Ok, MarkN got the pictures of his new bike up before I did, but I actually got mine first, by about 6 hours. But as he's taking a ride down to France, he's putting a lot more miles on than I am. Hi Mark! Anyhoo... here are pics of the new bike. No mods yet, but you wouldn't be able to see the initial ones anyway . Front view: In my front yard with scenic background (and temporary dealer plate hack): That's me. Yes, I know the bike is better looking than I am. ..and a little test spin down at the end of my road. Note the Vizsla in the background. That dog loves to run.
Thanks, I'm out of town on a business trip, driving a rental cage. Rental cars are so boring. Can't wait to get back to the bike!!
Sweet . You will not be dissapointed. Love mine even though is not as pristine when I got it. If you're less than 6 foot tall, expect to drop that bike, regardless!
Ok, been doing a bunch of work figuring out how to tune this bike to my needs, while simultaneously fending off an irrational urge to trade it for a 950SE. I'll post pics as I get these mods completed, but here is the list and, more importantly, why the bike needs them. Necessary Modifications ----------------------- 1) ADV sticker on fairing. This one is self-evident. 1.5) Forgot this.. 15T front countershaft sprocket. Why? Because I want higher revs at slower speeds to reduce stall possibility and save the clutch. We have slow rocky places here, and the bike is just too fast for them. I'm slipping the clutch a lot. I'll deal with the higher revs on the highway. Hopefully it won't be too bad. 2) New tires: Dunlop D908 Rally Raids front and rear. Why? The Metzeler Enduro 3 stock tires are fine for the street, but are crap off road in SW Missouri. We've got a lot of hard pack, with a layer of broken rock (sharp gravel) on top. There are hills that I can barely get up for lack of traction, and the bike is scary loose in typical dirt corners. 3) New lighting: Gonna try for the Euro headlights, plus an HID lightbar from Trailtech. Why? The lighting is the worst feature of this bike. It sucks, badly. Low is too clipped. High is an uneven pattern with a bright spot in the middle, like a cheap adjustable flashlight from Walmart. Illumination into corners is non existent. 3.1) LED Taillight (still researching). Forgot this on the first pass. Why? This one should be self-evident, but if it's not: speed up activation of the brake light, and make it more intense (i.e. visible). May save my bacon, and with all those ijuts on cell phones out there, we need every advantage we can get. 4) New exhaust: still researching. Why? Because. 5) Rejetting. Goes with new exhaust. Even out the running, get a bit more power and responsiveness. 6) New springs: for a 250lb avg rider weight. Why? 'cause the bike is setup for a 165lb rider. I'm planning for an avg weight of 250, which is a compromise between me by myself, both my wife and me, and all of us with luggage on short trips. 7) Canisterectomy: to smooth out the running, lose a tiny bit of weight (it all helps), and most importantly, to free up some space for the Euro toolbox. 8) Euro toolbox: Nice job, KTM, on screwing up a perfectly good motorcycle. Like I really need a charcoal canister more than a toolbox on an Adventure bike. 9) Steering damper: still researching this. Why? Because I live in fear of repeating the 60-mph endo I had on a Yamaha 250 Enduro back when I was 15. Front end started to shake, and I lost it. It was ugly, and it was my friend's Dad's friend's bike. :eek1 :eek1 Already had one bout of this on the 640, I brought it under control. Don't want it again. 10) Replace the skid plate with the poly resin version. Why? Because the aluminum one is too noisy. It sounds like it's being hit with a hammer at around 3000-3500 rpm. And, it collects gravel and then THAT sounds like it's in an aluminum washing machine. I give up a little protection in going to the resin, but I think it's worth the risk. 11) Install a mudflap at the bottom of the front fender. Why? Because my radiator is a mess from the mud I hit. Since I hate cleaning stuff, I'd rather it not get that dirty in the first place. 12) Replace center stand with side stand. Why? Because I'm too lazy to drag it up on the center stand every time I have to get off to open a gate. And it's lighter. Besides, dragging the bike up on the stand several times a day is tearing up my right wrist (RMS). 13) Renazco seat. Why? The bike is fine for 1-up, but with 2-up, we both end up sliding forward and it gets old fast. Like to do some grippy suede, make it a little more comfortable. For her. Farkling -------- 14) Wolfman Discovery Lite tank bag 15) Touratech headlight protector 16) Touratech rear rack 17) Tail bag -- still researching this. Maybe the Wolfman mini-beta. And I like the Kaoko day bag. 18) Garmin Zumo and GPS mount. Still researching the mount. Ideas Discarded ----------------- - I canceled my KTM aluminum panniers order. Why? Primarily because I don't think this is the right bike to take on extended 2-up journeys. We'll wait for a GS or 990Adv for that. So, we'll get by with tail/tank bags, on short trips. Contemplating ------------- - I'm looking into modifying the turn signals to put a small bright LED on the end of the stalk, which would be activated by the signal switch and would illuminate corners better. I'll get back to you on this.
