KTM LC8 seizure!

[Horney1]

Someone asked me to post a review on my KTM990 Adventure the other day. I've had the bike for 5 months now and done about 20,000km but I've gone off the idea of doing a review temporarily because some mo**er f*ck*r fascist a/hole cop took it off me this morning!!!!! It's now in lock up!!! It seems Melbourne cops don't like little stoppies! They class it as "loss of traction" (even though it was at 0 km/hr, fine day, dry road, no worries, no risk), no warnings given, instant siezure, $425 to get it out of lockup (+ compulsory court hearing to come)! So, loss of traction also covers wheelies and burnouts. It's designed against "hoons". I think NZ has a very similar law in place doesn't it? Personally, I think it's a real stretch of the imagination to include a little lift of any wheel in that category.

So, if you're thinking of coming to Aus for a wee ride don't bother if you might be tempted to do ANYTHING an old granny would not do (make that a very old and quiet granny!). He told me all of the states have the same laws! Man, if they consider that improper use they should be driving around in wheelchairs! It's about time these politicians and police stop limiting us by the fears and paranoias of partially capable, slow thinking, slow acting, morons and let us get on with living our lives as we choose. I'm really sick of making concessions to all these jerks without getting any concessions in return.

OK, that's my rave. Next time I'll try for something a bit more modest and informative. By the way, the bike had a few teething problems (18,000km before the another shop figured out it had a dud plug even though I complained about bad performance to the seller, headlight facing the possums in trees, bar set crooked, rear caliper which stayed on and blued the disc, melted the sidecovers with some really nice Macpac mountainbike panniers, alarm system instructions referred to non-existant connectors and wrong connectors and didn't note the huge ABS unit in the toll compartment). But, it's been a really fun and enjoyable bike, good mileage, good handling (watch the zero-point of the shock adjusters), the ABS sucks, it's got a flat spot on initial acceleration, but generally performs well on seal and on dirt. A bit top heavy (or just plain heavy!) on the loose off camber stuff but I enjoy the bike. I can't wait to sell it..... and get another one (or the enduro version) in NZ!!

Well, I suppose I can go and have a beer seeing that I taking the train home tonight - Grrrr.

Cheers

[White trash]

I read that title to mean that your LC8 had seized. This is worse!

Bad luck man. Luckily for us, most cops here would use slightly more discretion for a little stoppie. I think. I hope.....

[scumdog]

I read that title to mean that your LC8 had seized. This is worse!

Bad luck man. Luckily for us, most cops here would use slightly more discretion for a little stoppie. I think. I hope.....

Well.... I doubt if they would bother to impound your bike for a start.

But how come ya did it where they could see you doing it in the first place????


Oh, and according to the latest KB poll - NZ has the worst nazi-attitude cops in the world so you must have met one of them in Melbourne otherwise you wouldn't have been nabbed. (No REAL Melbourne cop would do that, would they??):wait:

[The Pastor]

yeah aussie is way tougher on speeding and modified cars than in nz. But aussie sucks arse.

[Horney1]

Well.... I doubt if they would bother to impound your bike for a start.

But how come ya did it where they could see you doing it in the first place????


Oh, and according to the latest KB poll - NZ has the worst nazi-attitude cops in the world so you must have met one of them in Melbourne otherwise you wouldn't have been nabbed. (No REAL Melbourne cop would do that, would they??):wait:

Cheers guys,

"But how come ya did it where they could see...?" ahhhh, ummm, weeelllll, I was on his 7 and was comin to a halt just as "he's held me up now I have to wait for ANOTHER red light" went through my mind. I must have subconsciously made a fist instead of squeezing the brake or something. I really thought that the worst he'd do is kick my ars* (that did happen years ago for passing a cop I knew!!) or give me a small fine.

The cops over here hadn't been too bad for me until then. But, yes, I've met some real Nazi ones in NZ though. I'm not really looking forward to dealing with them when I return sometime. As for the REAL cops here, maybe you haven't read of the ones "let go" for various corruption and using unnecessary force in questioning incidents in recent years. I reckon they must have a racket going with the towing firms now!!

Cheers

Horney1

[idleidolidyll]

PHEW!!!

I thought your post was about engine problems!

sux for you though

[HenryDorsetCase]

so the offence is losing traction with one wheel.?

