Bike suddenly got louder

[CAZHEREDIA]

Congratulations!
Make sure you get some sort of receipt when you pick the bike up that shows when you dropped it off and when it was fixed. Maybe be handy if you end up having to lemon law the bike (30 days usually covers it in California).

LEMON LAW DOESNT APPLY IN CA TO MOTORCYCLES, TRUST ME, I DID THE RESEARCH. I WENT THROUGH NVMB OF CALIFORNIA.

ktm has been great (38 days and bike is still in the shop) but ktm has decided to replace engine with 0 mile engine to avoid further issues, also ktm north america decided to restart my 12,000mile / 1 year warranty since im getting a new engine swapped today!

So happy to hear this, apparently the dealer has just been authorized less than a year and probably made a bad call during the 1st service valve inspection which was a total engine failure error on them!

Ktm stepped up and made this right, also promised to send ktm north America tech to make swap and school the techs at the dealer to avoid more issues in the future.

 

[rick]

Wooohoo!!! Congratulations!!!! Amazing!!!
Yeah, the lemon law is treated very differently with motorcycles.

The bike died on me again on the way into work yesterday. Dunno why but, it turns over but will not start anymore. I was putting along at the left in the left lane on the freeway and it died - wouldn't build more than few thousand RPM. It was during rush hour so, I couldn't get over and and came to a stop in the 4-foot wide breakdown lane. It was just k-wall dividing the north and south lanes so, I leaned the bike against the wall and got on top of the k-wall and though skinny thoughts knowing it was gonna be an hour before the wife could come and rescue me.

Eventually a cop slowed down traffic enough for me so, that I could push the bike to the right side of the road (so nice!!!!) and then I could sit safely and way off in the dirt with the empty soy sauce packets and used condoms until my rescue arrived.

6,307 miles and this is the third time it's left me stranded someplace.

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

Rick, sorry to hear that, hopefully warranty covers the issue!

 

[reenmachine]

Dude. That's the 4th thread you've posted your ad in. Put it in the For Sale area where it belongs.

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

Dude. That's the 4th thread you've posted your ad in. Put it in the For Sale area where it belongs.

didn't know there was a "for sale" area lol

will do thanks

 

[Edwardp33]

I have the same problem. Dealer diagnoses exhaust leak at the head

 

[CAZHEREDIA]

Finally got my bike yesterday after 38 days in dealer~!

So happy that ktm swapped engine and took care of my bike!

Cant really talk specifics, but lets just say i got a new 0 mile bike with some extra perks!

 

[rick]

Nice! Congratulations!

Finally got mine pulled apart after it died on the highway. I got spark, fuel and compression but, it won't start. Boo!
More specifically, I give it a few seconds on the start button to see if ti would start, no, and then pulled the spark plug which was wet with a fluid that smelled like gas. I jammed a paper towel into the spark plug hole and held the plug against the frame and cranked it over again. I got good spark on the plug and the paper towel shot out of the bike and hit the ceiling which I'm gonna call a decent sign that there's at least some compression. One weird things was that I don't remember it cranking over without the fuel pump plugged in when I was doing the last service. maybe I remember wrong.

I'll schedule an appointment with my favorite local mechanic today.

 

[rick]

I did a compression and leakdown test last night. Cold obviously but, the compression came in around 105 PSI and the leakdown was perfect. I pulled the valve cover to see if there was anything odd with the new cams - they seemed to have a little more wear than I'd expect for new cams but, everything generally looked normal. I probably should have made sure there wasn't any missing teeth on the cam gears in retrospect.

 

[rick]

fasteddy sent me a ton of info - like how to get the blink codes!
The bad news is that I didn't I dind't get any blink codes and, after reattaching the gas tank, the bike fired right up ...WTF?! I've been trying to get this to start for days.

Maybe something did come loose and stripping the bike down and putting it back together was enough to correct it. A ton of smoke came out between the header and the muffler. Liquid came out of the drain hole on the muffler and I'd say the smoke leaned toward the whitesh end but, it did last run early in the morning and it cleared up after a few minutes and the temp gauge hit about 4 bars.

There was a loud periodic clicking coming from the gas tank too.


