KTM990 throttle snatch?

**ducatijim** · 6th October 2008, 06:44

Hey guys, need some of your valuable advice, took the 990 away to the 'naki over the weekend to do a few gravel adventures and I discovered its 'achilles heel' - throttle snatch!
I had noted this around town riding, and also when riding over very rough/uneven tar surface, but it is sooo bad when trying to punt along at less then a modest pace on the gravel, that I had 'pangs' of regret over the GS!( Throttle snatch = feels like power is delivered via an on/off switch!)
Now before I get lambasted for not doing my homework...I have surfed our sister sites, and tried=

1) 2 bar warmup from cold
2) 2 minute idle-up from warm
3) introduce excessive slack into throttle return cable
4) latest ecm program ex factory
5) pulling my hair out.

None provide a lasting or reliable relief. Next ideas include=
1) G2 throttle cam( $100 ex US)
2) Power commander ( $ many 100s ex US + huge loss of economy)
3) GS?
This is only a fuel injection issue and will not affect the 950 I belive, but there are many 990's around and you all cannot be putting up with the issue I have? Please help out a desperate convertee........................

**NordieBoy** · 6th October 2008, 07:07

There shouldn't be any loss of economy from a power commander unless you want it.

Isn't there a guy in the vendors section doing dyno tunes/remapping of euro bikes?

**cooneyr** · 6th October 2008, 07:28

Rode the demo 990 Adv at the Capital Coast Adv Ride for about 10km and this drove me nuts to the point of only ever wanting to own a 950. Spoke to a couple of the other 990 riders and the G2 cam seems to be the most common response with others talking about free flowing pipes (Akrapovic's

) and using the factory ECU/ECM setting for the free flowing pipes. I don't have any links anymore but there is stacks of info on the web about this (somewhere). Alternatively try talking to a few of the dealers i.e. Thunderbike, AMPS etc - they must have dealt with this.

Cheers R

**vifferman** · 6th October 2008, 07:29

Wouldn't taking out the slack be better than putting it in to the cable? One of the fixes for the same problem on VFRs is to take out all the throttle freeplay. Another one is to disable the O2 sensors (with or without adding a Power Commander), as there is a momentary hesitation between when the EFI runs in 'closed loop' mode and in open or mapped mode. If you disable the sensors (using a resistor), the EFI is fooled into never running the super-lean closed loop mode when running at small/closed throttle settings. This stops a bit of jerking when you are on/off the throttle.
The other thing is learning to ride with the light-switch nature of EFI: you learn to use more clutch at low revs, and adjust your riding style. It takes a while, but you will get used to it.

**young1** · 6th October 2008, 07:39

At the first service of mine AFC motorcycles in Palmy fixed it up with a modification to the throttle, not sure what they did but it is perfect now.

**warewolf** · 6th October 2008, 08:59

Recently a dealer-type fellah said to me that most of the complaints they get about snatchy throttle boils down to the rider not having enough throttle control - often because they've just upgraded from a sluggish bike to a new one with efi and a crisp throttle response.

Vifferman is on the money.

**buzzard** · 6th October 2008, 09:54

I have not had any problems with mine in 22,000km....until my last service. The dealer didnt tune it properly and I had to take it back as it was running really hairy. Now the fuel economy worse and i am getting surging between 3k and 4k and some snatch in low gear. Its going back next week for a retune!

**Devil** · 6th October 2008, 10:01

Remove all freeplay from the throttle. This goes for any bike, not just the KTM. This should help.
Silly little things to check, hows your chain tension?

Then head for a KTM dealer, they often have other fuel maps they can put on the bike, without having to go for a power commander.

**DMNTD:Me** · 6th October 2008, 10:03

Originally Posted by Devil

Then head for a KTM dealer, they often have other fuel maps they can put on the bike, without having to go for a power commander.

Yep...had a few "snatching" issues with both my SD and SD-R which were immediately rectified as soon as the correct map was installed.

**ducatijim** · 6th October 2008, 10:18

Originally Posted by Devil

Remove all freeplay from the throttle. This goes for any bike, not just the KTM. This should help.
Silly little things to check, hows your chain tension?

Then head for a KTM dealer, they often have other fuel maps they can put on the bike, without having to go for a power commander.

Thanks, but came from the 'remove all free play' to where I am now. It was logical to cover the 'range' of freeplay don;t you think? More FP is better but not good enough!

**ducatijim** · 6th October 2008, 10:25

Originally Posted by warewolf

Recently a dealer-type fellah said to me that most of the complaints they get about snatchy throttle boils down to the rider not having enough throttle control - often because they've just upgraded from a sluggish bike to a new one with efi and a crisp throttle response.

Vifferman is on the money.

Dude, thats what they WOULD say isan't it!??

Me....come from a sluggish bike???......a K1200R?......you gotta be a joker!

Actually the KR was a bitch too, for the 1st 20000km of its life.....didn't matter what new program they threw in, that is until I got the last 1: v12, and she is like a little baby untill YOU ask for it!!, then look out....but now real lineal in the delivery.

Thanks for the implication, but I'm not a noob, have had over 36 years to practice my throttle control!

**marks** · 6th October 2008, 11:14

my xt660 was like this at slower speeds due to super lean fuel injection settings for emissions reasons. It totally spoilt low speed pottering to the point where I used to slip the clutch going from off throttle to on throttle just to smooth things out. The more I richened things up by lying to its ecm the better it got. If there is a setting for performance exhausts - would that be worth a try as it should richen things up a bit?

**Devil** · 6th October 2008, 16:01

Originally Posted by ducatijim

Thanks, but came from the 'remove all free play' to where I am now. It was logical to cover the 'range' of freeplay don;t you think? More FP is better but not good enough!

Okeedokee, but still go to the dealer. There a few versions of the fuel maps, you might find the update fixes the problem, as DMTND mentioned with his SuperDuke.

**warewolf** · 6th October 2008, 16:03

Originally Posted by ducatijim

Dude, thats what they WOULD say isan't it!??

Only if they were slimebags, which they aren't. They are pretty straight talkers and quite happy to call a spade a spade. It wasn't in response to a 'request to fix' from me, it just came up in conversation. Just throwing the idea in to the mix, keep an open mind.

Originally Posted by ducatijim

None provide a lasting or reliable relief. Next ideas include=
1) G2 throttle cam( $100 ex US)

The G2 cam merely reduces the leverage of the twistgrip on the throttle cable, particularly at small throttle openings. This fix is frequently recommended for the hard hit of my 200 2-stroke when it comes 'on the pipe' in the midrange. It requires more twistgrip travel to get the same pull on the throttle cable, thereby smoothing out coarser inputs.