I found the problem with my KTM Adventure. And it's not a good ending.

[Christian P.]

Last year James borrow the KTM for a trip in Death Valley and had some issues with it...he spent many hours trying to figure out what the problem was.

the full story is here:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20065537#post20065537

So it appears that he made the correct diagnostic. There was a leak on the exhaust valve.
I finally had the time to take the engine out of the bike and I quickly discover that there is a hole in the valve itself! No wonder it was running poorly.

I took a picture, you can see on the right side.




Anyway, I am now weighting my options. Should I tackle the job myself? Should I do both heads or just this one?
Or should I just send the whole engine somewhere to have at least the valve replaced.

Can anyone suggest a good KTM/Motorcycle repair shop in Reno or Bay Area?

 

[dwh]

Definitely do both. It if burned a valve from running lean, that will have affected all the valves.

Personally, if the engine is out anyway, I'd take it somewhere and have the heads done and might as well replace all the seals while it's on the bench.

 

[Christian P.]

Yep, I am taking it the whole engine to the KTM dealer in Reno and you're right, I'll have them do both.

Just spoke with them and I have a good feeling. Doesn't hurt that they also have a reduced rate for November...I guess it's low season.

Could you eleborate a bit more on "burning a valve from running lean" and how I can avoid that? I did use premium gas all the time.

 

[Clutch]

Could you eleborate a bit more on "burning a valve from running lean" and how I can avoid that? I did use premium gas all the time.

Your jetting is lean. That is you do have the carbed version of the ADV right? if not and have the FI version your mapping is off.

 

[Christian P.]

yes I have the carb version

The jets are supposed to be factory (I will double check with James) and I have factory pipes. When I bought the bike with about 1000 miles on it, it had the wrong jets because the previous owner had put aftermarket pipes, and I guess he just swap the pipes back before selling it, without putting the original jets back. So not long after I swapped them back myself.

I have about 13000 miles now.

In any case, I am sort of happy (if that makes sense) that I found the issue. I can't wait to ride this bike again.

Your jetting is lean. That is you do have the carbed version of the ADV right? if not and have the FI version your mapping is off.

 

[Clutch]

Glad you found the issue, I know it had a lot of people stumped, even some of the experts.

"Usually" when you install aftermarket pipes you have to richen up the mixture, since the aftermarkets should flow better. Whoever is doing your engine work should be able to get the jetting sorted for you.

DJH does great work on the singles, not sure if he works on the twins.

http://www.djhcyclesport.com

 

[dwh]

Could you eleborate a bit more on "burning a valve from running lean" and how I can avoid that? I did use premium gas all the time.

It's not really an octane issue. Octane affects timing and pre-ignition.

Running rich causes carbon buildup, and running lean causes hot spots on the valve head edges.

Aircraft with carbs have a mixture control, which needs to be adjusted as density altitude increases. That is used with an exhaust gas temperature gauge. If the mixture is too rich, the EGT cools off, and if it's too lean it cools off as well. So you just diddle it back and forth until you find where the EGT peaks. You can go a bit on the rich side for a bit more power, or a bit on the lean side for a bit more economy, but for the most part, you want to keep the EGT at whatever its peak is based on the air density.

Without an EGT gauge, you lean it out until the engine starts to run rough, and then enrich just enough to smooth it out. That's at operating RPM, not idle RPM.

If you jet your bike for sea level, then it's going to be running rich at altitude (fuel to air ratio goes up). If you jet it for altitude, then it's going to be running lean at sea level (fuel to air ratio goes down). Better to be rich and suffer a bit less fuel economy and some carbon buildup (which you can get rid of with Sea Foam anyway) than to run lean and burn the valve edges.

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

Says the friend: "Backside of those exhaust valves look like the bottom of 100 year old pirate ship! Is that a barnacle??!!?! "

Glad to see that the issue has been identified, and that things are on their way back to normal. After we did a leak-down in April, the issue of an exhaust valve in the front cylinder presented itself. I remember pulling the header off, looking in there, and thinking "whoa, that's some serious buildup!", and figured that the seat was damaged by a piece flaking off and getting munched in there. I was pretty surprised the other day to hear that the valve actually had a hole in it though... In as many bikes as I've torn down and built up, I've never seen a hole in a valve. A piston, definitely... but not a valve.

I'm with the others who've commented here, and would advise doing both heads now. Also, I'd be interested to see what the rear head's ex valves look like too... wonder if they're the same, or if you had an issue with just the front cylinder/carb?

Keep us posted!

 

[adventureduo]

I remember that ride, as i was there. It was acting way funny on James. Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Christian P.]

here is what she looks like naked...

 

[Martyn]

Ask the KTM dealer if you need to re-jet for elevation. When I ran Weber carbs I had to re-jet for the elevation in Truckee.

 

[thedjjack]

Moderators please censor this photo...my children look at this forum

here is what she looks like naked...

View attachment 131755

 

[Christian P.]

Looks like the engine is ready, I will pick it up today.

$1700 total for labor, parts, taxes, etc. Ouch.

I missed the Japanese bikes... Next big bike will be a Yahama Tenere for sure!

 

[Frank]

Ouch, glad you got it taken care of!

 

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

$1700 total for labor, parts, taxes, etc. Ouch.

Yowza!! $1700 ?!? :snorkel:

I don't know what all you had them do, but that seems pretty steep for redoing the heads- especially since you took them the engine out of the bike!
With a head gasket set at +/- $200, and valves at +/- $400 for all 8, that leaves around $1100 (or $550/head) left over for labor and machining.
Either wherever you took it works r-e-a-l-l-y- - -r-e-a-l-l-y- - -s-l-o-w, was an expen$ive shop, or you had other work done too... give us the details!