My KTM 690 Adventure

**Night Falcon** · 27th February 2011, 19:45

Trying to get sorted for 8 days of glorios riding in the south Island next week.

On the agenda: Molesworth, Rainbow, Hakatera, Danseys, various tracks around Malborough (swapping ADVs for 450 Husky's) and anything else that might look interesting!

Just waiting on the arrival of a rear E07

, and the craddle on my Zumo has packed it in so also need to get that sorted with the lads at Trigs before Friday

,

Having done this trip before...3yrs ago...I'm on top off what gear to take and what to leave behind...not

As my last adventure ride brought to an end the loving relationship I had with my top box I'm also trying to build a flat plate to help support a duffle bag over the rear end. A sheet of 1mm alloy cut to fit the base of the bag (600 X 300mm) should do the trick....I have a cunning plan to make it easy to remove for refuelling....watch this space.

Will be dropping in to see some old mates in CHCH, their house is still livable but still no power, water, WC. He said today that all the mud arround his house is starting pong...like living in Rotorua.

Hopefully we will get some pictures this time so will post for any one who drops by.

**alane** · 27th February 2011, 20:54

[QUOTE=Night Falcon;1129998026]Trying to get sorted for 8 days of glorios riding in the south Island next week.

On the agenda: Molesworth, Rainbow, Hakatera, Danseys, various tracks around Malborough (swapping ADVs for 450 Husky's) and anything else that might look interesting!

Just waiting on the arrival of a rear E07

, and the craddle on my Zumo has packed it in so also need to get that sorted with the lads at Trigs before Friday

,

Having done this trip before...3yrs ago...I'm on top off what gear to take and what to leave behind...not

As my last adventure ride brought to an end the loving relationship I had with my top box I'm also trying to build a flat plate to help support a duffle bag over the rear end. A sheet of 1mm alloy cut to fit the base of the bag (600 X 300mm) should do the trick....I have a cunning plan to make it easy to remove for refuelling....watch this space.

1mm Alloy-----sounds like a knife blade ,right up your posterior.:shit.
Might be better with that nylon/plastic cutting board stuff.

Are you going to do Mt. Artimarlock,down the Molesworth,and Mallings pass/st James, behind lake Tennison?

**Waihou Thumper** · 27th February 2011, 20:58

Originally Posted by alane

are you going to do Mt. Artimarlock

I still think of that note you left all on the fence post when you did this ride; before me and Stephen...Dusty Butt 2010
It was like Ed Hillary being beaten to Everest...
The hard boiled eggs were good from the summit though...

**alane** · 28th February 2011, 11:31

[QUOTE=NZKTM;1129998128]I still think of that note you left all on the fence post when you did this ride; before me and Stephen...Dusty Butt 2010
It was like Ed Hillary being beaten to Everest...
The hard boiled eggs were good from the summit though...
[/QUOTE

Yep--My Wife & I had a laugh abought that,a while ago.

I wondered why Stephen was looking for me @ the pre-ride barbeque.

It was one of those little things that make the heart sing.

Dunno what made me do it---had an idea others on the way to te D.B. would be going up there,after all the talk abought it on the net.

**clint640** · 28th February 2011, 12:21

Originally Posted by Night Falcon

Having done this trip before...3yrs ago...I'm on top off what gear to take and what to leave behind...not

As my last adventure ride brought to an end the loving relationship I had with my top box I'm also trying to build a flat plate to help support a duffle bag over the rear end. A sheet of 1mm alloy cut to fit the base of the bag (600 X 300mm) should do the trick....I have a cunning plan to make it easy to remove for refuelling....watch this space.
:

1mm alloy won't hold up much without extra support, it will sag either side. You need 3mm minimum & it doesn't need to be full width. I have a 4mm x about 350 x 280 plate that goes on top of my small rear rack when I want to strap on a duffel:

Loaded:

Cheers
Clint

**Night Falcon** · 28th February 2011, 17:28

Originally Posted by clint640

1mm alloy won't hold up much without extra support, it will sag either side. You need 3mm minimum & it doesn't need to be full width. I have a 4mm x about 350 x 280 plate that goes on top of my small rear rack when I want to strap on a duffel:

Loaded:

Cheers
Clint

Thanks for that Clint...almost exactly what I need!!

even the bag is the same colour as mine!

I have some support on the rear so the plate is really only to prevent the bag from collecting too much gravel, mud and heat from the muffler. I will be doing some experiments in the shed tonight on some flat sheet...if it turns to custard

there is a sheetmetal engineering shop next to work that will be copying your plate (in a hurry) for me!

I'll keep ya posted

Also found out today there will be no E07 as they are still on aboat somewhere

so will have to use the scorp....shouldn't be too bad but it definately anit my 1st choice for gravel...just hope we don't encounter any mud or grass either or it could get interesting

**Waihou Thumper** · 28th February 2011, 17:43

Originally Posted by clint640

Cheers
Clint

I couldn't help but notice the lean on the Katie. When fully luggaged up my bike leans a fair bit, it makes mounting it a bit of a hit or miss affair sometimes. I have to be careful where I plant the stand as well as we all know what could happen.
Does the 690 lean a fair bit too? I put the stand down and then dismount like a horse rider....BUT, now I put the rubber back on the pegs, my foot sometimes slides off and that aint pretty...

