KTM 640 E owners...advice please

[Crisis management]

As I'm considering my options for (maybe) replacing the DR I took an 02 KTM640E (12,000kms) for a ride today and came away with mixed feelings.

It had more power, was a better build quality, better suspension and a lot better seat than the DR but vibrated like a very vibrating thing.
Lots of high frequency vibes thru the pegs, seat, handlebars and just about anything else it could vibrate thru which I presume is generated from the engine. Having only ridden it for 30 minutes I have no idea how annoying these vibrations will be after an hour or two but they certainly concern me!

Clint & Warewolf (and any others) how much of an issue is this?

Other vibrations where from the running gear, felt like a stuffed chain & sprockets althought these were supposedly new (and looked it) so maybe it was tyres giving off these. These felt like a maintenance issue rather than a design "feature".

Also felt geared down, 5th could be used at 80km/h, it wheel stood in 1st off the throttle and at 120km/h sounded fairly busy...is this usual?

Vibrations aside, it was fun to ride, the suspension was great and the bike felt very precise without the wallowing feeling the DR gets in corners, I'm just not sure i could live with that level of vibration.

Advice please!

[chris]

Advice please!
Stick with the DR. Or a newer one perhaps... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Dual-purpose/auction-135038610.htm?key=539624

[clint640]

...vibrated like a very vibrating thing...

...it wheel stood in 1st off the throttle...



Sounds like there's definitely something wrong with that one... You should be able to wheel stand off the throttle in 2nd :yes: :D

Std gearing is 16:42, they are a bit busy at 120, but they rev happily a long way past the busy zone.

I haven't ridden an earlier model to compare, but they did add some extra counterbalancing to the 03-on high flow motor. There's a few around at the mo, the local dealer has an 04, maybe try out one of them? You're welcome to a burn on mine if you're down Rotorua way.

Mine got a bit smoother after I put on the SXC can, rejetted & vented the airbox. Putting on some Renthal RC high bend bars recently helped reduce the bar vibes a little too. I find it OK, but it's still nowhere near as smooth as a DR.

Cheers
Clint

[CBobR]

I got used to the vibes on my 06 640A to the point where I don't notice them anymore. It is stock apart from slightly lowered gearing

I was worried after the test ride because my feet were kind of going numb, so I rented one for a few days, after which I was very happy and ended up buying one.

I've just done a road trip with a few 700-1000km days no problems.

[FilthyLuka]

Its a great big stonking single, its gonna vibrate a little. I reckon that just makes it cooler :first:

[Crisis management]

Stick with the DR. Or a newer one perhaps... http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Dual-purpose/auction-135038610.htm?key=539624

Thanks Chris, is this the new model with the better suspension, full power engine, comfort seat and long range tank???

Clint & Bob, thanks for the info, I will hopefully ride an 04 model later this week and see how that goes, I have to admit for all the DR's failings it was a bloody sight smoother after the KTM, however the power and better suspension certainly appeal!

[Oscar]

LC4e's vibrate. A lot.
You get used to it.
You don't feel it on gravel (one of their natural enviroments).
You need a gel seat.
Yours sounds very low geared. Standard gearing is good for 160km/h.
I wouldn't swap mine for three DR's.

[blackballs]

crisis m,

I purchased a 2002 a few weeks ago, I opened up the airbox and rejetted the carb today, vibrations almost a thing of the past now, just waiting for my staintune exhaust system and performance upgrades for me will be complete..

The bike was breathing great tonight when I took it for a fang:scooter:

Having read about the lc4 for about a month solid I would say go for it, with a few cheap mods ie under $50 for air box and rejetting you will not look back

[warewolf]

It's pretty much all been said. Vibration is a personal thing; I don't like inline Jap 4s or BMW Boxers... reckon they're horrid. The DR is rather doughy in comparison to an LC4, I like my rides a bit more lively. Then there is the bike...

[Crisis management]

Thanks for all that guys, as I said before I'll try the 04 and let you know then.

Ooops, one more question; the enduro has a 12l tank, any options on a bigger one (rather than buying an adventure, I like the enduro) and what sort of range are you getting out of these?

Was that 2 questions???

[clint640]

Thanks for all that guys, as I said before I'll try the 04 and let you know then.

Ooops, one more question; the enduro has a 12l tank, any options on a bigger one (rather than buying an adventure, I like the enduro) and what sort of range are you getting out of these?

Was that 2 questions???

Good luck! One thing to remember if testing out a low km's one is that the LC4s take a while to run in, mine got noticeably smoother between 5-7000 km.