May it please your Honour, the defence is that all the traction that was available to the rear wheel was transferred to the front wheel. It is an inescapable fact of physics that when brakes are applied on a vehicle, the weight balance of the vehicle alters, and weight "Transfers" to the front of the vehicle. Your Honour will be familiar with the effect of same when your Honour is swayed forward when your Honour's chauffeur applies the braking pedal on your Honours Bentley Arnage. Say on a normal stop there is 70% weight transfer to the front wheel, 30% to the rear. Obviously you cant have more than 100% traction at any given time, so in that example we have 70% traction on the front and 30% traction on the rear. those two figures equal all the traction available, i.e. 100%.

Now, in the present situation, all of the weight transferred to the front wheel. So ALL of the traction did too, So, may it please your Honour, in fact there is NO nett loss of traction at all, due to all of the traction that was previously available to the rear wheel, due to the physical laws governing weight transference, being utilised by the front wheel.

May it please your Honour, the defence submits that due to the inescapable logic outlined above, the prosecution must fail, the exhorbitant fee must be refunded, AND the officer must pen a personal letter of apology, countersigned by the Chief of Police, to our client.

The defence rests.


Theres a reason I dont do Court work........

:)

[jtzzr]

Well said Henry , tell the fockers , How the hell did you get the rear wheel up , with traction , So lack of traction is a load of bollocks , yeah what Henry said.

[Horney1]

so the offence is losing traction with one wheel.?

May it please your Honour, the defence is ....

:)

Very good Henry and well put! I knew there must be a bit of good logic out there somewhere which would be applicable to my case. All the physics felt right at the time it's just hard to put that feeling into words when the f***er (if your honour pleases) is loading my bike away.

Cheers for the good advice. I'll keep it in mind.

[vamr]

Pity about your run-in, best of luck in sorting the mess out...

Cheers for the blurp on the bike. Definately looks the business. How do you find it for the weekday commute (when it isn't in the lockup)?

[Brett]

so the offence is losing traction with one wheel.?

May it please your Honour, the defence is that all the traction that was available to the rear wheel was transferred to the front wheel. It is an inescapable fact of physics that when brakes are applied on a vehicle, the weight balance of the vehicle alters, and weight "Transfers" to the front of the vehicle. Your Honour will be familiar with the effect of same when your Honour is swayed forward when your Honour's chauffeur applies the braking pedal on your Honours Bentley Arnage. Say on a normal stop there is 70% weight transfer to the front wheel, 30% to the rear. Obviously you cant have more than 100% traction at any given time, so in that example we have 70% traction on the front and 30% traction on the rear. those two figures equal all the traction available, i.e. 100%.

Now, in the present situation, all of the weight transferred to the front wheel. So ALL of the traction did too, So, may it please your Honour, in fact there is NO nett loss of traction at all, due to all of the traction that was previously available to the rear wheel, due to the physical laws governing weight transference, being utilised by the front wheel.

May it please your Honour, the defence submits that due to the inescapable logic outlined above, the prosecution must fail, the exhorbitant fee must be refunded, AND the officer must pen a personal letter of apology, countersigned by the Chief of Police, to our client.

The defence rests.


Theres a reason I dont do Court work........

:)

Mate, that is absolutely brilliant. I am copy pasting that should I ever be busted doing a stoppie somewhere and I get nailed for loss of traction.
Bling duly awarded for such top efforts!

[Dazza]

PHEW!!!

I thought your post was about engine problems!

sux for you though Shit me too, certainly got my attention. Bit of a bugger for you though !!

[Horney1]

Pity about your run-in, best of luck in sorting the mess out...

Cheers for the blurp on the bike. Definately looks the business. How do you find it for the weekday commute (when it isn't in the lockup)?


Yes, I thought the ambiguous title might shock a few people. Hehehe.


vamr: Yep, it's the beez neez alright. It's not too bad on the commuting side of things. I've stalled it a couple of times in traffic when I've tried to take it easy. So I tend to pay a little more attention to throttle and clutch than I would on a street four. It's my first twin so maybe that's just part of the twin deal. It's a bugger to start up again in a hurry though! There's a problem with the starter mechanism not catching properly, it's gotten worse over time and probably happens about 1 in 3 or 4 starts. One must start it with NO throttle. The bike's quite narrow and tall which gives a good perspective in traffic and allows me to slip between queued traffic well. Power and torque, yep, good, I certainly can leap ahead if I want to (when I get squeezed by a truck & trailer for example!). I found the gearing a little tall earlier on when I had an unhappily tuned engine but that seems to have settled down now. It sits on 100km/hr at about 3500 - 4000 revs. All I'm concerned with now is either a flat spot in initial acceleration or slightly worn clutch plates. I'm leaning towards the clutch as the culprit (it's at 20,000km now). I'm pretty well shielded from the weather with the tank/fairing and tall blade. It buffets my visor a bit if I'm getting along at about 100km/hr with it partially up. But that would be different for taller people.


