So Dipshit... See, the deal is, all this "discovering your 640" is exciting and fascinating to you and your fellow 2005 owners... and we can appreciate that. But, we've been here awhile⦠some a long while, and have heard and seen most of it already... so you'll have to forgive us our tempered enthusiasm, and on occasion mild annoyance with you're "Gee Wiz! I've got to tell the world!!!" revelations. KTMs vibrate a bit... KTMs make funny noises... KTMs need a little fine tuning in certain areas... KTM seats keep aftermarket seat makers in business... KTM bars are too fill in the blank... we know. Don't let my jaded outlook dissuade you from posting further gushings of love and admiration for your orange-metalflake dream date... But, try using the search feature, and some of the post sort variables like by ârepliesâ or âviewsâ⦠and maybe just look around a bit, before you post another âGee Wizzerâ⦠OK? Have fun, but try not to be too tedious... please Buzz Kill (This should be the one Chris )
No doubt that I will make the typical rookie mistakes as others. And what is funny is that I see this sort of thing on some Harley boards I'm on. New guys show up asking which pipes they should buy, or which carb, etc. I too was new once to Harleys and for the most part, I shut up and listened to what ohers had to say, and also saw who had the best running bike. That told me a lot. All this was before Al Gore invented the internet, so I had to do it the old fashioned way. Listen a lot. Ask as litte as possible. I guess this is as good a time as any to start an oil thread. Wow. KTMs are really just Harleys from Austria! I have had terrible luck with the search feature here. It's real tough to narrow down the findings. I wish I had more time to read through it all. Okey dokey. Will you clue me in on this or should I use the search feature to figure out what you are talking about? S.C.
Hey Creeper, I was all set to do to the muffler mod on my '03 adventure but chicken'd out with hole saw in hand. I don't know if it's possible to f' it up but if there's a way I'll know I'll do it. Is there anything other information you can to assuage my fears. I'm guessing I should follow the downward path of the tube but don't really want to guess. Thanks jlr
on www.google.com enter your search terms and the switch "site=www.advrider.com" and they will only search this site for you 3 letters, sometimes 2 works like a charm... local search engine is almost worthless
I wonder how long the KTM road of discovery is. I just examined my bike musing about how I adjust the chain as it clearly has a KTM-exclusive system. As far as I can make out, it will be an adventure onto itself. So first valves, then oil and now the chain. Anybody who accuses KTM of following the crowd is clearly insane.
loosen bolts adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, measure, un-tighten, adjust, measure, tighten, give up...
Well, it seems to me that the big difference is that you first must post here, asking how much tension is just right, which is quickly followed by a grumpy old dude yelling at you for posting such drivel. No other chain adjustment process is like that. S.C.
Adjust the chain to it's recommended slack with the suspension compressed. It's no more difficult a task than on any other long travel dirtbike. Takes me a couple of minutes, grey hair and all.
Arch, IIRC, on my model (SMC) the manual said that the chain must be adjusted with the suspension fully unloaded to the point where the bike is raised in the air. I may have remembered that wrongly, but it seems that there is a lot of variety among these machines.
my 03 640a is uncompressed too i believe. dunno why they would add compressed in there when they can spec it for un...
Yea, slide, they all have that sticky mentioning checking for 8-10mm (or something like that) between the chain & the swingarm just aft of the slider while unloaded. It's goofy. Just drape yourself over the bike's seat and pull against the swingarm to sack the suspension (some guys use a tie-down to cinch down the rear). Check the slack on the lower run of the chain by pulling up & down on it with your free hand. You're looking at total chain slack here, just like on any other dirtbike, not any measurements to the swingwarm & such. Shoot for an inch or so and you're done.
still sounds like more work than just pushing up on the chain with one finger... i think i'll stick with the factory rec. unless you have some good reason arch.