KTM 640 Adventure owners, sign in please...

From the last adventure, my queen :)

hi beaney,

can you tell us a little more about some of your mods? I was expecting to see a supermoto swingarm but I only see the standard width model, then wondered if it was a SMC shock but then see that you have a "rallye shock" (would like to know more about that too, along with your "desert forks/front wheel").



Oh, and hi, welcome

A little out of context. We did a real cool 4 day desert/multi terrain (multi-strata?) ride in Northern Nevada, Black Rock Playa, Soldier Meadows area... I thought there was some insight for this board. Hopefully I didn't "bored" you.... BTW, the bike was 100% stock when I got it over a year ago....

Here is the cut and paste:

Well, the Playa was a fun little jaunt this last spring. The bike (and me to a degree) were "used and abused", as it (me) SHOULD be on a trip like this.
Playing it tooooo safe and toooo conservative is what we already do in our day to day lives. If we don't step out and RIDE (Safely as possible that is)....
Why in the hell "step out" at all? Well I have a LOT of feelings about that ride... maybe a subject for another discussion... but this is the maintenance section.

The Aftermath.



I probably wont buy another used bike. Unless it's rare like this one sort of was. I hate fu**ing dealing with other peoples incompetence. I have enough of my own
to contend with. :mrgreen: Since I bought it... I can safely say that ALL the problems with the bike were due to the incompetence of the PO. Quite a
statement I know. My only fault is/was making some presumptive conclusions to the integrity of the machine. You see, the bike is perfect. I mean, it is
in the state it is in (or was, I mean) directly proportional to the ability of the PO to comprehend and maintain the bikes systems. I came in green to KTM's,
solved a bunch of problems one week before the Shasta ride, and got what I deserved. Only a thorough run through and check of ALL systems could I put
the blame on anyone but ME! My first few issues with the bike clearly illustrated the incompetence of the PO. At least if you buy new, you have the factory/dealer
failure rate (which is a calculated and accepted failure rate that is statistically low enough to be profitable...if not, no business ) I'm totally rambling, I know. But the point is,
if you buy used... YOU are responsible for EVERY system on that bike.

***I am heading out for a 4 day adventure this Thursday, so I've been prepping the bike... again. Going to the central coast, keeping the routes loose and free.
Camping and cheap moteling it... wont know till I get there. Prepared for either, committed to neither... roads included. Cant wait. (Claudia unexpectedly had to work this weekend,
so a ride to LA turned into a ride to nowhere. Doesn't get better than that ). I plan on desolate roads, serenity, time for photography ( and videos!... ) and contemplation.
No rushing.***

The Aftermath... really this time.... :mrgreen:

------Failed (near fail) hydraulic clutch.
When I bought the bike, it had no less than 5 leaks, including the sight glass leak that plagued the Shasta ride. I fixed all the leaks (the outer engine case has been dry as
a bone since then) but I failed to double check the reservoir level for the mineral oil hydro clutch. One of the many leaks blending together on the engine casing, creating
symphony of intermingling fluids was just that... one part mineral oil.

The fix: complete disassemble, cleaning, filling and bleeding of the system.

-------Rear Brake.
Turns out, I didn't have a rear brake on the Playa trip ( well I had about 10%). I thought the lack of rear brake feel was due to my new ( and very stiff) Astars MX boots.
The boots were very stiff, and I couldn't get the rear brake to engage in any substantial way. I chalked it up to the boots, but after I was home and finally rode the bike to work
in regular shoes, I soon realized that there was nothing there. On the street I use front 80% and rear 20% give or take. I don't know about you guys, but for me in the dirt... invert that
that ratio. I trail brake in the loose stuff to initiate a slide, then stabilize with throttle. You just cant use the front brake in that situation. The front tire is already over-burdened with traction
and and steering forces... and in the dirt, with a humongous bike especially, it gets pushed beyond beyond the tire's traction threshold. That's what I learned riding motorcross in the 70's and maybe it's just me.
You all, with your experience, may have a different theory...
ANYWAY, after I got home from the initial ride and discovery of the rear brake problem... a closer look and tear down revealed a COMPLETE grocery store plastic bag jammed into the
brake caliper, wedged between the pads and rotors, resulting in a very shiny and polished rotor and pad surface. Completely hidden from casual inspection.
Couldn't blame this on the PO! Just dumb luck.

The fix: complete disassemble, cleaning, filling and bleeding of the system, in addition to sanding the rotor and brake pad surfaces with sandpaper until the glaze was gone.
Awesome brake feedback now.

--------GPS.
Shortly after I ran my bike into a 6 foot ditch, my gps failed. It kept shutting down after power up and I couldn't get it working for the rest of the trip. Too many vibes on the KTM,
or did I nail it with my body going over the handlebars? Dunno. Well, I sent it in under warranty to garmin, stating it stranded me, and has a defect and within 8 days I had a new
one show up at my door. New serial number and all. Nice. I connected it to MyGarmin to re-register the product to me and discovered that the device serial # had a free map upgrade
attached to it. My old one had 2008 North America Deluxe. This device qualified for the 2010 deluxe upgrade! Yes! A break in my favor... a free $100 mapset/upgrade for breaking it.
The new one works great and I upgraded the carrier to the shock resistant Touratech carrier, just in case the "paint shaker" destroyed the last one.