I get between 4.5 & 5.5 litres/100km so the 12L is always good for 200+km, I usually hit reserve at 190ish. I've also got the factory 18L tank as fitted std to many '02s, good for 350-400km, fits on nicely, it actually holds 20L but I'm not sure how much of that is usable. I've put a little over 18L into it a couple of times & she was still going.

The 18L tanks are around $900 new from KTM, I got mine in the package when I bought the bike as the shop had one lying around. If you're looking at a bike at a KTM dealer I'd try & screw them down on the big tank when you do the deal.

With some bracketry, Adv seat & a fuel pump the 28L Adv tanks will also fit. There is apparently an unpainted plastic 'Rallye' version that is fairly cheap from KTM, but 28L is a little excessive for NZ IMHO.

Cheers
Clint

[laRIKin]

It's pretty much all been said. Vibration is a personal thing; I don't like inline Jap 4s or XXX XXXXX... reckon they're horrid. The DR is rather doughy in comparison to an LC4, I like my rides a bit more lively. Then there is the bike...

What he said, apart from the bit about BMW (old boxers).

Gel hand grips help and that's all I have done on mine.
But then again I ride old and new Guzzi's as well, so I live with vibration all the time.
It feels strange to ride smooth running 4 cylinder.

And I would only go for the 18L tank as well.
As it is cheaper and you can use the same seat and is a quick swap between the two tanks.
So if you are going on a short fast trip or even a blat around the MX tracks you can swap back and forth easy.

[chris]

Thanks Chris, is this the new model with the better suspension, full power engine, comfort seat and long range tank???
Ohlins; it's good for 160km/h just; stand up more; 200km on a full tank. And a spanking new one is $8000.00......

[Crisis management]

All good points Chris, I acknowledge the DR is a good bike for the $ but I'm considering whether it is worth spending money on it or simply replacing it.

Eventually I'll make my mind up.

[chris]

Eventually I'll make my mind up
All part of the fun of buying a new bike. Don't take too long though or you'll likely miss out. I had the chance for the bargain of the century, thought about it for too long, missed out and have been kicking myself ever since. Go for it, you can always get rid of it if it ain't you.

[clint640]

Ohlins; it's good for 160km/h just; stand up more; 200km on a full tank. And a spanking new one is $8000.00......

DRs are great bikes & good value @ $8K but by the time you slap on the Ohlins all round you've spent what I did on my 640 (new) & you've still got 10 less hp & a small tank.

Cheers
Clint

[chris]

DRs are great bikes & good value @ $8K but by the time you slap on the Ohlins all round you've spent what I did on my 640 (new) & you've still got 10 less hp & a small tank.

Cheers
Clint
Please stop posting good, valid points in favour of the KTM.

[dino3310]

dont fall to the dark side stay with the force:laugh:
i saw an 2006 DR with a larger touring tank,corbin touring seat,screen,rear shocks he did the dyno thing aswell,exhaust, jets, airbox. i think he had higher gearing on it like my one,it looked fantastic.
he reckoned it was a shit load better than a standard one,faster with more comfort,would have loved to have gone for a blat on it.
naordieboys got his one pretty sorted,certainly looks the part.
these guys got the larger tank and stuff, they got a wealth of knowledge
on the DR series: http://www.kientech.com/.
more than likely you know all this already.

[dino3310]

DRs are great bikes & good value @ $8K but by the time you slap on the Ohlins all round you've spent what I did on my 640 (new) & you've still got 10 less hp & a small tank.

Cheers
Clint

wouldn't the servicing and price of parts be cheaper for the DR,maybe in the long run the DR would work out cheaper with all the extra's.
I'm only guessing of course as i dont know much about the KTM,
but ya just gotta love those DRs

[clint640]

I don't think there's much in it. The KTM uses 2 filters, $36 & $12 for genuine & about 2 litres of oil at each 5000km service. The valve check & oil change is slightly more fiddly on the KTM than the DR, you might get charged for another 1/2 hr labour if you get it done at a shop. When mine was under warranty & I had to get it serviced at the shop it was $200 ish for a 5000km service, I do it myself now.

I'm coming up to 45 000 km on mine, bought it early '04. Apart from the normal chains, sprockets, brake pads,tyres, battery after 3 yrs & a couple of suspension services, I've had to reseal on the cam cover to stop an oil leak ($0), replace one rear wheel bearing ($40), replace the countershaft bearing, seal & bush ($90) & replace the steering head bearings ($70, more of a preventive maintenance thing while the forks were off getting serviced)

My mate with a DR & only 12 000 km has had to replace his leaky cylinder base gasket, which if you had a shop do it, would have probably cost more than everything I've had to do on the KTM put together. That issue has been remedied on newer DRs though to be fair.

