My turn...engine failure @ 1711 miles.

[KTMGene390]

same with me but no pcv yet. just 100% stock on the engine side. i do not push it as hard as the other riders though. once the season is over, i do plan on getting the exhaust and pcv, do a full dyno and hopefully keep the bike running richer to avoid any future issues.

When I first installed a wideband o2 setup I ran the stock map as a base line to built a custom map (I have intake & exhaust mods), and before applying changes my A/F ratio was over 15:1!! Stock these bikes are lean at 14.5:1+! The stock narrow band o2 sensor will try to always compensate to keep your bike running lean without a PCV or equivalent. Also, keep in mind if you travel to different altitudes this affects your A/F as well. This is why a wideband setup is best because instead of having to rely on a dyno at each location you can make changes on the fly. If you just have a single map that is perfect at one location, i.e. sea level and go up in altitude your bike will run richer, but if you have the same air fuel ratio setup at say 6000 feet and go down to sea level your bike will run leaner.

As far as head gaskets blowing goes too much heat can warp the cylinder head and some are probably not machined smooth enough from the factory. The stock cooling system is really only adequate with light engine mods, high pressure radiator cap & Engine Ice/Water Wetter etc. Temperature and how hard you ride your bike among forementioned variables will determine if your cooling system is sufficient. If your fan is coming on and staying on multiple laps that is a warning sign, most race bikes do not even have a fan or thermostat.

 

[Ausracer]

From Oz

I'm so glad for you if you live in the USA and have a bike that has held together...fantastic.
I am also happy for all the USA owners who have support from your national importer, great for you...I will know within a couple of weeks where we in Australia fit in this issue.
However, the idea that owners should just accept the QC/QA issues because Ramesh made it is an unbelievable statement to make.
Who is comparing the RC390 to a Gixxer-600? Compare it to a Ninja-300 and tell me why the Kwaka lasts for SEASONS without breaking despite mods and crashes but a High-end product like RC-390(even made in India) can't last a single season without rebuilding it. Sure the bikes are totally different to ride but at least one of the 2 lasts.
If it is a lack of training or quality control at the factory why am I expected to just eat that shit sandwich when KTM have a responsibility to ensure their product is as good as it should be...not just say, "It's made in India so we can maximize our profits, so HAHAHA sucked in stupid!!".

In my case I purchased the bikes(yes 2 of them) to race. The racing I would be doing in Australia is Production Racing with very limited modifications allowed to the motor. I fitted a Pipe from KTM Australia, an air-filter and got the dealer to re-map the ECU to match the pipe and filter...THAT's it. No PCV, no Dyno-tune, no mods for performance...nothing.
Fitted a 1.6bar Rad-cap from the sponsors here on the forum as well as a SPAL fan to keep the bike cool after reading this forum.
Not even 2000km(1200 miles) and the head gasket went on mine(my wife's bike had already done a head gasket at this stage with less KM's on it)...so I had the head and barrel machined, fitted the gaskets from Commonwealth and torqued to spec(my Mechanic did this all while staying in touch with the dealer about torque settings and recommendations for procedure).
The bike lasted less than 30minutes on track(at testing pace not race pace) before it was gone again.
I know of at least one other RC racer in my state that has his blow 3 times in the same time frame and he also used the gaskets purchased through the forum sponsors and runs a SPAL fan and 1.6 Bar rad-cap.

I have thrown my hands up in the air.
I have contacted KTM Australia and they have asked to inspect the bike. They have it. They will report back when they have completed their assessment.
In the mean time...my first ever season of racing is over. My chance to take a 3rd place trophy home in my inaugural year is gone. My faith in the bike is gone. I have little faith that KTM will look after us and that leaves a massive hole in my wallet for little/no gain.
When I purchased the bikes it was with a 3 year plan in place to offset the initial cost of setting up both new bikes. Didn't last 6months before reliability issues tapped out the race budget for the team.
The bike is SO much fun to ride...but with reliability issues like it has it is not a bike to own unless you are a mechanic/engineer/manufacturer-of-parts/dealer or someone else with a vested interest in the bikes sales.
At the moment this venture will have cost close to $30k-AU($23078US). The dilemma I have is...if I stop now and just throw these bikes away it has only been a waste of $30000 dollars...if I keep going, where will the costs stop?
A modern, fuel injected, 4 stroke engine without modifications for performance should be able to race in a production series for at least 1 season without ANY problems not caused by crashes or owner error. It should not require more maintenance than a 2-stroke engine from the 80's.