**Night Falcon** · 28th February 2011, 18:48

Originally Posted by NZKTM

Does the 690 lean a fair bit too? I put the stand down and then dismount like a horse rider....BUT, now I put the rubber back on the pegs, my foot sometimes slides off and that aint pretty...

I have had some issues with my suspenders and loading the bike up don't help it. I'm told that the standard set up is for 70-80kg rider weight for a 690E...so at 97kg I'm a bit porky for it to satrt with. I manage it by making sure I don't parkup on any slopes....I tend to swing the leg up between the seat and the bags ...it anit pretty....but so far I havn't imbarassed myself....too much

**warewolf** · 28th February 2011, 19:54

Originally Posted by Night Falcon

Can anyone offer some advice on setting up rear shock, I think my spring maybe too soft as it seems to sit a bit low (especially when the bike is loaded with gear). AFC said I might need to put a stronger rear spring on but at $250 -$300 its a bit pricey. Is there someting else I should be looking at? The bike sag is about 7mm out form the recommened 25mm sag but before I pull the shock off to adjust it I just wanted to check if there is something else I should be adjusting? If I do need another spring, how do I know which one to get?

Spring rate and preload are the primary suspension elements. They set the bike's and the swingarm's geometry which are critical to good handling and good suspension action. Always set them first before you do anything else. More compression damping will help the suspension ride higher in the stroke, and too much rebound damping will hold it down too low.

Suspension tuners should be able to guide you on the correct choice of spring. Otherwise try something like advrider/ktmtalk for someone with your characteristics who's had their suspension professionally turned, who'll tell you what spring rate they used. There are after-market spring manufacturers who may be cheaper.

You won't get a spring correct for both solo and fully laden, so you'll have to choose where your compromise is. On road bikes I liked a slightly firm-for-sporty solo spring which is then a little soft, comfortable but wallowy when fully laden. Since you are generally riding less aggressively in the latter case, comfort is more important than road-holding and lets you get away with a sub-optimal spring. The 640 already has a too-stiff spring for me, so a bit more preload generally is enough to cope with a light touring load. But it doesn't work properly solo in technical riding where you need a lot of suspension compliance, so I want a lighter spring for my weight. Then if I go on a long trip laden, I'll probably spend the 30 mins it takes to swap springs. Best of both worlds.

**Night Falcon** · 28th February 2011, 20:18

Originally Posted by warewolf

Spring rate and preload are the primary suspension elements. They set the bike's and the swingarm's geometry which are critical to good handling and good suspension action. Always set them first before you do anything else. More compression damping will help the suspension ride higher in the stroke, and too much rebound damping will hold it down too low.

Suspension tuners should be able to guide you on the correct choice of spring. Otherwise try something like advrider/ktmtalk for someone with your characteristics who's had their suspension professionally turned, who'll tell you what spring rate they used. There are after-market spring manufacturers who may be cheaper.

You won't get a spring correct for both solo and fully laden, so you'll have to choose where your compromise is. On road bikes I liked a slightly firm-for-sporty solo spring which is then a little soft, comfortable but wallowy when fully laden. Since you are generally riding less aggressively in the latter case, comfort is more important than road-holding and lets you get away with a sub-optimal spring. The 640 already has a too-stiff spring for me, so a bit more preload generally is enough to cope with a light touring load. But it doesn't work properly solo in technical riding where you need a lot of suspension compliance, so I want a lighter spring for my weight. Then if I go on a long trip laden, I'll probably spend the 30 mins it takes to swap springs. Best of both worlds.

The 690 rear shock has both high and low speed compression damping adjustment which are reasonable easy to adjust. The repair manual also has suggested settings for comfort, standard, sport, and full payload (FP). I normally run it between standard and sport. I have earmarked tomorrow night to take the shock off and adjust the preload so will set up in full payload.

Will the rebound be ok to set at say sport with dampning on FP....the rebound is a bit more inaccesable to quickly revert back to softer setting when unloaded for some action

**warewolf** · 6th March 2011, 20:46

Originally Posted by Night Falcon

Will the rebound be ok to set at say sport with dampning on FP....the rebound is a bit more inaccesable to quickly revert back to softer setting when unloaded for some action

Probably be ok, but who knows? Their factory settings may not be that good for you anyway.

If the spring is way out, fiddling the clickers is just gonna make it handle a different kind of bad, but maybe it'll be a compromise you can live with.

**Night Falcon** · 13th March 2011, 14:10

Got back last night from South Island, awsome pretty much sums up the riding, scenery, weather, and everything else. The KTM's faired pretty well in all areas except rider comfort! 6-7 hrs riding per day leaves your butt feeling like its been whiped with a blunt axe! The trip started off with me loosing my gear lever....I know how'd that happen?...any way we found it on the road just before some dude in a 4WD drove over it...a quick diversion to TSS in Lower Hutt for a replacment sorted that.

Next day comming out of river crossing I managed to snap the chain...never done that before...more emergency surgery but managed to get a new 520HD on sunday morning so that was cool.

The third thing to go bizarly wrong was the fuel cap air valve got stuck/frozen going over Molesworth so fuel light kept comming on with full tank of gas...that was a head scratcher for a few kays untill we figured out the problem.

Heres a couple of shots until I get to posting some more.
where chain broke

We got past the two trees before this but this one nailed us

Some hunters shot this unarmed sign down in cold blood!