I have just ordered about $400 worth of bearings, seals & camchain for it though. She's running sweet now but the cam follower rollers seem to be a common failure area on high miles LC4s so I thought I'd do them at the 50 000km service & throw in new cam & waterpump bearings, seals etc while I was in there. Still pretty cheap motoring in my book.

Cheers
Clint

[dino3310]

shit slow down clint your getting me thinking about one now:laugh:
sounds like its hard to fault,i guess at the end of the day it will just come down to personnal preference, maybe a pole could be in order would be interesting to see what the most popular dual purpose is.

my only quam with the DR is i want a kick start aswell as the electric.

[dino3310]

:doh: POLL

[Oscar]

wouldn't the servicing and price of parts be cheaper for the DR,maybe in the long run the DR would work out cheaper with all the extra's.
I'm only guessing of course as i dont know much about the KTM,
but ya just gotta love those DRs

Having owned several Zooks and two KTM's I can say that KTM parts and accessories are consistantly cheaper than Suzukis.

Example - comfort seat for an LC4 - $189.95 delivered.
Lowered seat for a V Strom $600ish.

Front fender for a LC4 - $45.
Genuine countershaft cog - $30

[dino3310]

thats a good price on the seat oscar, the corbin seat for my DR is $349

[clint640]

Unfortunately, despite the dollars strength against the euro, the new KTM distributor jacked up most parts prices last year. That comfort seat is now $240, but even with the increase most bits are still cheaper or on a par with a lot of the jap stuff.

Cheers
Clint

[warewolf]

Yes, they decided to move more towards the Suzuki model: cheap bikes, expensive parts.

[tri boy]

Weekend just gone, Clint let me have a ride on his 640. (thanks:msn-wink:)
I have never ridden a 640 before, and it was a 10min pootle mostly on tarseal, but it gave me a taste of it's ability.
Firstly, it is a seriously well set up machine. Soon as you get rolling you know this bike will be able to go more places than my fear factor would allow me.
It has the ability to accelerate quickly, with a good spread of tourque, but I wouldn't say off idle stump pulling grunt. It seems to respond higher up the revs than say an XR600. (I might be wrong there).
Yes it vibrates. Actually I would call it excessive footpeg and handle bar grip Tingles. Vibrations seems to refer to a lower frequency pulse. This had a much higher frequency tingle. (think large Dildo on high):devil2:

Personally I don't think I will be doing the type of rides that such a bike really shines in. So I probably will not be getting one, (unless its at a price too good to pass up).

Comfort wise, besides the vibes, it was fine, and the Comfort seat was a gem.

You will need to ride one Ian to get your own views obviously, and I think a good weekend on one will be the only way to make a final call. Either way, its a fantastic bike.:cool:



Just a quick idea. Pouring molten lead into the bar ends might help eliminate the tingles there. And maybe an industrial rubber footpeg mount might help with the footpegs. Just a thought.

[tipper]

think large Dildo on high

trying NOT to...:banana:

[NordieBoy]

Just a quick idea. Pouring molten lead into the bar ends might help eliminate the tingles there.

Lead shot also works.

[warewolf]

It has the ability to accelerate quickly, with a good spread of tourque, but I wouldn't say off idle stump pulling grunt. It seems to respond higher up the revs than say an XR600. (I might be wrong there).You're probably on the money there. There is more power up top, and more "up top" altogether, but as is typical it comes at the expense of bottom-end grunt. It takes a concerted effort to push them to redline as they just seem to rev and rev and rev, and dropping back into the midrange seems to work better.


And maybe an industrial rubber footpeg mount might help with the footpegs.The 640A comes with rubber footpeg covers. I tend to leave mine off as the vibes don't annoy me, but my foot slipping off when they get wet certainly does :weep:

[Crisis management]

Weekend just gone, Clint let me have a ride on his 640. (thanks:msn-wink:)


Thanks for the brief review Brent (& Clint), it was good to hear your impressions pretty much echoe my experience with the 640.
Good suggestions about attenuating the vibes / tingles, however the concensus seems to have been (from 640 owners comments) that they aren't an issue after you've lived with the bike for a wee while.

Interesting comment about low down torque Brent, I felt a bit more throttle control was required on the 640 to get off the line but once off idle, that there was gobs of torque available. The bike I rode had an Akrapovic system fitted and that may have helped with the bottom end???

I have yet to get this ride on a later 640, hopefully this week, and I will let that make up my mind for me, or not, or I may just procrastinate for longer...