power.

Neo,
The CDI is switchable, so when you are using 95> octane it runs as normal. When you use fuel lower than 95 you disconnect a wire and the CDI retards the ignition so the engine runs on the lower octane fuel without (detonating) damaging the engine.
While you had the low octane fuel the engine was detonating badly and you may have heard it but did not know what it was, sometimes it's called "pinking" as that is the sound you hear.
I had a switch on the dash to go between high and low octane fuel. When using 85 fuels and the CDI switched to low I could still have pinking if I loaded the engine so you still need to take care. I even ran it on 76 octane fuel without any problems.
Steve