Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

My bike's left fork is leaking ever since the 4500 km trip. There was a slight scratch on the metal pipe, probably from some rock hit, which was found and thought to be the leaky area. Then it was slightly sanded, seals changed and was working fine. Within 100 kms of riding, again the same issue is back. Very slight leak is there I noticed yesterday. Is it possible to invert the metal chrome pipe and fit it? Or do I have to change the pipe? Any other solution? The service guy was confident that it is a very common issue fixed by sanding.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

i love this beast <3 https://myfiosgateway.win

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

it depends on how bad the scratch is and how good the sanding/polishing job was.
if the leak is reoccurring due to this damage, then you gotta replace the fork tube, no other go.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Guys i got a big problem with my bike. It appears as though the battery loses charge rapidly in a day or two and then the bike refuses to start. I have tried to get this issue fixed from two different service centers but the incompetent A-Holes (incompetence is a veritable scourge in our country!) can't fix it. I even got the started motor replaced upon their advice but no dice. Today i tried to start the bike in vain and looks like now the display has conked out. Both SVC had suggested that the bike will have difficulty starting due to high compression and fixing this is major work.

Now i am stuck with a non-working bike.

1. Does anyone know what the issue is and how to fix this?

2. The engine - when it starts - runs well and everything else is good on the bike. How do i sell this bike? Because i really don't have time to resolve these issues. If anyone here is interested i am willing to let go of it for a bargain price.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

1. Going by your description it's not that battery is losing charge rapidly, but "battery is not getting charged by the Alternator/Regulator Rectifier(RR) unit when your bike is running state".

Quick way to check, strat with take a multi meter to battery, when bike is turned off meter should read 11-12V under no load.
Start the bike, revv it to 5000-6000rpm in Netural and meter should read 13.8-14.2V, means Alternator/RR unit is working fine. If the meter still stays at below 12-13, then you have found the culprit is Alternator/RR unit.

2. The maximum fix is not more Rs. 2000-3000, are you willing to let go of the bike for such small annoying issue?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I neglected to fill in the details. Actually, the SVC guys confirmed that the battery is indeed charging. They even showed me with a multi-meter. I left the bike for three days at the SVC last week so that they can check the battery drain. But according to them the bike starts okay and when i received the bike yesterday it did in fact start ok if with a slight hesitation. So i asked them if they had charged the battery, to which they replied no. That was yesterday and today morning the bike failed to start.

And this back forth with the SVCs has been going on for last two months during which time i barely got to ride the bike. Hence if i can't get it fixed now i am going to have to sell it to someone who has the time & skills to fix this.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hello Everyone hope u all are doing well, i have an issue actually i live in Jammu and my motorcycle is also registered there. But now i have shifted to New Delhi for Studies and took my motorcycle along with me. My motorcycle Registration number plates are damaged and Yesterday traffic cops fined my motorcycle i want to replace my registration no. Plates. My question is can i change my registration no. Plate in Delhi but with same Registered no.

Thanks & Regards

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

My two cents worth. As a thumb rule, any pitting or scoring on the sliders on the Duke 390 or any other bike fork tubes is always, always recommended to be "replaced" No matter how much you sand or buff it, unless it's a speck or something, a significant score would and will definitely leak after sooner or later, as exactly happened in your case. Secondly, it's the same reason bent fork tubes are better off replacing unless it's a mild bend, which doesn't cause surface distortion, which can be mended and reused. You can keep replacing again and again spending valuable money on the fork oil seals, oil and labor. Instead, replace the tube with a new one and new seal and you can be rest assured you'll have peace of mind.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

A healthy charged 12V battery should read at least 12.5V (to around a max of 12.8), under 12 and you have a partially discharged battery.. which shouldn't usually happen if the bike is used regularly and charging system is working properly.

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have you made any electrical modifications on the bike ? any accessories like horns/lights/hazard flasher etc...?
what do you mean by bike is not starting ? does it at least crank up or does it just not do anything ? Do you hear a clicking noise when you thumb the starter? does the bike crank up but not start?

here are some possibilities:
1. the battery is bad, or there is some parasitic drain that is draining the battery.
2. if it cranks but doesn't fire up easily, then you might want to check and adjust the valve clearances. over time the valve clearances usually reduce, causing the valves to not close completely and thus reducing compression.
3. if it doesn't crank up, then either the battery is gone, or the starter relay is faulty. you already replaced the starter motor so its unlikely that.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Thanks for answering. No modifications at all, bike is all stock. Around ~4 months back the original battery seemed to be losing charge and then one fine day the bike just failed to crank. I automatically assumed that the battery must be dead since it's over 2.5 years old. So, i purchased an appropriate Exide battery from Amazon. One of it's terminals was badly dented out of shape but it seemed to work so i kept it. It was all fine for about a week, then the battery went dead just like the old one.

A day or two before the battery dies the bike takes a number of cranks to start. But when fully charged the bike cranks in one go.

1. I asked the two different SVCs about this. As usual they never give a direct answer but i reckon they didn't think the battery was the issue.
2. Both mentioned the valve clearance being out and the bike getting hard to start because of "high compression". One SVC said setting the valve clearance would fix the issue and the other didn't think that that was the main issue. I am thinking this was not be the issue since the bike does crank immediately when the battery is charged.

I went to the nearby battery shop to get the battery charged and he suggested that maybe the battery is faulty. Well, having wasted around Rs 10k already i thought lets give this a try. With the new battery the display console came back to life to my great relief and the bike started in one crank. I went for a ride today morning and faced no starting issues. It's too early to say, but i am thinking maybe it was the battery.. (BTW, ordering a battery from Amazon was a dumb thing to do, it's best to get a new one from your local dealer who in this case gave me a cool Rs 400 off on the price in return for the replaced battery.)

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Good, did you a basic check of the voltages with the new battery in ? You basically need to check the voltage:
1. with the ignition/bike off.
2. at idle
3. at 5000rpm
sometimes a bad rr unit can supply excessive voltage to battery in turn ruining the battery of a period of time.
i would still recommend you get the timing and valve clearance checked and set to spec.. because usually if the bike is cranking but not starting it could be this. basically the engine needs fuel+air, compression, ignition to fire up.. and poor compression can result from valve clearances out of spec i.e. too little to nil clearance.

do keep us posted on how this goes..

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

It's been 5 days and multiple starts, no issues so far. So that means the original battery was in fact gone and the seller on Amazon scammed me with a bad battery. There was nothing wrong with the bike.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

hi check out ari hennings setup its cheaper then ohlin and is apparently as good .
any one has any leads on where can i get front for adjustable cartridges for RC390?
?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

alright ladies and gentlemen , please advise-:

i want an ecu remap with air filter (bmc) andi want to make a free flow on stock exhaust. which meand i just need to make a bend pipe .

1. can i remove anything from stock muffler to reduce weight?
2. is powertronic worth it ? does it actually give you value?
3. i need front fork adjustable cartridges any good suggesions??
4. i want a rearset adjustable footpegs suggestions?
5. please also suggest any good ecu remaps for pure performance and smoother engine besides powertronics, whatever happend to kirrus where did it go?

whats my option if i want to do a track day and i live in mumbai is chennai the only option??

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Nice, glad you din't have to sell the bike off. i'd still advice just get the voltages checked as i mentioned earlier.