Out of curiosity, I took it apart to change from 24mm to 22mm Offset. This would be the 24mm setting Bottom Triple allows for 180 degree rotation Gotta remove the bottom 20mm screw to release the stem from bottom triple clamp Have only ridden the new 22mm setting on the street. It will be this weekend before I get a feel for the change in the soft stuff.
Please could you give an idiot a step by step instructions how to do this.Tried but everything seemed stuck.Couldn't even get the forks out of the tripple clamps.Do you need any special tools? Please Help
Poepol, Edited 10-21-09 Replaced "degrees" with correct mm. The Rake is not adjustable. Spare Parts Manual: Chassis Page 4 Owners Manual: Technical Data- Chassis Tightening Torques No Special Tools A. Not all 690s have adjustable Triple Clamps. Does the top clamp have 22-24 and a part number 034.023 as the last six digits? If so proceed to B. B. Remove front wheel, brake caliper and magnetic pick on left fork leg. Remove front fender. C. Look under lower Triple Clamp as in picture Three above. Is there a 20mm bolt? If so, loosen. It is torqued to 60Nm and Loctighted. If there is no bolt, you have a pressed on steering stem. Stop, Do Not Pass Go. You don't have adjustable clamps. D. Remove handlebar supports and hang with straps from above. E. Remove headlight mask. Remove three 6 hex bolts attaching the electrical hardware to top clamp. F. At this point place a box or something soft under fork tubes because you are about to drop them. G. Loosen top and bottom 8mm triple clamp bolts securing left and right fork tubes. H. Loosen the 8mm collar screw, Remove the 20mm steering head screw. I. At this point the top triple clamp should lift up and off the bike. J. The lower triple clamp should pull down and release from the steering stem. See photo two. Note the two parallel sides to the recess that capture the stem. K. You now will find that the steering stem will rotate from the top. L. With the marking Dot at the rear you are @ 24mm offset; with it forward, you are @ 22mm offset. M. Good Luck with the reassembly! Follow your Owner Manual Torque values. Notes; In the beginning, I was mistaken thinking the adjustment would change Rake Angel. Offset is the parallel distance forward of the steering stem. Unless I am mistaken, this increases or decreases Trail. Have fun with the experiment. I won't know until this weekend what difference in feel will result. My bike was @ 24 mm as delivered. Now it is @ 22 mm. Edit: I replaced "degrees" with the correct mm description. The Rake is not adjustable.
and then changed it back... it felt good on the open fast stuff, but kept pushing out in the sand and mud.. to the point it was dangerous...
have you set up your sag correctly ? Iv'e got 300mm travel forks pushed through 15mm read sag set , & trlples at 22mm handles awesome, all in all mine is 10mm longer in the front , yours should not be pushing wide , unless the rear is set with too much sag
the main issue I had (now fixed) was finding the balance between soft enough in the front to not be harsh, with out plouging in the sand.... to hard in the sand, then it would push out in hard packed corners... get it set right for hard packed and it would tuck in sand... the balance was hard to get right, more so than any other bike I have owned... Got it sorted now and it is ooooorrrsome. I would love those 300mm forks, but how do you raise the rear enough to get it even - with your 15mm loss of travel sliding the forks though, you still have to make up 10mm in the rear to get that even ride.. or your bike would be sitting up in the front a bit.... Joe
Mugnuts and Mortaygo, Guys my rider sag is 61mm front and 97mm rear. I'm 185lbs(84kg), which is in the recommended range for stock springs according to the Owner's Manual. Preload up front is only via spring spacers, out back spring preload. Do you have a recommendation? Regards
Oh yeh front sag I'm running a little extra sag on the front , but I'll be making a new linkage for the rear , the rear link age has 2.5-1 or 3-1 ratio (only a rough head calculation & measurement ) So the new link age will be adjustable 8-12 mm shorter , this will make the rear harder & harsher , that ok I'll swap out the rear sping for the softer one i have ( stock ). I had the standard forks revalved witha good result , but the twinchamber jobies came up and i could not say No , best thing i have ever done , the TC forks are so sweet , they have been revalved & have SXS polished .48 springs & 10mm pre-load ,
