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Seems a little quiet in here....

Yooper_Bob

Socially Inept
Joined
Feb 8, 2022
Member Number
126
Posts
178
Location
Da' UP, eh!? (Upper Michigan)
What we need is a good old fashioned dog pile to rally the troops! :amazon

There's nothing that builds comradery quicker than ganging up and verbally pummeling some poor sap who makes an innocent (or maybe not so innocent) faux pas.

I volunteer to be the first victim....

Give me your best shot! :kat

(especially those of you that had to look up the meaning of "faux pas") :evil
 
I've put 27K trouble free miles on my KTM 640 Adventure. Replaced the fork seals once. Other than that... just tires and chains/sprockets.

My Africa Twin has been good for 35K+ miles with the exception of front fork seals...a known issue.

The Yamahas have been flogged and ignored and caused zero issues.

This isn't much of a good ol' fashioned bashing! :dirtdog
 
I think I have a bad seal on my fork. Maybe you guys can help tell me. Here’s a picture of it.

C3C4160B-1D01-411A-A768-EEF0B9C8C225.jpeg
 
...is every single one of my Honda's.
With the common thread being in bold/red...? :lol3 I've owned and thoroughly thrashed 36 Hondas in my life and have never had one I'd call unreliable. There are a few though, I'm sure, but I can't say I've ever owned one of them.
 
With the common thread being in bold/red...? :lol3 I've owned and thoroughly thrashed 36 Hondas in my life and have never had one I'd call unreliable. There are a few though, I'm sure, but I can't say I've ever owned one of them.
I'm just trying to help stir the pot 😂

In all honesty, neglected '70's and '80's CB's are gonna have certain issues that you can expect. They weren't all that bad, but did require constant fiddling. Biggest offender was overheated charging wiring harnesses ( because Honda)causing bikes and headlights to turn off randomly. Worst example was a XR 400. Maybe I was running it too hard, but I couldn't keep the cylinder studs in the cases anymore and the frame started regularly developing cracks.

My first street bike was a '76 CB750F. Even with requiring regular tinkering, I did put about 50,000 miles on that bike in a few years time. It already had close to 50,000 miles when it got to me ( with a Martek ignition) and the engine was peachy when I sold it. You complain too much about that.

I think the old RFS KTM is gonna be pretty tough. I've bailed off the bike on some failed hill climbs and watched it vibrate like a tuning fork from bouncing off the ground so hard. And I recently learned I sat my shift lights about 2,000 rpm too high and been riding it that way for a few years now 😂 Fingers crossed.
 
I've never owned a KTM (though I'm very tempted by a few) but I've heard stories!

ThrowingAwayMoney.gif

Bought this '02 for $1200 because it was burning oil. Figured I'd take a gamble. Never smoked a hint, but oil did disappear. Rode it relentlessly all year and took a look that winter. Rings were slap wore out. Almost 3mm end gap and the oil spreader rings were being worn down by the cylinder wall 😂 Shows how tough their nikasil coatings are. New rings and new valves while I was in there. Original bottom end and piston still good. With gasket/ seal kits I think the engine refresh run me about $500.

I abuse it and it doesn't care. It's mental. Had it up to 90 in my back hayfield and didn't have room to shift in to sixth gear. Power wheelies coming out of corners in 4th and 5th gear without trying hard at all. Clutch pull was stuff and it has 6 springs in this clutch. I removed 3 springs to lighten the pull and the clutch discs are of unknown age. It didn't care. I hammer the throttle and ride the clutch constantly and there's no hint of slippage. Parts are WAY cheaper than Honda parts I was used to buying. My last Honda of the same age suffered from many discontinued parts. Everything I've needed for this bike has been sitting on the shelf at the local dealership so far.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but in my experience, I think the internet hates on KTM a little more than necessary. That said, I didn't choose my FZ09 over a Duke because of Japanese reliability, so I'm guilty of the same.


IMG-20220709-WA0026.jpeg

ps- I grew up on late '80's /early '90's KTMs and treated them how you'd expect a 12-15 year old boy with no tools to treat a dirt bike. Gas and go. Zero maintenance. Zero failures. They just always worked. Always. And I rode daily back then. I remember having to replace a chain once when it fell off and someone smarter than me showed me how I'd been abusing it.
 
Bought this '02 for $1200 because it was burning oil. Figured I'd take a gamble. Never smoked a hint, but oil did disappear. Rode it relentlessly all year and took a look that winter. Rings were slap wore out. Almost 3mm end gap and the oil spreader rings were being worn down by the cylinder wall 😂 Shows how tough their nikasil coatings are. New rings and new valves while I was in there. Original bottom end and piston still good. With gasket/ seal kits I think the engine refresh run me about $500.

I abuse it and it doesn't care. It's mental. Had it up to 90 in my back hayfield and didn't have room to shift in to sixth gear. Power wheelies coming out of corners in 4th and 5th gear without trying hard at all. Clutch pull was stuff and it has 6 springs in this clutch. I removed 3 springs to lighten the pull and the clutch discs are of unknown age. It didn't care. I hammer the throttle and ride the clutch constantly and there's no hint of slippage. Parts are WAY cheaper than Honda parts I was used to buying. My last Honda of the same age suffered from many discontinued parts. Everything I've needed for this bike has been sitting on the shelf at the local dealership so far.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but in my experience, I think the internet hates on KTM a little more than necessary. That said, I didn't choose my FZ09 over a Duke because of Japanese reliability, so I'm guilty of the same.


IMG-20220709-WA0026.jpeg

ps- I grew up on late '80's /early '90's KTMs and treated them how you'd expect a 12-15 year old boy with no tools to treat a dirt bike. Gas and go. Zero maintenance. Zero failures. They just always worked. Always. And I rode daily back then. I remember having to replace a chain once when it fell off and someone smarter than me showed me how I'd been abusing it.
That's an awesome bike! I was mostly joking, but I'll admit I do think twice when considering dropping big money on a KTM because of the Internet lore. I hope to have at least one KTM someday.

Earlier this year I bought a 17 year old Honda 250X that has been broken more than its run. The early years were notorious for their butter Ti intake valves. I knew that before I bought it and the price was right even if it needed work.
 
I'm currently building a WR450. If the new Hornet ends up being what I think it is, I might sell my FZ 09 and bring a Honda home.

I'll ride any brand out there. I like the act of riding, I don't really care what's under me or who's brand is on it 😁
 
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