Upgrades.

New front tire.... This is a "dual-sport" bike and the "dual" part that ended up on the street (the D606...) sucks a**!!!! I don't see the logic in setting this bike up for a once a year trip. I RIDE ALL YEAR
round, 5-6 days a week....
I replaced the 606 with a new TKC 80, especially considering the 1200 mile trip this weekend... we'll see how it does off road... I have some sand dunes in store for that ride at Pismo beach...
should be FUN. Cant imagine the off road part suffering as much as the road part did with the 606.... no way. Also!... this time it took only 20 minutes to replace the tire, with the wheel
already off. I used the Windex trick, as a lubricant. Worked great... the front is always easier though.


The Renazco...... finally came in a month after the Playa. Nice! I did a quick 150 mile ride on Sunday to test the tire and seat and Wow!... a fully functioning bike! Comfortable and handles well on the road...
what a concept.

Other stuff..... Cleaned air filter, Oil change, discovered the center stand/ side stand bolt was backing out... nearly losing both. Oh yeah, after the crash, I felt the front end was bent or pulling to one side.
I did some research on fork binding and loosened the triple, pounded the wheel left and right with a rubber mallet and viola!, no more pulling. Feels dead center again.

There was a bunch of other little stuff I adjusted and tweeked. The bike is more ready to roll now than ever, since I bought it.

Also, I have owned a lot of bikes in my life. I don't mean to make this sound like a rant against the bike.... It is absolutely my favorite bike of all of them!

Yeah, I'd agree that you have to make the bike yours before you trust it on the way to BFE, or there might be a long way back from wherever.

Glad you got it all sorted, and you are content. My LC4 has put up with my maintenance abilities/peculiarities and is still running well enough. But I would expect anyone who acquired it to go through it thoroughly before stepping out.

Who supplied the front rotor (and do you like it?)?

I got it at CycleBrakes.net, but you can also get it here http://www.ktmtwins.com/950adventure/df672flw.html, same part# as the 950.

I love it. I have more stopping power in the front than the tire could ever transfer to the pavement... way more than needed in the dirt. When I switched to a single disk, I also installed the 950 SE brake reservoir for proper line/fluid ratio for a single...

AnyWay, that is a nice 640. It makes me want mine back in a big way. I really miss that bike.

Beaney, is that a SMC exhaust system and mid pipe adapted to your original subframe.

I wanna do this to my 03 tail:

Hey everyone, I just got back from a 3 day ride from SF to the Central Coast...
Posting a ride report now in segments. I got video of myself riding the
sand dunes in Pismo beach... I had a BLAST!

Cheers!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=494857

beautiful country you have there Carlos

I finally got street wheels for my 2000 640. Front was Woody 19" and 17" rear I build with my friends help and ebay's hub. Suspension was done by Phill from http://www.aftershocks-suspension.com/pages/home.htm and it works perfect




Rear was really hard to fit in






Riding on pavement hugely improved now. No more sliding rear for no reason. And lean angle has so many levels now. Used to be On and Off.
I run 17:42 and it works well on street. FCR is on order to improve low to middle crap.
Bike is a little lower now, I can touch ground.
I am still waiting for Renazco seat. It looks like total of 5 months wait to get it. I do 300-400 miles a day sometimes and then my ass is destroyed.
Bike has 21 kmiles now and going strong. Only the problem is related to timing sight glass(very minor) and flaky tripmaster.
I daily commute on the thing and entertain Bay area 101 BMW/Porshe/Maserati drivers with my lane splitting . Another day I had to jump over a TREE in the left lane at 75mph. The tree fell off some truck and was laying there. Thanks saton for good suspension.

Some of you may think that this is a wrong bike for a street but it works great for me. Light, nimble, powerful, reliable, cheep to buy and to run and fun. And then it's good on dirt too.To some extent. And I don't care about vibes. Hopefully it will last a long time and then i can get farkled 690 adventure if they ever make one.

Why not post some photos side elevation of the complete bike?

You mean the whole bike? let me finish my wine and I go and take a picture.

Yes - the whole thing that shows the new wheel sizes in proportion to the rest!

Just for our friends from down under I included a pussy in some of the pictures


Pussy didn't play along so I had to act fast






BTW, that scale under the engine guard is 12"( or 12 X 2.54= 304.8mm)
Bike is already lowered, but it's stock height until I seat on it. Done for my weight just right.
See, no heavy steel engine guards. Carbon fiber works great and weighs nothing. Bike fell on a really sharp and big rock at speed and no damage. You can see some scratches from it. This gas tank is so flexible that in combination with carbon fiber it's totally perfect.

Hello All, I am looking for a used 2003 KTM 640 LC4 Adventure. If anyone out there knows of one for sale please let me know. Silver or Orange I am not picky. I have to own one of these fabulous machines. Thanks for any help. Bruce...........

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=495923

I may be able to help...does it need to be a 2003? I have an '02 AND I live in Michigan.

Hi,

Have u post this mod in details, anywhere on this forum.
I'm totaly agree that the 19/17 combination is the best for On, and I will keep a setup of 21-18 for On-Off moments. Usualy I'm doing 95% of miles On so I need something for that!

10x

I can't help my self :)
South-est Bulgaria