Tim, You have a great taste in bikes I've loved buying bits for mine and reading through your wish list not only do we share a lot in common but you've also given me a few ideas. It's a shame we have an Ocean between us as I'd suggest meeting up and having a trip together. Enjoy it my friend Mark
Great bike. First mod i did on mine was replacing the handguards, the stockers are for weather protection only. i chose Acerbis multiplo with the biggest "touring" plastic shield. i have dumped the bike twice without lever damage, the guards are scratched , but otherwise intact
Hey Mark -- I'd really like to do an England trip, even on a rental bike. So that little lake may not be that big a deal. But you'd have to put up with my wife 'cause there ain't no way she'd let me go to the UK without her tagging along. She presented a paper at Oxford a few months ago and can't wait to go back! But you're prolly gonna have to come to the States to see my bike though.
..Couldn't quote your post re: the riding at night thing. I agree with you in principle. But I also use the bike to run my wife down to the barn to check on her horse a coupla times a day. Just a bit more time for us to be together (I travel a lot). And, it's kind of peaceful to hang out and watch the horses eat. Something about a barn at night... So when I'm home we trek the 2 miles or so each evening, and there are about a gazillion deer around here. I don't go faster than 30mph, 'cause I just KNOW they're in ambush, waiting to kill us (wife has hit two deer in the past 10 days with her car). And under these circumstances, I would really like to have better illumination out to the sides. re: the foam -- I considered this but thought it would "insulate" the underside of the engine. Any issues with heat? And thanks for the exhaust/suspension info. I'm going to check into having the revalving done.
I hear what you're saying... I'm considering a lighting upgrade as well. We have deer, elk and slow elk (cows) aplenty out here and more light would not hurt if you got "caught out". A friend of mine was on his bicycle and got run over by a elk - broadsided. Broke his hip, leg and internal organs scratched & bruised. It took him nearly a year to heal up! He still doesn't remember what happened - the impact knocked him unconscious and in the ditch. :eek1 Lucky for him, his wife found him. The foam idea is taken from the pages of the KTM hard parts catalog. If they sell it, it must work on some level. SpringOly Dual Sport Riding - The DVD!
I had an '02 640 Adv, and thought I would give a couple of suggestions. Not disagreeing with anybody else, really. 1) Forget the euro toolbox. They don't hold much, and they and the frame mounting tabs for them are fragile. They have been known to break off and jam between the rear wheel and fender, locking up the wheel. Get a Wolfman Enduro Tool Kit. 2) I lined my skidplate with adhesive-backed cork. Worked really well, and made people ask questions. 3) SW-Motech sidestand 4) Renazco 5) Re-spring/re-valve 6) Lose the low front fender in favor of a high one--mud cloggage will lock the wheel and put you down. I have no direct experience with this, but I've seen it, and it's ugly. 7) Talk me into selling you my 950SE.
I got the SXC Sparky muffler on mine. It worked great. 1.1 air idle jet (hard to get to), 168 main fuel, drilled out two little holes in carb slide to about 1/8 inch (this modification from "Flanny" was the best tip! Instant throttle response! I like the idea of a mud flap. Let me know what you figure out. Presision Concepts did a great job on my 640 adv. Two up is alright for shorter trips but the 950 better. Got lots of rocks?? Get the touratech lens protectors that looks like a set of glasses, so sexy! You are way cool!
