KTM Thumper Discussion

[Tourmeister]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

Scott, what ever you do, don't spray that carb with carb cleaner. There's a big rubber diaphragm in these slide carbs that will get all nasty if you do. Don't ask how I know.

So how do you clean the carb? Do you have to remove the diaphragm?

Why are your garages hot? I open the door to mine in the evening to help cool the house down...

Yeah yeah yeah...

[SilverBullet]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

Why are your garages hot? I open the door to mine in the evening to help cool the house down...

Oh yeah, tell me how good that works for you in Dec, Jan & Feb? Does your garage heat your house also, haha

_

[poser]

Yeah remove the diaphragm. Though most of the time when I "clean" the carb, I'm just pulling the jets and making sure they're clean and maybe spray some cleaner through some of the passages. Heck most of the time I don't even take the carb off the bike.
Oh and I use brake cleaner.

[poser]

Originally Posted by SilverBullet

Oh yeah, tell me how good that works for you in Dec, Jan & Feb? Does your garage heat your house also, haha

_

[greeneggs&ham]

Certain types of carb cleaner are very bad on rubber products, others are not. Read the label very carefully. If you are still confused, talk to a professional. Are you trying to clean the outside or gunk, build up on the inside?

That's just mean Justin. That's like tying a bone to your car bumper and driving around just to tease the dogs down the street. No chance they will ever get it, but they dream about it at night. But you spent your time in this heat, so you know how good you have it.
Sam

[Tourmeister]

Sam, when Roger came over a few weeks back, he helped me crack open the carb just so I could verify what jetting/needle I had in it before ordering the JD kit. At the time, the inside of the carb looked like it some gunk buildup. Nothing real serious, but it drives the anal retentive in me nuts The bike runs fine though. I just figured that while I am in there swapping jets and needle, I might as well clean everything real good. I got to looking at it the other night and there is so much junk, hoses, cables, etc,... attached to the thing that pulling it out completely looks to be a real job! I may just swap the jets/needle and be done with it... Maybe add some fuel treatment so I can tell myself the innards are getting cleaned

Got the sprockets swapped out last night. Still need to do front brakes and replace back tire. Getting antsy for this trip to Colorado to get here already

[greeneggs&ham]

Pick up a spray bottle of Berryman B-12. It won't hurt your rubber seals just clean your passages and the float bowl were you can see the gunk. This may be all you need, with a little fuel treatment in the fuel, it may be OK. If you want a through cleaning you will have to disassemble. Sam

[KeithE]

I need help on Carb jetting for my 09 450 EXC. I boughta JD jet kit however there is no chart included. Please help I leave in the morning.

8k evelation +

[Rsquared]

Originally Posted by KeithE

I need help on Carb jetting for my 09 450 EXC. I boughta JD jet kit however there is no chart included. Please help I leave in the morning.

8k evelation +

170 main, Red needle 4th clip from the top, 42 pilot, Fuel screw 1 1/8th out...

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by Rsquared

170 main, Red needle 4th clip from the top, 42 pilot, Fuel screw 1 1/8th out...

I don't know what James Dean recommends for 8K but based on my 3 - 6K recommendation (#42 pilot (assuming de-smogged), 1.5 turns out on fuel screw, #172 main, Red needle 5th from the top) Roger's recommendation is pretty reasonable. If you emailed J.D. and were polite about it he'd get back to you.

Scott I would listen to Sam w/regards to cleaning the carb. I sprayed the crap out of mine with carb cleaner and screwed up the diaphragm.

Yeah sorry about the garage jab . Last winter my garage was bueno, as it had an outlet from the furnace in it. We'll see how it goes this winter. Based on living many years in the north and ~ 11-12 years in the south, the advantage is still North. Gets pretty chilly in the house at night if you leave the windows open these days....

[Irishcoffee]

Originally Posted by Coolhand

I don't know what James Dean recommends for 8K but based on my 3 - 6K recommendation (#42 pilot (assuming de-smogged), 1.5 turns out on fuel screw, #172 main, Red needle 5th from the top) Roger's recommendation is pretty reasonable. If you emailed J.D. and were polite about it he'd get back to you.

Scott I would listen to Sam w/regards to cleaning the carb. I sprayed the crap out of mine with carb cleaner and screwed up the diaphragm.

Yeah sorry about the garage jab . Last winter my garage was bueno, as it had an outlet from the furnace in it. We'll see how it goes this winter. Based on living many years in the north and ~ 11-12 years in the south, the advantage is still North. Gets pretty chilly in the house at night if you leave the windows open these days....

Understood. One of my top three riding trips was the '86 ISDE Two Day qualifier at Trask Mtn. I luvs Oregon.

[jar675]

So I've been kicking around the idea of getting rid of my 04 450exc. It has a street legal title, around 800 miles and 38.5 hours. I have ridden it once this year and pains me to look at it sitting in the garage. I'm just not sure if I want to let it go and how much I should ask. Any input?

[hizzo3]

Originally Posted by jar675

So I've been kicking around the idea of getting rid of my 04 450exc. It has a street legal title, around 800 miles and 38.5 hours. I have ridden it once this year and pains me to look at it sitting in the garage. I'm just not sure if I want to let it go and how much I should ask. Any input?

I take donations, not tax deductible, but I will reimburse

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Coolhand]

Originally Posted by jar675

So I've been kicking around the idea of getting rid of my 04 450exc. It has a street legal title, around 800 miles and 38.5 hours. I have ridden it once this year and pains me to look at it sitting in the garage. I'm just not sure if I want to let it go and how much I should ask. Any input?

Good lord that thing is like new. No idea, sell it up here in Oregon, street legal dirt bikes are like gold.

[hizzo3]

There is an 05 450exc on cycle trader for $3k. Doesn't list hours or miles. Comes with extra tank and plastics. Tempted to pick it up.

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[Coolhand]

I have two friends with '05 450 EXC's and they are meat eaters. My '08 is jetted and de-smogged any my buddy (who probably has 40 lbs on me) will drive away from me in a drag race. Of course that's on dirt or gravel... and he weighs more... so there's more friction...

[Tourmeister]

My stock $125 handle bars on the 530 were NOT bent as we had first suspected in the post fall evaluation of the bike following a minor downhill spill into some rocks during the recent New Mexico trip

However... my $100 dollar bar risers are WHACKED! Even the bolt that held them to the triple clamp is bent pretty good

I had these on the bike when I went down at about 5 mph maybe. I didn't think it was a very hard hit. I hit the ground too and it did not hurt at all. Maybe the risers absorbed the impact so that I didn't

There is a cross bar between the two risers. It is twisted pretty bad. However, each riser looks fine. If each riser had the little milled area in the center to fit over the raised surface on the top of the triple clamp, they'd stay put like the stock clamps. Unfortunately, that was also the purpose of the cross bar. So I don't know how well it might work if I were to just cut the cross bar away and try to use the risers without it.

I've got the stock clamps on for now, but that won't do long term...

[_RG_]

I wouldn't cut away that crossbar. It probably has a say in the overall integrity of the unit. Might try putting it on a press and see if it'll straighten out. I think those are made of 6061 material - it will bend if annealed first.

Looking at the thing...bet it relies on a dampener in place to add to it's strength. If not a dampener then maybe just a metal bracket to join the two bolt holes together. $0.02

[codyy]

It's a dirt bike, **** breaks. Try Emailing TrailTech so they have input. Geoff is pretty good about helping people out and using feedback in design revisions.

DAMPER. It damps movement, a dampener gets things wet.

[Tourmeister]

Originally Posted by codyy

It's a dirt bike, **** breaks. Try Emailing TrailTech so they have input. Geoff is pretty good about helping people out and using feedback in design revisions.

That is pretty much my take. I did send them an email describing what happened.

Howdy,

This is NOT a warranty question/claim!

I installed a set of your bar risers:

http://www.trailtech.net/030-MCA2.html

This past week I dropped my KTM 530 EXC on a slow speed (maybe 5-8mph)
downhill trail into some dirt/rocks. Nothing really out of the
ordinary for rough trail riding. The riser retaining bolt on the left
side bent. Also, the crossbar between the two sides twisted/bent
pretty good as the left riser was rotated/pushed backward. Each riser
post is fine. Nothing else on the bike was damaged/bent. The reason I
am contacting you is to provide feedback that relates to potential
design changes for the risers.

With the crossbar in place, there is no way to reuse the risers if it
gets bent. If I cut it off, I could still use the risers, but there is
nothing to keep them aligned on the triple clamp. The stock bar clamps
have a shallow slot that fits over a raised face on the triple clamp.
Your cross bar sits down between these raised faces. If the risers had
a shallow slot similar to the stock clamps, they would work without
the cross bar. Without the cross bar or shallow slot, it is VERY
difficult to tighten down the bolts holding the risers to the triple
clamp without them turning as well.

The riser stalks look like they are sturdy enough that they would not
bend/break unless subjected to a MAJOR impact which would probably
shear the retaining bolt before they took damage. An impact that bad
would probably be the end of a ride anyway... If they were separate
pieces instead of everything being one piece, one side or the other
could be replaced if they actually did get damaged. Either way, all
that would have to be replaced is the bolt or one riser rather than
the entire $100 set of risers. If they were separate parts, I could
have just gone to a hardware store and bought a new bolt, or even just
carried a spare or two, and all would have been good as new. As it
was, even a new bolt would not have helped. So I had to finish the
ride with the bars out of whack, which makes for a real challenge

I like the risers, but as they are designed now, I think I may look
for some where the two risers are not connected to each other for the
reasons explained above. I just thought I would share this with you.
If you ever do offer a set where they are not connected, I will
definitely give them consideration.

Thanks!

I have not heard back from them though.