Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Yep, that bottle thinge is the CAT, the bottom box is just the exhaust expansion chamber and sound damper, it won't have CAT components inside.

If the pipe you are saying looks something like this, then pretty much whatever I said earlier holds good



Stock one with the actual CAT looks like this


Since you say your engine is pretty brand new, the damage will not be done overnight, it'll take prolonged kms to show, either by then tune the engine or add back the bottle thinge.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Thanks for the quick reply! Are you sure that the round bottle is the catalytic convertor? I was always under the impression that the big box just upstream of the muffler is the catalytic convertor.

That is really worrying since running the bike on the stock ECU without the cat is a bad idea.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

The part you see is called the CAT assembly,
The exhaust order goes like this Head Pipe->CAT assembly->Main Canister->Muffler. All 2017+ models have it by default

Looks like the same guy who put K&N filter removed the CAT assembly and fitted a straight pipe, basically he did what is called as "CAT delete" lowering the back pressure.
The reason is to get more low end torque at the cost of 1-2ps peak power, this will make the bike accelerate bit quicker compared to stock bike but lose a bit top end speed.

Ideally not recommended on stock ECU map unless your bike also has an aftermarket ECU or Power commander something like that without a proper tune, would be good if you revert everything to stock without the K&N filter and CAT put back on unless you want to mess-up the AFR and back pressure.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hey Speed Demons, I hope all of your RC390s are treating you well.

I purchased a second hand 2018 RC390 a month back and wanted to contribute to this thread seeing that this thread provided me with such wealth of knowledge on what things to look out for while purchasing and what things to constantly monitor during ownership. Thanks to the motorbike xBHP community for that.

Talking about the bike, it's a really low mile (640 kms) RC390, really clean almost looks brand new. Guy had put some stickers and stuff on the bike which I left on and a K&N aftermarket filter which i absolutely removed during the 1000 km service (yes i got the 1000 km service done, although the bike already had a service done on 320 kms apparently). The K&N is up for sale if anyone wants it for cheap.

Very happy with the bike's performance, looks and the features on offer (that display packs a lot of info). One thing that just brings the experience down is the vibrations, which coming from a FZ25 (one of the most refined bikes in the segment), will take some getting used to.

That's that for my contribution. Just posting 2 questions here on which i wanted more perspective.

1. Chain noise. There's loud chain noise coming from the front sprocket area, possibly from the chain hitting the guide. The sound is fairly audible when i have my left leg close and gripping the tank and godawful loud (like louder than the bike) when i open my left leg and take it away from the tank, such as when taking a left handed corner. Normal?

2. When i took the bike in for service, the service tech told me that a round bottle like cylinder is missing from the exhaust system and has been replaced with normal piping. The round bottle is placed just upstream of the catalytic convertor in the exhaust system. I saw the 2019 Duke and RCs and all of them had this round bottle contraption thingy such that its the round bottle > cat con > muffler in the exhaust system. I'll also attach a picture of the part that's missing in my bike.

Any ideas what that part does and is it ok if i roll without it?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Sad but true, I too am running with bent fuel filler grill, you just cant stop the petrol pump guy from shoving the nozzle fully, we have to live with it I guess!

Also, yes I have changed the handlebar race bearing when bike was around 12K kms, symptoms would be while front braking the bike would dive and lean slightly to either left or right, also you might even hear "tak" sound coming form steering column when you apply the front brake hard.

Another thing can be check the smoothness of handlebar by moving left to right and right to left, if you feel any kind of gripping in few places and loose in some place then again that's another sign. It should be smooth evenly.