looks like you have a little too much on the rear , should be 70-85 mm on the rear i believe the rear is a pain in the arse to adjust & forks out for the front , I went a heavier spring in the rear (cause i'm a little fat @ 95kg ) but less pre-load, the rear shock is still not to my liking & it i can't get it right on the next right I'd send it back for another revalve ( still has too much hi-speed dampening & can't get rebound right either ) these 690 have a linkage as you know so they very different to setting up other KTM's with out linkage were the rear sag was 95-110mm , i think that why they are so harsh i have seen photo's of the linkage of the baja prototype all billet linkages look to be a little longer but they are using the 690RR frame , as a rule of thump if it pushes wide in the front , the rear may be squating to much & if it is tucking under the rear is to high , but this can be counter acted but adjusting the forks in the triple's up & down , there are SOOOOO many ways and thing 's to change it can be very hard getting the right balance , and that is exactly what it is a balancing act between your riding position the balance of the bike and the terrain the you are riding in ,
Thanks Gents, Well... I will see how the 22mm Offset works this weekend. Wasn't really thinking that the rear could be too soft and too saggy. If I had to guess, I would say the front is Pushing. James Siddall @ SuperPlush recommends a 90N rear spring. That and a little less front preload may be where I'm headed.
Got out some Sunday in Rocky two track and a few soft tight corners. I would say the 22mm setting is an improvement over the delivered 24mm. Handling felt more neutral. We rode a range of two track: Wide open hard pack, eroded hard and soft two track, short sections of sand. I guess that means it was pushing some, I really don't know. Next up, wide open soft desert washes. Running front @ Standard compression and rebound. Rear standard 80N/mm spring standard 15 clicks out comp and rebound.
When adjusting your TC you can fine tune it with both fork placement in the TC and how far back you run your rear wheel in the slots. Dropping the forks in the TC will make the bike steer quicker. It feels just like you have a smaller offset. Typically forks are not dropped more than a few mm. Moving the rear wheel ahead in the slots will make the bike handle quicker too. If you bike is pushing in the sand the rear sag might have something to do with it. If the sag is correct then add some compession damping. And take some air out of your tire. If you can't find a balance between pushing in the sand and deflecting off of high speed or slow seed bumps you need to have your forkes restacked or revalved and stacked.
Thanks Hair, Re: Rear Sag; I have questions of what my target should be with the 690R. The Owner's Manual Specs 70-80mm, which matches the 25-30 % of total travel (275mm) rule I've read. I'm seeing 97mm (35%), which means to me a stiffer spring is in order. Delivered is 80N/mm and a 75 and 85N/mm are available. SuperPlush suggests 90n he supplies. I'm thinking the 90N, which will steepen the angle of the front forks in the Rider Sag Position. All this may lead to a fork Dampner, but that is another thread. Regardless, the 22mm fork offset feels like an improvement so far. To Be Continued.
spot on , that what i have in mine , my rear linkage is coming along which will raise the 15 to 25mm adjustable for those whom want more travel,
That were tail trick steps in , he the man in the know , I know there are some mod's the have to be done to the shock, no need for a new shaft , I will have the New link in a week or so I'll post some pic's anda ride report.
Just changed mine as well (not so easy with a one man show i found)bike is MUCH better now.This forum is GREAT,thanks foe all the advice guys.
Sorry to be dumb - but I am a newby 690 owner with the 22-24mm clamps. I am used to my 250exc/xcw 2t KTM, and took the big girl into the bush and on to dirt roads - it is a big effort to get the bugger to turn! Wants to push on straight ahead. The fork legs are flush at the top and am going to drop them thru a fewmm at a time to try out, but am wondering if the offset described here will help make her turn sharper? (which is the sharper steering setting?) Thank you in advance, Gary
Bump old thread. The offset is towards the front, so more offset = less trail giving quicker steering. The OEM setting is 24 mm when the dot on the steering stem (under cap) is towards the rear.