G'day Andi and Ellen,

What a trip / ordeal, what resilience ! I really feel for you guys and believe you made the right choice Ellen, you gave your best shot and that counts most.

I really like the choice and style of the KTM, in a word, RAW ! (I went for the HP2 Enduro) I'm / were unaware of the full details of the sales pitch although it does has a comprehensive list of goodies and once sorted will see you well.

I believe in karma, but giving it a helping hand may well work.

Send the vendor the repair bill

Hope to see more posts / photos and you both back on the road real soon, happy new year & travels.


Dave

I would not normally post this preferring to keep dirty laundry away from the Hubb table however this has now gone too far with large consequences both cost and time wise for us.

But on that note, please don’t get fired up and bring whirlwind replies as the mods will throw it anyway, all I want to do is record exactly what has happened in which has become a big and costly event in our life and on our trip, it is NOT to be turned into a discussion post.

As most of the you know we bought KTM950SE (Alfreds) 950 Super Enduro R on ADV Rider, he had quite the ad showing off to quote “what would you expect to ask for such a fine machine”

This is what we paid for







So we bought the bike based on the shiny ad, pumped up with the right gear, new luggage etc, what could possibly go wrong.

Funny enough we had become “the guys who bought that bike”, for a while there I was proud thinking we had done the right thing.

Before it was sent Alfred said sorry I could not clean the bike as it is very cold up there and I said no worries (looking at my ad pictures thinking it looked great), I was not worried initially then he sent the photos through ... WTF

This is how it was sent.











We finally received the bike on 22 Dec, upon rolling it out of the truck I started her with a huge grin despite the clumps of mud and shit all over her as I was happy to finally get her.... well she rattled very badly and continued to rattle sounding like the cam chain or something was ready to bail....grin gone :cry

I rang Alfred right there and then after switching her off, he said that is the nature of the beast and it did this once every twenty starts or so.

Having owned a 990 SMR I knew this was not normal but what could I do.

Still concerned I rang Dillon at Zen Motorcycle straight away, we took it round there and it had quietened down by then.

So we went home, next morning started her up and she rattled badly again so I shut her off.

We dropped the oil out into a bowl .... FARK

Spencer (KTMSER) came around and we proceeded to remove the screens as well... we could not believe our eyes.

Dry Sump Tank Screen full



Base Sump Screen Full



Oil Filter creased from coolant.



Engine oil black and full of contaminants



Looking at this brings the milage into dispute ... did it have a new speedo??, something was NOT right.

In the sale photos the bike has pretty good rubber, when delivered the bike tires had obviously been thrashed since the ad was placed being chunked up and torn, i.e. thrashed.

In the ad was mention of the great CJ designs powdercoated tank which was one of the big drawcards, no mention of it leaking gas out of a crack at the front, this had obviously been there a while as the fuel stain was down the subframe and swingarm, would he have known about it ... hell yes it is that obvious, CJ designs are going to take care of the repair and get the tank back to us so we can continue, thank you CJ Designs.

So with new oil and filters in the engine and a short ride around the block to be had I went to start her ur - ur - click - click - click the battery was dead. No problem we will just charge it.

We then established the battery was all but spent and is not holding charge and in less than 10 seconds with the key on the battery voltage drops down below 11.2 and falling .... argh fook it needs a new battery too!!!

As it turns out the waterpump had failed and was causing the filter issues despite having a new waterpump in it??.

So off to Zen Motorcycle to fit up a new waterpump, flush the sump, new filter again and new oil again.

What we found was crap everywhere in the motor and sealant applied with a fire hose.











So it took quite a bit of time to get this sorted

Finally getting the bike back home we could carry on and actually spend more time setting up ready to resume our RTW trip.

So with everything needed to spend on the bike we have been selling farkles to cover the bills just to bring her up to standard so now we have a super expensive non farkled bike, so far it has cost us $1100.00 so nearly 10% of the cost of the bike and we may not be finished yet, we will know by the end of the week if the cam tensioners need replacing, if they do that will have big consequences for our trip and we will be forced to reassess again and that is very frustrating to say the least.

I have emailed and PMed Alfred, I have rung four times and left two messages and he has gone to ground.

In essence we have been ripped blind for something that was shiny and awesome which is actually a milage disputed, bike covered in shit and clearly hammered since advertised and in need of serious work, I am not one to whine but this guy has sent me to the edge and we just don’t need this crap or expense.

