KTM 690 Speedometer Problems: Did you have a problem, and how did you fix it?

[IndyChizzle]

It's official, I'm one of the folks that got a bad speedometer on my '08 KTM 690 SMC with 5500 miles. I took it apart to check it out, and here's what I found:



It sounds like there are a lot of these out there, but my local dealer hasn't seen any (they focus mostly on dirt bikes). I'm trying to figure out how I should proceed, as my bike is an '08 and I'm the 3rd owner. When my dealer looked it up they said it was out of warranty, but I've seen several folks on SMJ say that they recently got a dealer to warranty the part even though their bike was out of warranty. I posted a similar post on SuperMotoJunkie.com and found that out of 35 voters, we had a 68% failure rate.

I saw the post of someone who removed all the pins and replaced them with wires, so I followed his lead and replaced the broken pin to get me up and running until I could get this figured out. Everything is working fine now, but if one pin broke, I'm sure that more will follow.

I thought it'd be helpful to quantify how many of these issues there have been, and what people did to correct it. If there is an aftermarket replacement that folks have installed (TrailTech Vapor, etc.) I'd love to see some details of the installation. Please vote and chime in with suggestions, if possible.

Thanks!
Chuck

[Night Falcon]

I had the usaul clouding problem which you can spot on the left. KTM sent me a replacement which has been problem free I prefered the original one though as the butons on the new one are almost impossible to push with gloves on

[tattewell]

I have had no issue with my 09 Enduro R, but my dealer had heard of the problem and gave me an "improved" speedo in a box as an extra part... havent needed it, but we will see.

[IndyChizzle]

Thanks to everybody for voting! I got a huge response on SMJ about the SMC bikes, but I was curious if people were having the same issues with the 690 Enduro bikes. It's a sweet bike, I just wish I could get to the bottom of this problem.

[Albie]

I've had 2 replaced, one inside the warranty period, and the second outside the warranty period. BOTH were covered by KTM.

[IndyChizzle]

Originally Posted by Albie

I've had 2 replaced, one inside the warranty period, and the second outside the warranty period. BOTH were covered by KTM.

I wish I could have your kind of luck! I called KTM corporate to see if this would be covered, and I can't get them to call me back. My local dealer says it is out of warranty, and I'm out of luck. They're happy to sell me a new one, but I'm not convinced the new ones will last any better, and I think I'll just be out another $400.

[Albie]

Originally Posted by IndyChizzle

I wish I could have your kind of luck! I called KTM corporate to see if this would be covered, and I can't get them to call me back. My local dealer says it is out of warranty, and I'm out of luck. They're happy to sell me a new one, but I'm not convinced the new ones will last any better, and I think I'll just be out another $400.

Your dealer sucks. It really helps to have a good dealer. RPM in Dallas was great to make sure I got a replacement gauge and a replacement radiator (another design flaw by KTM) covered by KTM when my bike was out of warranty. I didn't even buy the bike from them.

[IndyChizzle]

I found a broken KTM instrument cluster on ebay, and just bought it so that I've got a spare LCD display (hopefully with all the pins intact). Wish me luck!

[nogathump]

'08, fogging and lcd going bad. Replaced under warranty. A year latter fogging again. Dealer said they wouldn't replace until KTM had a permanent fix. I took it apart and found (besides the loose parts that cause the fogging) that the clips holding the front and back of the internals together were broken. Cleaned it up and epoxied it back together and all is well.

[IndyChizzle]

Let me know if that works as a long term solution. I tried silicone to hold the colored overlay to the clear base and it appears that both still vibrate, and I'm still getting some dusting.

[Piston]

My speedomoter failed and instead of buying a new replacement for it, I purchased a Trail Tech Vapor on amazon for $100 dollars with free shipping. It's on it's way now so I can't say how well it works, but I'm excited to try it.

[IndyChizzle]

Originally Posted by Piston

My speedomoter failed and instead of buying a new replacement for it, I purchased a Trail Tech Vapor on amazon for $100 dollars with free shipping. It's on it's way now so I can't say how well it works, but I'm excited to try it.

I am excited to hear how it turns out. If I keep having problems with mine, I could see myself going the same direction. Can you post a link to the exact one you got, to help others figure out what works?

[Albie]

Originally Posted by IndyChizzle

I am excited to hear how it turns out. If I keep having problems with mine, I could see myself going the same direction. Can you post a link to the exact one you got, to help others figure out what works?

You can pretty much make any Vapor work, The difference in the kits are just the type of brake rotor bolt for the magnetic pick up they use, and a temp sensor which you don't really need. You can just JB weld any rare earth magnet to the rotor and it will work. I've had Vapors on 3 different bikes and it works great.

[IndyChizzle]

Success! I got my broken Duke speedometer today that I bought off Ebay. It has an LCD that is all in one piece, with no broken pins, so I should at least have a spare if my repair doesn't hold up.

[IndyChizzle]

Ahh bummer. Mine worked fine for 500 miles and now I've got the hours and minutes flickering. Looks like I broke a different pin than last time... I'm going to let it ride until it brakes something I actually need (odometer, speedometer, temp) so that I'm not tearing into this thing all the time.