I would love to see a thread started where racers of unmodified RC's can state all their trouble free fun times and nil-costs with only a reasonable amount of time spent on the tools...but if KTM-USA is supporting racers then it will not be an accurate picture of the issues the rest of us face at this moment in time...though I really hope that changes for all of the owners not in the USA.

Hi Maz, previous comments about air fuel ratio are right. These bikes will run lean as without proper tuning which won't do the engine much good.. Production rules here should allow a power commander check the MA GCRs. I sympathise with you, here there is no interest or support from KTM. I have run mine in three sprint race meetings and part of a team for a four hour, prior to these we installed a power commander and tuned on the dyno. So far Ive had no problems but expect nothing other than high parts prices and no help from KTM Aus if I strike issues. I also note the bike this year is eligible for the over 300 production class in the Australian titles but no one has run a title effort on one against the R3's probably as it seems with good reason. Hope things go better for you Cheers

 

[=maz=]

i think the majority of racers on this forum are not sponsored by ktmusa, or ktm in general, so i don't think there would be a lot of bias if any.i think at this point everyone just wants to make sure they are doing the right steps to keep the bike running.

Firstly, thanks for the response.
I realize that most racers are not sponsored by KTM-USA or KTM-Corp. There are people with vested interests in this bike and this bikes sales...that is not to say there is anything wrong with that but it is a reality.
I am sure we all want the same thing from the bike...I love riding it and have stated that over and over since owning the bikes...I just want it to be able to last longer than a 2-stroke.

im curious on making this thread though, cause it could possibly shed more light on what is working and what isn't.

Sorry mate, I'm not quite sure what you're asking here.

i will say that out of the 5 rc390's that race in production class in Colorado, only 1 has had a blown engine.

Out of the 5 that have raced in my state I know at least 3 have blown head-gaskets(2 of which have happened multiple times).

i do not push it as hard as the other riders though. once the season is over, i do plan on getting the exhaust and pcv, do a full dyno and hopefully keep the bike running richer to avoid any future issues.

I'm not sure how you can NOT push. I ride to my limits and am not the fastest guy out there by any stretch of the imagination but there is no power after the limiter kicks in so I don't bounce the bike of the limiter but do try to keep the bike up in the revs to carry corner speed and avoid the lack of drive that is all part of production racing.

TechnoJoe...I was keeping an eye on the temp as I have little faith in the bike. I wasn't drafting anyone and had nothing but clear track after leaving the pits last in my session. At the moment it is winter here and the day in question had a top temp of less than 20deg Celsius.

Gene...thank you again.
I think you may be bang on about the mixture and increased temps. I only run the bike on 1 track, the joys of living in the most remote city in the world, my fan would come on while waiting in the dummy-grid but not run for a long time and I would notice the gauge drop when it did. I'm not sure I can tell if the fan is coming on when I am riding the bike in full leathers with ear-plugs in.
I wouldn't run the bike without a fan...I have little faith in it as it is.
I'm not sure how anyone can ride the bike harder than it should be able to be ridden...trying to be smooth and repetitive all the time is what I am trying to do.

Ausracer...thanks for the kind wishes and feedback.
As you have discovered there is very little support for racers from KTM-Au. I have been in touch with them and we will see what happens over the next couple of week but I was assured that KTM-Au "Do support racers" by one of their representatives when they contacted me...I guess we will see about that soon enough.
When the ASBK round came to Perth this year I was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of other KTM's came over to race but as you rightly point out there are none making a firm push for the front of the national title. As an owner I can see why.
I really hope KTM do the right thing here as it is a very highly publicized matter and Australia in general is a small place where everyone knows each other...this is so much more true here in Perth and everyone is well aware of what is happening with the bikes.