When we left home we had a “just in case” pot set aside, we blew that on the bike accepting our events that led to this and understanding that we were buying a pristine SE, now the farkles we have paid for are being traded off for repairs and this is simply a ball breaker to us.

We are slowly working to fix everything at a cost of time and money, something you would not have expected.

Think I am whining ... just remember how many of you fello Hubbers looked at this very bike and wanted it and if you got it YOU would have the shit and expense we have been dealt.

I almost apologize for bringing this post to life but other potential purchasers on his other bikes up for sale you may want to reconsider and I believe if a fello ADver willingly and knowingly is prepared to rip you then others need to know in advance, forewarned is forearmed.

The question is did he know about the rattle etc, well yes as he said in my first phone call on the 22nd December on the first start “that is the nature of the beast” and it does this once every twenty starts or so ... BS, once every cold start!!! with an in your ear death rattle.

To that end this brings my post to a conclusion and the question of how long is too long from no communication from him whatsoever before you bring it to the table given the first communication was on 22 December??

It is now January 1st 2013, 10 days? you decide, we believe he knowingly sold us a dud and screwed her hard post the ad photos as this is very obvious.

Alfred, WHEN you read this I give you the opportunity to step up and make good, on our phone call on December the 22nd when I first rang you you said to me if I had any issues or needed to know something best to send and email as you would get them ..... that was our last chat, I have sent your polite emails, polite PMs and polite phone calls, I have copies of them all and happy to post them.

On a positive note Happy New Year to all our readers, hope you had a great time with family and friends.

...and please NO replies to this post, it is here as a record of events, thank you to all who have supported us, it is acknowledged.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

This is not a reply to any previous [posts
Mate its taken the whole day for the steam to leave my ears.
All the things that first come to mind,that should happen to people who perpetrate such evils,(i'm guessing you've thought a few yourself)
really in the fullness of time resolve little.
I was wondering is there some kind of fair trading government thing that you may have some recourse?
Yer o.kit is about a previous post ,sorry.
I hope you will over come this hurdle ,if i can think of some thing positive ,i'l let you know.Take care Noel

Thanks mate, without referring to any previous posts either I have felt like killing someone

Ouwh man it has been torment, it aint over and we will be looking at options, putting some wheels in motion now so will keep you informed.

Happy New Mate.

Cheers Andi & Ellen

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

I'm just catching up on your adventures (in more ways than one) and look forward to more interesting posts with all this behind you. I suspect you're a stronger person and will prevail!

Stiff upper lip and all that!

Safe Travels.

Hey Andi and Ellen. Damn Im sorry to hear about all your troubles. Really hope it all gets worked out. Wish I would have remembered you guys were in Phoenix. I was down there this past weekend. Would have offered to buy yall dinner or something. Take care of yourselves.

__________________
Justin - KG6BWS
"Not all those who wander are lost." J.R.R. Tolkien

Phoenix ... Where To Start

Friends of friends helped us when we needed help... not sure what we would have done without them to be fair.

They have become a very large part of our trip and have seen the highs and lows of changing out bikes and equipment to bike and equipment....the very stressful part of RTWing to be honest.

Also seen first hand some jealous people hacking on us about the DRs and blatantly lying as well as using a lot of elastic to better their story without facts then laughing about getting the KTM, thank you to those people and one of these days you will find out the truth if you chose too but don't let the truth stand in the way of a good fabricated story!!.

The lows became very heavy to the point I was ready to pack it in due to being ripped by the seller of Maya which was very low to say the least, nothing that money and time cannot fix.

On a positive note we now have new friends for life, their generosity and warmth when we were down was something they provided us and I know they weren’t prepared for what was to happen with Maya etc.

Post Maya the shitty drama that followed it was 3 steps forward and 10 back daily, one by one we clobbered the problems and issues and finally we are prepared with some minor adjustments to do.

While in Phoenix and wanting to do a shakedown test run on Maya we did a local loop recommended by Dillon at Zen Motorcycle using local knowledge, this was great for shaking the shit out of the bike and testing my two up riding ability on ice .... in Phoenix!!





Snow!! :eek1





Clocked over 2000 miles



The purpose was to do about 180 to 200 miles, combo of shingle and offroad with a blast on the tar as well to check on fuel milage too see indicatively where she is at.