Note: For blink codes see the KTM Self Serve Manual SSM902 and the meaning of the blink codes is in your owners manual on pages 165-170

 

[rick]

So, I took it to a new dealer, and they were soooo nice!
Right off that bat he said that it was ridiculous for a bike this new to break down and that it's probable that anything they find would be cover by warranty. So, different from the last dealer! 2-1/2 hours after I dropped it off they called and said the head gasket was leaking but, that they'd keep digging. On Sunday they called and said that the jugs and head were warped too. I asked about machining them and he said that KTM would probably replace all of them under warranty.
So, progress!

 

[cornerslider]

fs1ephil, here in the states, when I want a new bike, I buy it from a dealership. That is when my relationship with that dealership ends. Until I want another bike, that is.

I thought I was the only one that did that!!!!! I don't depend on a warranty for ANYTHING from a manufacturer, OR a dealer. My experience has been, "if you want it fixed right, do your own research, and do yourself"...... I'm almost certain the Japanese manufacturers build a more reliable product. KTM seems pretty "rough around the edges".... I don't think I'd be very happy if the RC was my only bike.

 

[=maz=]

I thought I was the only one that did that!!!!! I don't depend on a warranty for ANYTHING from a manufacturer, OR a dealer. My experience has been, "if you want it fixed right, do your own research, and do yourself"...... I'm almost certain the Japanese manufacturers build a more reliable product. KTM seems pretty "rough around the edges".... I don't think I'd be very happy if the RC was my only bike.

I don't depend on warranty/manufacturer/dealer either. However, if you take my money and the product you have sold me is average because you didn't invest in quality control, I will wring every cent I can out of you because you were ripping me off before I even walked into the dealership.
Congrats on your self reliance but your way of doing things is just that, your way.

 

[cornerslider]

I don't depend on warranty/manufacturer/dealer either. However, if you take my money and the product you have sold me is average because you didn't invest in quality control, I will wring every cent I can out of you because you were ripping me off before I even walked into the dealership.
Congrats on your self reliance but your way of doing things is just that, your way.

Point well taken.... I don't think I'm going to modify the intake/exhaust (as I had planned) - Just in case the thing "grenades" on me. My season will be short enough with not getting it until mid-May (at the earliest). I can wait until October before I modify things that will void my warranty-

 

[Chris The Welder]

Point well taken.... I don't think I'm going to modify the intake/exhaust (as I had planned) - Just in case the thing "grenades" on me. My season will be short enough with not getting it until mid-May (at the earliest). I can wait until October before I modify things that will void my warranty-

My warranty is up and my RC only has 300 miles on it. So I'm on my own now anyway.

 

[rick]

Just an update: Called the new dealer today. They said it should be ready to go after Wednesday of next week! I asked if it was still going to be covered under warranty and they said that they are still working on that. Uh-oh. This will be interesting.

 

[rick]

downshiftgo.in has an article on 390's blowing head gaskets. The line i zeroed in on was, "KTM says that gaskets that fail within the warranty period will be repaired free of charge." Hopefully KTM will cover this as I expect they should.

 

[stevieboy]

I'm curious what the 'level; of sophistication not seen on other bikes in the class' is? Maybe just a poor translation?

 

[rick]

Just an update: The new dealer called on Saturday and said that the bike was completely repaired but, that KTM still had not approved the warranty work yet. I asked if I would have to wait for that before I could pick it up and they said that I would unless I wanted to pay for the work performed. I said that I would not pay. I haven't actually authorized any repairs, certainly not on my dime, so I wanted to continue to emphasize that.

They said that they should have KTM approval by mid to late week.

Hopefully this will all go well. The Google tells me that things could get interesting if they try to make me pay for this since they've never given me any information or possible costs. I think we can take it as read that they have permission to repair anything for free under warranty but, I'm a little apprehensive.

For those keeping track, th RC has been broken down or in the shop 89 out of 236 days that I've owned it or 38% of it's life.

 

[rick]

Another Update:
I called KTM North America at 7:12 AM morning, figuring if this didn't get straightened out today then, with the holiday on Monday, it was gonna drift well into next week. I complained that the bike has been sitting there completely repaired and collecting dust while waiting on approval from KTM according to the dealer. By the third phone call KTM said that, upon further research, they were waiting on some photos from the dealer that they asked for on Monday and that they'd get this straightened out today.

At 10:00 AM the dealer called and said I could pick it up at any time! Yay!

My wife has the pickup today so, it'll have to be tomorrow. I guess at this point I just ride it like normal and hope for the best. If it blows up on me again then maybe it's time to call a lawyer. By tomorrow I'll have reached 92 out of 239 days days (38%) broken down and/or in the shop with 41 days on this break down.