KTM 990 Adventure Baja Ignition Wiring Harness Bad Installation - Check Your Bikes!!

It looks like any of the 990's with the cosmetic black cover in the frame are affected, not just the Baja's. My understanding is that the earlier 950's and 990's didn't have these covers, so they've been problem free. I just want people to catch the problem before they get stranded on a remote trail or pull out into traffic and have their bike suddenly die on them.

Dealer called me. They read this thread and checked my bike. My wires are fine but ignition switch is bad. Will take 3 weeks to get one programmed and keyed by ktm. Not under warranty either.

my 2011 is in storage at the moment and I am away from home, could anyone with a 2011 tell me whether that year has the suspect black plastic cover ? if it does i want to get back and check it before my warranty runs out. (it was a remaindered 2011 registered in 2012).

thanks

tim

My 2011 990R had it.

/Johan

Ive seen them on several 2007s on this site. Same as mine, when i removed mine i did a tidy up of the whole wire situation up front, around the headlight also. The pictures of the 950s looked like the cable routing was much nicer, thats why i reworked mine.

Now ya all need to put a rating on this thread so it doesn't get buried like most of the good ones.
I sure wish people would have done that for the chain slider that was flying off locking up the rear wheel and almost killing people.

Give it a 5 star so it can be sorted with the other 5 star threads.

Remove the right tank you will see a zip tye securing the wire harness to the frame towards the rear, clip this and it will give you plenty of room to move the harness forward and free it up. As the above photos show use a dremel and create space to allow it to move freely.

My 04 950 did not have this wiring issue because it did not have plastic cover, but it did pinch the wiring on the left side of the headset in the steering lock when hard to left….
Just got a 2011 baja and noticed that it has the plastic covers, planning on doing heated grips, will definitely be removing the covers!!!

Thanks man.....

'04 here. No plastic thingy.

Now ya all need to put a rating on this thread so it doesn't get buried like most of the good ones.
I sure wish people would have done that for the chain slider that was flying off locking up the rear wheel and almost killing people.

Give it a 5 star so it can be sorted with the other 5 star threads.[/QUOTE]


YES! Please do! I think all, "This will strand you or kill you" type threads need to be easily accessible for future reference.

Saw this thread yesterday and immediately looked at my 2011 990 Adventure. It does have the offending black plastic piece. I didn't have time to remove the right side gas tank for a close inspection but it does look like the wires are getting at least somewhat pinched.

Thanks NeptuneTriton for bringing this to our attention.

My '10 990 has the plastic cover. Haven't had any issues but will inspect the wiring.

Mine was a bit squished, but I was able to trim the corner off using a tin snips (without removing anything) and the wires are now clear of any interference.

Thanks all for the heads up...

Yup. did the same thing.

Now, off to Death Valley in the AM.

Thank you Neptune Triton! Great thread!

Finished inspection and repair of shroud and plastic cover on my Baja.

Can't stop thinking about all places I've been solo and absolutely wouldn't have wanted this to become evident. I don't know if I could have tracked it down quickly.

Glad to have this forum!

My 2010 has the cover.

When I added all the TSD stuff for the Alcan 5000 I took the opportunity to relocate the switch so it does not turn with the bars. It's not a final solution, and means you lose the ignition lock, but it means one less thing to worry about way out by myself.

SA

Mine as I checked it this am


Odd, the other side of the plastic frame guard has a relief for the wires, they must have over looked this issue on this side

Just finished checking my 2012 990 adv with 7200 miles.
Same issue, plastic sheath cut but wires appear to be OK. Trimmed plastic piece that was acting like a guillotine and reinstalled to avoid further chaffing and installed a piece of split loom around harness. Off to Death Valley next week, for a couple of weeks, so you probably saved me from a dead bike on my trip . After trip Local Dealer can order parts and repair, still time on Warranty.
Thanks Neptune for making us all aware of this....

2012 990R
Inspected mine and repaired it minutes ago.
I ended up taking windscreen and right side body panel off to get a better look. I cut the harness sheath back as it was damaged but the actual wire insulation was barely deformed from the pressure of the black cover.

FWIW,, I did notch the plastic shield a bit and reinstalled.

This likely would have caused major grief trying to figure out at the worst possible time,,

Thanks NT for the heads up!

WJR

2012 990 std - same thing- inspected and trimmed plastic cover to allow movement of wiring in and out - no damage as only 6k km on bike but sure glad this thread started. On my '05.5 950 had stretched wires on left side of steering head but got to that in time also!

Thanks!!