To our surprise Maya did 37 mpg on the small amount offroad and shingle road and 48.75 mpg on the open road, on the motorway we specifically sat around the 60 mphr on the speedo which is our open road cruising speed given we want to look out the window, 60 mphr on Maya is 56-57 mphr corrected on the GPS and this is what we have done all the way down on the rest of the trip on the DRs.

On our return to home base in Phoenix we took the tank off Maya and pulled all the filters and screens to check her heath.

Apart from a few dregs leftover from the sump cleanout they all came up ok, hoping now the new waterpump fitted at Zens has seen the last of issues at least for a good while, period maintenance would be cool now.



Oil filter



Dry sump screen



Sump screen



Next mission was to luggage up, initially we set out to go Wolfman complete however this would mean leaving hiking gear behind and a few big other compromises, one up it would have been fine but two up was leaving too much behind and taking away the hiking aspect of our trip which is a big part of it for us to take the place in and look around.

Given the SE’s are known to have weak subframes this was going to add a lot of extra work to it, enter Al Jesse of Welcome to Jesse Luggage Systems engineer extraordinaire.

We presented our wish to Al, after some sitting around in his workshop sitting on panniers and chewing the fat for a coupla hours Al said no worries .... we can do it, build a separate subframe to transfer the weight to the main frame .... simple.

Al set to and created a bolt on subframe taking up two main frame mounts and connecting to the passenger footpeg mount all within a beautifully fabricated triangle mount, the rest is cantilevered off that thus taking the load totally off the original subframe.





The top case has load dividers transferring the weight again back to the new subframe as well as a wingframe which does the same.





It passed the fat bastid test :evil in this photo there are no top mounts or anything in place, just the front!!:clap



Finished ... looking very poofy



The man himself



The secret location



All in all it worked out very well and we are very happy, so now we have a combo of Jesses with two small Wolfman tank panniers on the top of each pannier.



This has enabled us to retain our hiking gear, we have sent our Hilliberg Keron 4 GT home and bought a smaller Hilliberg Nammatj 3 without the big vestibule but we still have full camping gear complete.

Yesterday 9th January 2013 we finally set off to Ramona, a 350 mile day which was nearly twice what we normally do but we needed to cut the milage, during the day I started feeling crook with sore throat and stuffed nose ... I think the stress and long hours working on the bike(s) finally caught me up and took it out on me.

We took in this Rock garden which was cool!





We did a fuel milage check to see where Maya is at as well, she did 222 miles and used 4.69 US gallons so 47 mpg, or 5L / 100 km for us metricheads we had a combo of flat, hills, rolling, traffic lights and a variable cross and head winds so a reasonable cross section of a slightly easier than average day but we are in the right ballpark of running correctly, HUGE thanks to Spencer for setting her up very well indeed.

On the way to Ramona we climbed to 4000 feet, the temperature dropping down to 3 degs C .... it was just cold enough especially while I was feeling off shade.

Arriving at Ramona we were greeted by fello ADVers Arnie and Christie, originally we were only staying the one night but with me being crook they insisted we stay another night and my arm was easily twisted, for me feeling like shit this was very welcoming, the weather also turned, the road we came over through Julian had 8 inches of snow over night!!

Today 11th January we are heading back to Mexico .... that is for next round.

Just to finish, there are so many people that helped us in Phoenix in one way or another, support when needed was absolutely fantastic and proved although there are some who will blatantly rip you there are also plenty more who will help and go the extra mile to makes things right.

You guys have accidentally become a huge part of trip now and to be honest I am not sure where to start and given my non thinking head cold .... well you guys know who you are, specific mention given to Bevan and Clare who hosted us and helped us get sorted out, Craig and Sharon who constantly gave us shit and some good KTM advice and lifted our spirits, Spencer for first class mechanical work and advice, Dillon at Zens for the repairs to Maya and Mark for map and travel info on a 950 SE.

Thanks to all, onwards and downwards :clap :clap.

__________________
Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Ride on guys! Good luck

__________________

Brighty's website: TheBrightStuffDotCom

CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

Great job Andi & Ellen!

Our thoughts are with you guys as TwoMotoKiwis hits phase 2 (it probably feels like your on phase 8 already!)
After all the shennanigans of the last few months get back to the task of enjoying yourselves.....
Ellen are you back close to 100% now after the big off ?

The bike/luggage setup looks sweeeeeet!!!

Suerte!