I've uploaded some photos of various parts of the bike at the following links:

The rear tyre after about 11,000+ kms (not the one used on the 8000km Perth trip)
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1804.jpg

Front tyre after about 12,500 km (been to Perth and back + general commuting)
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1795.jpg

Rear disc at 20,000km (excessively worn after friction problem) on 2nd set of pads.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1806.jpg

Right sidecover after soft panniers used with with no frame on Perth trip.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1809.jpg

Left sidecover after soft panniers used with with no frame on Perth trip.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1810.jpg

ABS unit takes up most of tool box area. Also sidecover screws which have thin teflon washers which don't protect the sidercover and get lost easily.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1812.jpg

Airbox awkward to get to with prospect of losing screws
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1815.jpg

Front sprocket access a bit awkward with clutch actuating mechanism in the middle of everything and possibilities to lose parts (into sand or something equally convenient). Also has a tapered spline on gear shift which wouldn't be easy to replace out in the middle of nowhere.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1811.jpg

Nice hand protectors! They saved me from a crow (about the size of a good chicken!!) at, erhem, fast.
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1816.jpg

One of the locals checking out my nice bike!
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s202/KBHorney1/DSCF1799.jpg

Cheers

Horney1

[vamr]

Awesome, most appreciated! How tall are you btw?

Browsing through dual purpose bikes I was faced with my short-arse disposition (around 180cm) so have to be on tiptoes to keep the bike upright (of the ones I checked out).

I'll be in the country for another 8 months (including the mid-year short trip) before going to work overseas indefinately so was after something to tour a bit on before I take off.

[Horney1]

vamr, I'm similar height. I dropped the forks in the triple clamps a cm or so to help. It worked well, don't appear to have bottomed it and broken anything yet. There are also lower seats available from the likes of KTM and Tourtech although I can't imagine that they'd be as comfortable as the original - which is borderline on a non-stop (except fuel) thousand k ride.

After this experience with loosing the bike for the weekend I'm just about at the point of selling up and returning to NZ so if you want a 990 there'll probably be one for sale here soon....

[Horney1]

Oh, I probably would have gone for the Super Enduro if I could touch the blo*dy ground on the thing! Hahaha. Man, they're tall. Not a good thing to raise that centre of gravity too much! But it also didn't have the weather protection of the adventure either - not so good for commuting, I thought.

[Dazza]

Oh, I probably would have gone for the Super Enduro if I could touch the blo*dy ground on the thing! Hahaha. Man, they're tall. Not a good thing to raise that centre of gravity too much! But it also didn't have the weather protection of the adventure either - not so good for commuting, I thought.Your not bloody wrong there ,it'd have to be the tallest bike I've had the pleasure of sitting on !!! If I had a spare $23000 it'd have a space beside all the other RC8's in the shed (I wish).

[Horney1]

Your not bloody wrong there ,it'd have to be the tallest bike I've had the pleasure of sitting on !!! If I had a spare $23000 it'd have a space beside all the other RC8's in the shed (I wish).


Gidday Dazza, I see you've got a super duke. They're a fun little bike to! I took one for a run before I got the adventure. Probably a good thing I didn't buy it, I wouldn't have been able to keep the front end earthed! (Oh, and it wouldn't have handled the 4x4 tracks very well either). How does the engine run on it? Any roughness? How's your clutch and starter motor holding out?

Cheers

[Dazza]

Gidday Dazza, I see you've got a super duke. They're a fun little bike to! I took one for a run before I got the adventure. Probably a good thing I didn't buy it, I wouldn't have been able to keep the front end earthed! (Oh, and it wouldn't have handled the 4x4 tracks very well either). How does the engine run on it? Any roughness? How's your clutch and starter motor holding out?

CheersGidday back @ ya. 28000k's on & it's all going well.Fitted the Akrapovics fm. new and have no roughness issues, no issues with the clutch,starter motor is good, have had it cut out several times @ the lights when it's hot tootling around town, this is when the starter has made the odd horrible noise but not an issue for me @ this stage ! Your dead right about the front wheel to ground ratio, heaps of fun, did get me in trouble with the filth before Christmas though in town (dulp) as the officer had finished "talking" to me, he did state nice wheelie though, I'm abit of a show off I spose ! :innocent: Would love an Adenturer aswell to have in the shed for me & the little lady to cruise around on, tour our wonderful country, one day in the not too distant future.:yes: