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Question about KTM engine longevity

Joined
Sep 19, 2010
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Location
Highland Village, TX
First Name
Brad
I am selling my 2013 KTM 350 XCF-W with ~116 hours and 2000 miles. I do not race. I have used it as an awesome trail bike. I did the Utah BDR on it. I have ridden in Cloudcroft, Ouray, Mena, Moab, etc.

I got asked a question about longevity from a potential buyer that I could not answer and wondered if the collective could assist us both.

Assuming I am not a flaming liar that actually flogged the bike on every ride, and I have actually kept up with valve checks, oil changes and air filter cleanings.

When would I need to be concerned with top end wear? Assuming that would be the first place to need parts replaced. Rings, piston, etc...

Thanks for any info. The potential buyer is a TWT member so I will link him to the thread if we get good info.

Heck, he may see it himself.
 
OOooo from reasearch on google about maintenance intervals and recommended over haul intervals, ktm dirt singles are not expected to last very long.
They are high strung go fast bikes and were not designed for long term durability.
 
I am selling my 2013 KTM 350 XCF-W with ~116 hours and 2000 miles. I do not race. I have used it as an awesome trail bike. I did the Utah BDR on it. I have ridden in Cloudcroft, Ouray, Mena, Moab, etc.

I got asked a question about longevity from a potential buyer that I could not answer and wondered if the collective could assist us both.

Assuming I am not a flaming liar that actually flogged the bike on every ride, and I have actually kept up with valve checks, oil changes and air filter cleanings.

When would I need to be concerned with top end wear? Assuming that would be the first place to need parts replaced. Rings, piston, etc...

Thanks for any info. The potential buyer is a TWT member so I will link him to the thread if we get good info.

Heck, he may see it himself.

Hard to say. Longevity varies across a large spectrum, based on use, environment and general maintenance to name the most important factors. This applies to any bike, not just KTM. I have owned at least one KTM and usually multiples since 2001. All my bikes get ridden hard but also taken care of.

Let's choose the imaginary "middle" of the above spectrum. I would say rings--250 hours, piston 350 hours, and the valve train lifetime. The KTM valve train is pretty much bullet proof. The #1 variable for anything top end-related would be air filter maintenance and dust ingestion.

Bottom End: A long time unless an oil-related failure were to happen.

Clutch: the 2013 350 xcfw has the DDS clutch (no individual clutch springs) and is tough as nails. 500 hours middle of the spectrum.

2013 was the first year that KTM moved to die cast engine cases instead of sand cast. The engine is something around seven pounds lighter but feels more than that in practice.

Those are guesses but from a perspective of a rider who keeps his KTMs a looong time. I still have the 2001 sitting in the garage.

I would consider your bike "low Hour" and would not even worry about checking anything major on it until symptoms started to show, ie; oil usage, visible smoke under regular usage, etc.

When these bikes are used as dual sport bikes, the service life on the major components easily double. Easy trail riding would yield nearly the same results. These bikes are tough, but any good mechanic could do a leak down test to show top end wear and that would end all speculation. My guess is that this particular bike is well within all specs.
 
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I will echo John's comments. He went into great detail. My simple answer was going to be 300hrs for the top end on a trail bike.
 
Considering how worn out it looks in your ad, I'll be happy to take it off your hands for $50 in cash to pay for my gas to come and get it. :D
 
:tab My 2010 530 EXC has 275 hours on it at about 9500 miles. Most of that has been dual sport riding with limited trail use (less than 100 miles). It runs great and gets close to 50mpg!

:tab I am due for a valve check and will probably do a leak down test at that time. It has always used a little oil. If I do a 250 mile ride, I will sometimes have to add maybe 50-100ml. It has never smoked. Around 4500 miles I stuck new piston rings on it and new valve stem seals, just because. Nothing changed. I just changed the oil last week. The tranny oil came out looking new and clean. The engine oil was dark but clean. There was nothing untoward in the filter that I could see. I change the oil probably once or twice a year simply because I am not putting that many miles on the bike. Basically, I might take it on a trip once a year and then do the occasional day ride locally on back roads. So I will change it before a trip or once a year, whichever comes first. It works out to about ever 1000-1500 miles.

:tab Last fall, Rsquared helped me rebuild my suspension. I ordered the parts and we knocked it out in a few hours in his garage. Both forks and the rear shock were leaking oil. So we replaced all the wear parts and put in new oil. I learned a lot. I think it set me back a few hundred dollars, if that, for the parts. I did a write up with pics. My rear shock is already leaking for some reason even though I have hardly ridden the bike sine the rebuild. I am thinking we may have done something to it during the rebuild... :ponder:

:tab I have done some preventative stuff to make the bike more DS worthy. I added the upgraded water pump that flows a bit faster. I added a radiator fan. I did the oil pump upgrade. All of that was easy to do.

:tab Other than that stuff, I pretty much just add gas and ride. I tend to eat up back tires because I get a little ham fisted with the throttle. The bike just has so much get up an go that it is hard not to... I've swapped front/rear sprockets occasionally depending on the kind of riding I planned to do, but generally I run a 14/50 combo which is good for most everything except single track. I am probably due for a bearing inspection, cleaning, and repacking for the steering head and swing arm. Wheel bearings might also be due for replacement. None are presently giving any indications that they might be worn, but I'll do it just because.

:tab Really, the KTM has not been any worse than my KLR 650 in terms of maintenance. The KLR used oil as well. I rebuilt the suspension on it because it sucked. I pulled the triple clamp off and cleaned/repacked the bearings. I did the same for the swing arm bearings. I replaced front/rear wheel bearings. I changed the oil about once a year or before any big trip. I played around with different sprocket sizes. I went through a lot of tires. I rode it hard and put it away wet (literally) on occasion. Inspecting and adjusting valves on the KLR was about the same because both use shims. I had to constantly work at keeping the carb cleaned so it would not crap out from sitting. I often had to pull the carb and clean/replace pilot jets if I let it sit without remembering to drain the carb first.

:tab Here's the thing though. For all the work I did on the KLR and all the upgrades I did to improve it, the 530 in stock trim was light years better than the KLR in terms of handling, power, weight, and pretty much any performance metric you can think of with the exception of pack mule ability and seat comfort (my KLR had a Corbin seat). The KLR just has a beefier (heavy) subframe that lets you pack it like crazy. Of course, that affects handling as well. I would not do a road trip on my KTM like I would do on the KLR. So they are different tools. But in terms of the effort/expense to maintain, I don't think the KTM has been any better/worse than the KLR.

:tab This topic came up in another thread recently and there was a link to an Australian guy that had done a massive trip on a 500 EXC, logging something like 30,000 Kilometers on his bike without any serious issues.
 
Rsquared has a 450 EXC that is older than my 530 EXC. He loves it. It runs great. I don't know how many hours he has on his, but I suspect it is more than mine because most of the riding he has done with it has been with me when I had my KLR and the 530 EXC. I don't recall him ever having any problems with it at all. He did put a new piston in it when I replaced my piston rings, but that was another of those " just because" things. The stock piston was fine when he removed it. His 450 does not use oil like my 530.
 
None of my bikes have ever used oil but I don't use over the counter oil , I run schaffers in all the bikes . I didn't ride My 450 long enough to need to do anything to it , I think less than a hundred hours and maybe 1500 miles . I serviced it at 10 hours then again at 1000 miles and again just before I sold it and all my oil sample reports looked good . After I bought the Beta there was no need to ride the KTM , I kept it around for a spare until somebody wanted to buy it so it's gone . The Beta motor has been flawless , has slightly under 4000 miles and I don't remember how many hours . It does not get abused so I expect several more years of service from it before needing anything .
 
OOooo from reasearch on google about maintenance intervals and recommended over haul intervals, ktm dirt singles are not expected to last very long.
They are high strung go fast bikes and were not designed for long term durability.

Oil change intervals are kinda short, I change mine about every 750-800 miles it currently has about 130 hrs and 3500 miles and doesn`t use a drop of oil. There have been cases of the motor going over 20k miles without being opened up for anything, valves check them once and generally they don`t move. :rider:
 
My RFS 450 was pretty bullet proof. Other than the output shaft seal a few times and the water pump seals. I Rode it hard for 350 hrs. At 350 hrs. I re-plated the cylinder at the urging of the KTM shop (they didn't do it in house and nothing to gain by recommendation). New piston and rings. New intake valves, cam shaft (the shaft was worn keeping the water pump seals from sealing), cam chain (while you are there) and plastic water pump impeller. Easy enough that a shade tree guy like myself could put it all back together. It still lives at over 400 hrs that I know of.

My 300 is proving to be pretty reliable as well.

I see a lot of post about how maintenance intensive KTMs are or how expensive the parts are. I don't get it. Parts are easy to get, not more than other bikes from what I seen (I've owned a several) and maintenance schedules are maybe a little shorter due to them being written from a race prospective, but still not unreasonable if you look at a WR, CRFX, etc.... The disconnect comes from people that want to put a race breed bike into a "trail bike" role and complain about maintenance schedules. If that is the case run them longer and take a little chance.
 
:tab I forgot that my output shaft seal leaked on me during a trip. To be fair though, I had that bike seriously loaded down with luggage and I did not loosen the chain, so I think that was causing a larger than normal side load on the shaft. The KTM dealer in Flagstaff, Az., had me in/out in about 45 minutes for under $100 parts/labor. I have not had an issue with it since, even when carrying the same load again.
 
I have a 2007 525 EXC with 12,500 miles on it. I ride it hard but never raced the bike. I have never rebuilt the motor. I changed the shaft seal twice. I run Motul Synthetic and change the oil every 500 miles. I clean the screen filters every change and the paper filters every other oil change. I know this is an RFS motor (so not apples to apples) but, I believe your potential buyer should feel very safe in buying your bike and not having to do a rebuild any time soon.

If he doesn't buy the bike, I may be interested in it. :-)
 
The book tells you to ck it every 50 hours. With that said, even the Pros bikes don't wear in 50 hours. A friend of mine's son is an expert level rider and they just checked his bike again at 100.......all good!!!

I once had a KTM 530 with like 300+ hours and thousands of miles on the stock top end and valves/shims. Is it possible....YES. But every bike and part is different but I would not hesitate to buy your bike. As long as it starts fine when cold.....I'll be fine with it.

Obviously the buyer does not know much about KTMs or other bikes for that matter or he would know what to ask.
 
OOooo from reasearch on google about maintenance intervals and recommended over haul intervals, ktm dirt singles are not expected to last very long.
They are high strung go fast bikes and were not designed for long term durability.

I think this myth has been busted...
 
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