I would like to encourage everyone, no matter where you are, who has any problems to contact KTM in your country and document the issues with them officially so that they can not deny there is a problem or that they are unaware of a problem with the bike.

 

[KTMGene390]

Gene...thank you again.

No problem. I have my own troubles with my 390 leaking major oil from the crankcase halves, and dropping out of gear!

 

[=maz=]

No problem. I have my own troubles with my 390 leaking major oil from the crankcase halves, and dropping out of gear!

Sorry to hear that mate...hope you can work out what the problem is and rectify it as easily and cheaply as possible.

 

[KTMGene390]

Sorry to hear that mate...hope you can work out what the problem is and rectify it as easily and cheaply as possible.

I won't know until I have the motor apart but knowing how the factory sealant around the crankcase, inside & out (why you see so much gunk on the screens after the first oil change) was pealing off like dead skin from a sunburn, I won't be surprised. I have a Quick Shifter and when using it 1 in 3 times the bike will jump out of gear 3-5 seconds after engaging the next highest gear, usually third & fourth. I have messed with the timings every which way to no avail. As a result of how many times I've been in-between gears I may have rounded some of them off.

Hopefully, I won't need a new gear set. I have purchased the Factory Pro Shift Detent Arm from Chad, should help a lot in the future. This is not really a rant, I like my bike anyways, but all the parts that keep failing are OEM, none of the aftermarket parts I have, have failed.

 

[btalont]

Sorry to hear of all the trouble and issues...frustrating to say the least! I have been tracking my RC in bike schools, about 3 events and 4 track days. I have had zero issues so far. I early on added the Bazzaz fueler and the auto tune module and let it map the bike at the forst track day. Wow, it really upped the fueling, especially in the mid range. This has to help with heat issues. Last mods were cooling system. Ice coolant, higher pressure radiator cap and I pulled the fan and trimmed away the shrouding. I live in south Texas, hot and humid. Ran the bike hard July 30th. Ran great, seems to run a bar cooler. I have about 13050 miles on the bike, 1/3 of that on the track probably. So far, so good. Hopefully the modifications so far have reduced the thermal loads and the engine will hold together. In the mean time, I hammer it on the track, it's too much fun!

 

[tecknojoe]

Does anyone have contact info for KTM USA? My engine blew, and I'm trying to contact them to extend the warranty since the dealer had it for 8 weeks

 

[tt2013]

Does anyone have contact info for KTM USA? My engine blew, and I'm trying to contact them to extend the warranty since the dealer had it for 8 weeks

I only found their address. They didn't post a phone number.

KTM Customer Service Department, 1119 Milan Ave., Amherst, Ohio 44001

 

[tt2013]

[FONT=&quot]Customer Service Phone: 1-855-215-6360[/FONT]

 

[tt2013]

This is the only number I found.

 

[SPG]

I had a trouble free race season last year, and this year have put in 3 head gaskets, a piston, cylinder, several valves, and sparkplugs. There is another local with a cup bike who lost his 2nd gasket and the piston as well...

For most of this time, I was running stock airbox/filter, and the Acro map, with stock exhaust. In retrospect; I am pretty sure my injector became dirty, which would make for a lean condition during racing, but the ECU would correct for in the lower throttle/rpm areas. This is why my bike seemed to run fine, but would lose power in a couple of laps and melt the sparkplug.

Next weekend should be the test. After putting the engine back together for the 3rd time, I cleaned the injector and checked the pattern. I also installed a wideband O2 gauge that logs into my lap timer, so I should be able to make sure I'm not running lean.

Time will tell, but hopefully this allows me to keep the bike together...

-Sean

 

[cazh]

Ktm swaped my engine under warranty. 60 days without a bike.