KTM 2002 Tech Bulletin on Spokes

FYI for those of you with spoke issues. on larger KTMs.



Now what about that bulletin that said we get the new bling bling wheels?

I already got the Bling Bling ... via my own wallet. I had 2 broken spokes and they were rusting like mad. I forked out the cash and had Buchannan respoke them w/ heavy duty stainless steel spokes.

New Nips too !!

pretty sure the service bulletin included Excel rims...

Mine still has the stock DID's. They are still pretty straight.

But on the topic of EXCEL's. Is there a difference between the Excel's that come stock on my EXC, and replacement Excels.

On the stockers, the rim has one Excel logo. On replacements Excels there are two logos 180 deg. from each other.

Any thoughts??

It is a recall not a bullitin...

PM me for a copy with the VIN number list. There is no mention of Excel rims but it is a one for one swap out. Some have swapped already and report the replacement rims are Excel so that has got to be good...

I assume everyone has seen this link to a nice assortment of RFS stuff?

Now that is one sweet resource, thanks creeper I have never come across this before...

PM sent - couldn't hurt to check.

and what does / would () Woody think of owners merely 'torquing' up the spokes to the specified value .... and then believing wheels are good to go?

Wheels (rims, spokes, hubs, lacing.... etc) are a 'black art', just because that little t-wrench clicks off between 5 and 6Nm don't mean everythings awright!!
That's what the monkeys do at the dealers pre-delivery check if yer lucky!..... If in doubt, get em checked out by a Woody, Buchanan.... usw!

The roundy, round bits hold yer arse off the very hard, flat bits!

its kinda like your suspension; there is a specific setting for your riding style and weight, but the tolerances are non-negotiable. so the spokes should be between 5 and 6nm once you get it straight.

I'm a tool fiend. That spoke torque wrench gets me aroused.

hi,,,perhaps that list will also help me answer all the questions people ask me as to which bikes are affected..thanks...woody

PM katoom 950, he has the recall bulletin and the VIN list.

Great informative post Woody. What do yo think of the Jobst book for defining how a weel carries a load?? Seemed informative to me !!!

thanks for the list katoom 950!

i am on the list...

need to call the shop repairing the bike and get this added to their work. now how much for a rear excel rim to match?

AMEN! Woody has 'spoke'n

I think KTM's bulletin is trying to point out that failures have been caused by over torquing the spokes. So while woody is obviously an expert here and knows that torque ain't everything to truing a wheel within specs, the bulletin is a good heads up for average joe's with their spoke wrench trying to keep their spokes snug. good info from woody for sure too.

and I'm merely suggesting that if spokes are getting loose then either the soft rim is getting hammered or the spokes are metalurgically inferior - 2 known problems associated with our ktms....

Sure, spokes may elongate (?) fractionally from new (ie. become 'seated' within the rim material once dynamic loads have been applied..) and may need to be 're-torqued' but they don't just become loose.... they generally lose tension at a deformation point on the rim... and the tension opposite increases drammatically under dynamic load!


Average Joes' and their torque wrenches may achieve the spec readings but not fix the underlying problem(s)... may even exacerbate 'em, for all those reasons presented by Woody.

I've confined my '04 rims to the shed wall (as evidence for the eventual class-action...) and had excel wheels built specifically for the bike and my riding.... when I trowel these, there'll be no need to worry... 'cause I'll be stone dead.


If your on the list... great, if not, get em checked out or rebuilt by a wheel specialist - simple.

(I re-torque my head bolts every second shower)

I tighten the spokes using the Spoke Torque Wrench to first establish a baseline, then measure the lateral and radial distortion and true it from there, this saves a lot of time and guesswork. It is a really useful tool, without it you could finish up with all the spokes sounding the same and the wheels true but they could be either too tight or too loose.
http://www.fasstco.com/html/spoke_tips.html
I always thought spokes after they had passed the initial bedding in process became loose because they were coming undone in the same way that any bolt on a bike comes undone due to vibration etc and needs to be periodically re-torqued/tightened.