Grif & Lisa XX

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Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

I am very happy for you that you sorted it all out in the end and can see the positive side of it! I wish you good luck with Maya and everything!Get better soon ( I know exactly how you feel right now, when the tension of the stress disappears). Keep the sunny side up and have fun! I hope I will meet you on the road! I am still in Queretaro and waiting for parts. They shpuld be here by monday. Have not heard from KTM yet who is gonna reassemble the bike. I do not want to do it myself as it was a KTM dealer who messed it up (guarantee) and I guess that KTM Austria will find a solution.
How are your plans? I wonder if I should change mine cause I lost so much time!
Wonder if it makes sense to fly from Panama to Santiago de Chile or so, ride down to the tip and take my time on the way back to the north. Otherwise I would have to stress like an idiot and miss the best part!
Another option would be to go as far as I feel for, park the bike secured, fly home in june, attend my sister´s wedding and come back to finish the trip. Then I have to know which country would make least problems leaving the bike...
Any ideas?

Glad to see things are getting back on track for you

Stay Safe!

__________________
K9DR650SE
Prairies To Penguins 2013

Heya all

Yeap great to be turning tires again, today we reached Ensenada in Mexico, about 10 deg C all day, me feelin second hand with a monsta head cold.

Will take a few days to down Baja, La pAz -> Mazatlan then down again.

Ellen is 95% now and the last 5% will take the time.

norschweger yes been following your issues too, sad to see, fortunately Dillon at Zens took care our ours swiftly and nicely.

We are not to far behind you and would love to catch up, today we are in Ensenada, tomorrow heading south again.

We have two waterpumps shafts and seal on board if these are of help.

As far as you other options, see when you get you bike back together and make plans then.

Cheers Andi

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

Well done !

All of you. Poofy you recon? Crikey mate, it would give a jellyfish a hardon

Happy travels

Thanks for all the support, very cool to say the least, not long now and I will remember how to write and ride and we will be game on again.

In between you will have to suffer through this.

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere

After staying two nights at Arnies and Christies we hit the road but during our stay the boys got to go to the shed and spend quality time with the two SE’s, the only FAIL on our part is no photos .... WTF how did that happen.

I thought I was getting a head cold, turned out to be a full blown flu that makes me ache from top to bottom, side to side.. so we will blame the lack of pics on that.

We did however get pics of Arnie in action on the cooker knocking up yummy burgers



The mob



With great directions from Arnie we made our way to Tijuana pretty easily ... in fact too easily as we wanted to stop at the bank and get some petrol but we were on the border before we knew it.

We crossed through the border .... no-one stopped us or was even interested in us, any quicker and we would have gotten a speeding ticket... even the dogs dipped out not havin the chance to piss on them shiny wheels!!

Next mission was to find the TVIP station, now THAT turned out to be a mission, see our spot for our tour of Tijuana, you wonna know something in Tijuana let us know as I reckon we saw it all.

We were lucky enough to talk with some cool Police, then they got more Police, then they contacted a Motorcycle Police Officer ...was not long and we had half of Tijuanas Police force there, after much discussion and 20 minutes or so in the end two Police from one car ... follow us!! ... so we did.

We went to the wrong place first then found out the correct place, we proceeded to head to the correct place, at this stage of the game we had turned off the front fuel tank to run the CJ’s rear tank after doing a successful leak test ... and you guessed it, running around Tijuana behind the Police car we ran our on the motorway so we had to pull over and switch tanks ... bit embarrassing but only a 1 minute holdup.

The traffic was thick and the Police and us sat through two sequences at one set of lights ... suddenly the car lights and siren came on, everyone pulls aside and away we go .. c h o i c e VIP treatment.



These dudes wanting to sell oranges and aeroplanes ... a likely combo.



Delivering us safe and sound we got our TVIP in about 10 - 15 minutes.

Wasn’t long and we were on our way again heading southish kinda north west kinda eastish and eventually down the coast on the Cuota to make some time.

An uneventful but cold trip greeted us to Ensenada, we found a reasonable hotel with a HOT shower which I made the most of being cold and feeling like shit from sporting the flu, most of the day was about 10 to 12 degrees so to an achey old body is was a little uncomfortable.

Dangerous dogs in Ensenada



Maya playing hide and seek in the bushes at the Hotel

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Cheers Andi & Ellen .... https://twomotokiwis.blogspot.com/ Two Moto Kiwis Alaska - Argentina - April 2012 -> Somewhere