Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

There you have it. If you observe smoke each time you stop after parking irrespective of the engine temperature, your valve oil seals are bust. Once the engine warms up again, the valves expand and provide a good seal, and hence no smoke. Get all your valve seals replaced along with new valves and shims. If you continue to ride like this, eventually you will end up burning all the oil in the engine and eventually would lead to engine seizure with even an expensive bill. Erratic RPM can be solved by replacing the AF box.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Thanks so much for typing such a long explaination brother. However, I must clarify that my bike smokes more like a auto rikshaw than a nice steamy kettle of chai in the starts. Now it has become frequesnt in the day, like every start it smokes. And it has increased after the service. Along with that I can here a sharp screech during the first crank of the starter motor. This screech or whistle can be hered under hard accelation too and its coming from under the tank. Fuelling is sometimes good and sometimes erratic while riding but the smoke has increased and its not subjected to the first start of the day. Its hapeni g on everystart. It goes away once the engine warms. Its not the faulty piston ring wala continuous white smoke throughout the day with engine running wala smoke though. Its grey and it comes out for a min or 30 secs of the first start. Please clarify. Once again, thank you so much.
P.s - Bike has run 5550 kms in total and 250 kms in my hand since the problem develoved and I took the ownership of the motorcycle.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Mild smoke only during early mornings are normal, as it's usually steamy and not thick smoke. The steam exhaust usually disappears after the engine warms up, which is perfectly normal. This steam exhaust, won't have any smell, that's one. Secondly, if you observe thick white smoke that smells like oil or like an Yamaha RX 100 smoke, then we have trouble. This can either be due to faulty valve stem oil seal or the faulty piston rings. How much has the bike clocked?

Secondly, a cracked air filter box would mean, you will have erratic IDLE rpm. If the crack is minimal, the FI will manage if the crack is too much then you will have extremely lean mixture and erratic RPM, as the air sucked in will be more than desired. Replace your airbox if necessary. It's better to get your cracked airbox replaced for peace of mind, and once replaced your stalling and extreme erratic RPM will be stable.

Thirdly, if your bike has clocked more than 20k kms, it's strongly recommended to clean your throttle body and replace your spark plug.

Hope it helps!

Keep your observations posted.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Hey ! I am a new member here and currently Own a 2015 RC 390. I purchased a used bike in excellent condition with 5300 kms in the ODO which appears to be genuine. i checked the bike if it has a smoking issue before I went for the deal. I didn't spot any smoke on the second days cold start too. However, on the 3rd day of ownership I noticed smoke coming out of the exhaust on cold start. Gradually the smoke increased everyday but the smoke doesn't stay after the engine warms up. I took it to KTM SVC and consulted. the SVC guy asked me to get a service done as a clogged Filter and old oil could be the reason behind it. I gave the bike for full service at KTM Baner , Pune. the SVC guys told me that smoking at start up for RC 390 is quite common (Is it true?). after the service, the smoking king of increased even but since the smoke doesnt stay for long, I still have a hope that the valve seals and piston rings are still in shape. Suddenly one day I start hearing a sharp whistle at start (First Crank) and sometimes during a hard acceleration. The power went down in one ride and then the fueling became rough and a bit erratic, like a clogged carb ( I know its FI). Two days back I spotted a crack on the right side of the Air Filter Box. All this happened in a matter of 10 days! So this smoking in the morning starts is because of the Air filter Box? Or i am looking at an engine open? please help me people. I am tired of going through youtube videos and blogs which complain about KTM quality but nobody talks about the actual effects of a cracked Air box or the reason for the morning start smoke. The Cracked Air filter Box is the reason for smoking exhaust at cold start? Because I know the drop in power and erratic fueling surely is. I am more concerned about the smoke at start up. you people with years of experience with this bike are my last hope.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Get the throttle body cleaned first and then observe

If it doesn’t work then the next step would be the fuel injector cleaning

Post your observations

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Hi, guys I did change the battery and I am still facing the cold start issues. Now what should be the course of action, when I got the bike serviced svc mechanic mentioned that this type of issue could be because of shims clearance.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences


I had a similar issue when i throttle it above 7500 - 8500, i loose power and then suddenly it picks up from there, this is not the clutch, its the throttle input.
what i have done is,

- remove the seat (10mm) and tank (allen bits)
- remove the air filter box (mostly 10mm /8mm nuts don't remember)
- remove the throttle body (loosen and remove the clamps on both ends [allen])
- once throttle body is loosened, remove 4 connectors (different sizes and shapes so no issue in fixing it back)
- take out the TB, remove the fuel injector and keep safe as you don't want dust particles on it).
- Use Injector Cleaner liquid to spray into the Throttle Body ( mine was black with deposits like crazy ) let it dry.
- put everything back.

Post these, the throttle has improved and linear, i haven't faced any issues as of now its been a week.
it also fixed my issue of " lets say im puttering around 5km/h and i suddenly whack the throttle at 90%, it mostly gives me a click sound and then either Dies or takes some millisec to get up to speed"

one more thing, i also changed the Spark plug to the iridium one and the gap from the stock was at least 2mm more.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Start off with the battery, and then observe it for a few days. If you still have cold cranking issues, clean your throttle body if you haven't cleaned it for more than 30k kms.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

The battery is 3.5 years old, my duke has done 70k kms. I thought that as the bike is crancking up fine so this issue would not be related to battery. I have recently got the bike serviced and got the spark plug cleaned, the service rep confirmed that battery has dead cells. I would be getting the battery replaced within 2-3 days and post the observations.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Thanks for the suggestions, I was also thinking about getting the battery replaced first and then check if the bike is still facing the issue. I'll keep the observation posted.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Cold starts with a low battery would always mean, your bike will have trouble cranking up. It's simple. When you have a battery that isn't providing enough juice for the starter and the peripherals, you will have trouble starting, especially cold starts, and once the bike is warmed up, it will crank as usual. How old is your battery, and when was your shim clearances last inspected? Shim clearances would result in problems irrespective of warm or cold, as the each time you start, the bike will have bring out the whatever symptom you're having. I'd also strongly recommend you to check/clean or replace your spark plug, if you haven't cleaned or checked them in a while. Keep your observations posted.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

first replace the battery and check.
then run a diagnostic check using their odb scan tool and see if it throws any error (with the bike fired up and idling).
make sure the plug and wire are in good condition and maybe remove clean and refit.
another thing could be related to the tps/ics (throttle position sensor or idle control stepper motor) both of which are located at the throttle body.. might need a good clean and refit.
i would not touch the valve clearances the first thing.. let that be the last thing you check provided all the other basic things check out ok. the bike is equipped with the electronics to raise the idle on the cold start and so ideally you shouldn't be needing to touch the throttle to fire up the bike or idle it. first rule out these components before deciding to check the valve clearances.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Hi guys, off late I am facing cold start issues with my duke. Its not able to start without throttle input, I have to keep giving some throttle until the bike is warmed up otherwise it just stalls. I have started facing this issue from last week, before this I never faced starting issue with my bike. My duke's battery need a change as it has some dead cells, but I don't think battery would cause this issue. Do I need to get my bike checked for shims clearance?
Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

you mention its 'suddenly revs to redline' when you keep it near 7k rpm.. a clutch slip will not cause that to happen. if your throttle input is acting up, then you gotta have the ride by wire/electronics/wiring checked up.

if your clutch is slipping, then your bike will rev corresponding to throttle input (not shoot up when you hold it at a certain rpm), but it wont translate to corresponding pickup/speed.

Re: KTM Duke 390 - Ownership Reviews and Experiences

Diesel engine oil is different when compared to a petrol car engine oil, so that topic is for another day. I'd strongly recommend you to check your clutch plates and the amount of oil present in the engine. Clutches usually slip at the upper end of the RPM range, when the engine speed is high and the clutch simply can't transfer all that power to the gearbox, and cause slipping. It can also be due to lesser engine oil, and a bust clutch basket.

I'd suggest you to start off by inspecting your clutch plates.

Cheers!
VJ