My 2 cents, if you are planning to take the bike even on 30% gravel road better to switch to at least Michelin Pilot street or Pirelli Scorpion Rally str.
Wouldn't recommend the stock Metz M5 H/W rated ones or any MRF ones.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

There are a couple of decent service centres in Noida and a few in Delhi. Running parts shouldn't be a problem (based on my experience and observation).
I took my RC off-road & bad road (30-40 kms) and the stock tyres have no grip at all on loose surfaces, so I do think that you'll be safer and faster with a tire change. I'll also watching the responses here to see which tire is recommended for such use.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hi All,
Me and my friends are planning to hit the Leh and Spiti Valley circuit in May end.
While returning, I need a service centre in either Ludhiana or Delhi or Ghaziabad. Can anyone suggest which one will be the best along with prompt availability of parts? I might need a clutch plate replacement after the ride.
Will the stock tyres be too risky for the ride?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Learnt it the hard way. Spoiled my fuel meter, fuel pump seems to be fine. After a lot of trial and error, got it fixed. Damn petrol pump guy bent the grill.

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Got the pump and meter combo cleaned, dried and fitted back after cleaning the tank properly. Now it is working fine. The sock filter is somewhat cleaner now. Everything is going good, touchwood. I noticed some reasonable amount of dirt inside the tank and the sock filter, which might have resulted in clogging later on. As all this was open, I took liberty to clean the throttle body again, which was somewhat dirty as well.
Noticed an electrical issue where the wire connecting the LED pilot lamps and the tail lamp had some split ends. Fixed it.
ODO is 12800 kms now and I need a pair of brake pads.
Have any of you guys changed the ball racer bearings of the handlebar joint? What are the symptoms for it?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

The chassis needs to have the chassis no. stamped on it again.. so they might hesitate to sell it over the counter.
Try your luck though, ask at a couple of dealers and let us know what you hear from them.
forget chassis, most wont even part with regular spares like filters etc

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

In all probability they won't. They will make sure the vehicle is inspected and replaced with them. Chassis itself isn't a part that will be readily available in most places. If you're lucky enough to find a brand new one, some lathering with those chaps can in fact get you one. 95% of the time, they won't sell it over the counter.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Does anyone know if the KTM dealers will sell the chassis over the counter?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Unfortunately, the pumps of the Duke 390 naked and the RCs seem to have a different float setup. On the Duke 390 nakeds you will have a rod with a floating float attached on one end and the other end directly connected to the fuel pump gauge meter which will have golden spaced pick ups spaced evenly which is easier to clean and mend it to an extent. Unfortunately with the RC you have a squarish metal tube, with the float on the bottom (the small black colored square plastic) this is what moves up and down with the fuel level inside the tank to give the gauge reading on the dash. Unfortunately, and AFAIK, it's extremely tricky to clean this sort of a float system.

Secondly, the bag that you see is basically a first safe point from the pump itself to filter the impurities on the fuel itself before the fuel goes to the second filter for filtration. This bag can be cleaned albeit they have to be removed and you don't get them as a spare from the SVC. Though you can get it outside SVC and get it installed on the bike. Removing it can be a tricky thing too, but it can be done. If you can air clean the thing using compressed air, it helps it clean well.

Soak the filter a few times in and out, and squeeze the filter till you don't see discoloration, then soak it again with kerosene and without squeezing the element, give it full air blown clean, like how they clean the airfilters with the air gun, it will be clean.

Hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Has anyone bought these bubble visors from aliexpress?

Rs. 2,626.81 | For KTM RC125 RC200 RC390 2014-2018 RC 125 200 390 SX Duke 2014-2018 double bubble windshield visor

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

This is the fuel pump/meter assembly. Nothing seems to be wrong upon physical checking.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Due to tremendous work pressure, I have not been able to give much time to the bike since Sunday. However, I just siphoned off the fuel and filled it in the car today. I have unscrewed the fuel bar/meter from the tank. The sock-like thing has some sort of gunk at the base. How do I clean it (with kerosene/petrol/diesel?) and how do I check if it the float is working properly? Upon physically moving it, the float moves freely without any hiccup whatsoever. I also plan to open the throttle body meanwhile. Any help will be appreciated.