Thought I'd keep this thread updated with "improvements". I'll post pics soon, once I get the bike cleaned up again. Recent mods: - installed 15t front sprocket. This makes a huge difference in the character of the bike. The stock 16t is just too tall IMO, and I was slipping the clutch constantly on rocky trails. Love the 15t, the bike now pulls off idle (almost). I don't notice that it's any more vibey at speed on the highway either, and as a bonus it's more in the powerband at the speeds I ride (72-75). All in all, a very worthwhile mod for my riding conditions. Bike looks better with the 15T sprocket, eh? - I put on Dunlop 908 Rally Raids front and rear. Rear is good, better at climbing rocky hills. Front not so good since it's a lot more floaty/twitchy at speed on the highway. I probably went a bit too aggressive on the front tire, and am looking for a more stable front. Got a Karoo 2 on order - we'll see if that helps. No thumbs for the tires, yet. Good view of the rear knobs: - Running the Wolfman Explorer Lite tankbag. Love it. Also "accidentally" ended up with a KTM tankbag, which surprisingly does not fit the bike as well as the Wolfman. Doesn't have the same feeling of overbuilt quality that the Woflman has, either, although it's a nice bag. (Nice shot of the cool metallic orange paint here): - Solved the toolbox problem by getting the Wolfman toolbag. I just wrapped up my existing KTM tools in the Wolfman bag, along with a few extras, and threw this and some tire irons in the tank bag. I'm good to go. - Got the KTM tailbag. This is a great fit on the bike. Has three velcro straps that mate up exactly with the 3 tabs on the rear rack. I don't like how the bag is organized though. One center area with two side pockets, so the bag is split up and keeps you from putting anything large back there. - I"m alternating the tailbag with the Touratech rear rack -- they don't play well together. Right now the rack is there since the tail bag makes it harder to get my leg over when dismounting. - The biggest news of the day: got the Garmin Zumo. I love this thing! I got the 550 instead of the 450, thinking I would maybe use the bluetooth features at some point. (I'm getting techno-phobic in my old age -- had waaaaayyyy too many electronic whatnots crap out 1 day past their warranty. So I just prefer not to hassle with this shit, generally.) But the Garmin, well... It found my Motorola bluetooth headset no problem, lets me make cell calls. AND, I can also hook up my Shure SE420 earphones and play MP3 files. The Zumo cuts out the music to give me directions. Very, very nice and superior sound quality with the Shure noise cancelling 'phones. - The Zumo is currently mounted to the handlebar using the included RAM mount. (Power is spliced in to the lines running to the accessory socket.) However, I've got the KTM roadbook rack and the Touratech MVG locking mount on order -- looking forward to getting those installed. (EDIT: Switched to the TTech mount today): - Also got the Akrapovich slip-on. I like it, and it's not too loud. Got a nice crackle now when I get on the power, but if I stay off the power the sound level is fine. The slip-on definitely increases power -- a quick roll-on of the throttle brings the front end up, right now. - Had the poly skidplate on, thought the stock aluminum too loud. However, dug deep into the ol' wallet to shell out 7 bucks for the foam, and installed that with the old stock aluminum skidplate tonight. Voila! Noise problem solved, and now I've got real protection again. - And, last but not least, ordered and installed the Euro lowbeam headlight tonight. (Thought I would try the low-beam first, at 80 bucks or so. The high-beam is, like, $160 or so.). MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT. The light is much whiter than the stock light, and gives a very nicely spread pattern of illumination, without being so dramatically clipped. And it's brighter too. WHY IS OUR GOVERNMENT TYRING TO KILL US BY MANDATING THESE CRAPPY LIGHTS??????? Anyway, for the Euro headlight.
Hi IndyTim, Do you have a part # for this? Thanks! - And, last but not least, ordered and installed the Euro lowbeam headlight tonight. (Thought I would try the low-beam first, at 80 bucks or so. The high-beam is, like, $160 or so.). MASSIVE IMPROVEMENT. The light is much whiter than the stock light, and gives a very nicely spread pattern of illumination, without being so dramatically clipped. And it's brighter too. WHY IS OUR GOVERNMENT TYRING TO KILL US BY MANDATING THESE CRAPPY LIGHTS??????? Anyway, for the Euro headlight.[/quote]
Does the Euro headlight consume any more wattage? I need to fix two problems with my 07: Not nearly enough light output, plus not nearly enough alternator output. I'm guessing I could solve both problems by using HID lamps but there doesn't seem to be any drop-in replacement. Did you look into this option? Jeff
