Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Rebuild Update

Got the bike back, shes up and firing on all her cylinders, roaring like angry lion. Sounds much more raw and more linear now than how she was when I got her from factory.
Will post a detailed update after riding it for couple of days.

I finally found the root cause, spent some time with all the old parts and came to know the root casue
And can confirm it's not due to my poor oil maintenance(I can atleast sleep peacefully knowing this fact). The time timing chain or tensionor also was not the issue nor the piston/block failed.

What failed on the bike was the cam shaft rod. It cracked and failed metallurgically, it was weak probably and the T joint broke. Hence the cam slipped, timing went haphazard and the exhaust valve hit the piston. Could be manufacturing defect, bad metal hardening or metallurgical defect on the Exhaust cam shaft.

You can see the missing piece broken on the right side, no matter how hard the cam chain puts the twisting force on the cam, the joint should not crack this way!



How it should actually look

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I had ordered the gold one from lrl.
Took 5 days to reach Delhi. Although first they said 21 days.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Oh nice, I got the rolon chain and sprocket from LRLmotors only, tried sourcing from other shops but no luck. And regarding delivery it took about a week, I didn't face any delay due to covid and such, hope you sort out your issues soon,

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Yes, that was exactly the issue he showed me. I used to get everything done from the BTM Layout KTM, but they're one of the worst in my experience, always replaced unnecessary parts; I stopped going after two services. Clearly they did not inform me of the change that was required, but that's expected of them

1. This is where my lack of technical knowledge comes through, but at this point I'm just looking at it as an investment for longevity; once this is done I hope I'm done with any issues, saves me the hassle at 40K kms etc. or whenever this would have been required. But due to the oil leak, and going by the sound when it seized, it was definitely more serious I suppose
2. Yes, he gave me the slipper clutch option and I took it, he mentioned the same thing you did, which is good to know. The more inputs I receive from you, the more I see that he was accurate with me with the quotations etc.
3. Same situation, he gave me the option of two batteries, the one you mentioned as well as some other one which had some differences, so I opted for that one (I think warranty etc., I agree it wouldn't really have made a difference, but it wasn't much of a difference in price so I went with it). I'll check regarding the exchange of the old one though, thanks for that.
4. I'll follow up on this, I think he would install the standard set.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Got your DM, will ping you Whatsapp. No mention though

Probably for the fuel tank you've crack near where the fuel pump mounting screw holes are present, many 1st batch RC's had this issue, KTM did replace them in warranty back then, but your dealer might have not done it for you.

And yes, for 2nd part almost all engine parts getting replaced and prices seems to fine, labor also is on the right side, nothing rip-off I see.

But I have few doubts for these list items
1) Crankshaft, old one can also be reset without replacing the entire crankshaft. Just that i'm still unable to wrap my head around of the thing the whole crankshaft needs work at just 22K kms, only a closer look will tell the story.
2) Clutch Assly, they don't have to replace the entire clutch assembly, only changing the friction and pressures should do the job and save you ₹2500. Unless they are forcing to upgrade fully to slipper clutch unit
3) Battery, outside Amaron Pro bike rider battery is available for ₹1600(after exchange of old one)
4) Sprockets, you get sprockets for ₹2500 for normal one, from Rolon OEM. Even with fitting charges ₹3500 is bit high for price mentioned.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Thank you so much! This would be of great help

I have DM'ed you the details, but just for general knowledge too, I'm posting on the thread, it'll serve as a good reference for price parts too. I have given it at Highlander, HSR Layout.

I believe you found the price of everything else acceptable. Fuel tank has some leakage issue (which had actually been plaguing me for the longest time, but KTM was never able to/didn't make the effort to fix it) and the price is for the whole metal body. Since I'm getting everything that had to be fixed done now, I decided to just replace the entire part. However, I always fill full tank, so I'm not sure of why it happened.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

YES! That was me and that was my engine which was kept in front with covered in plastic cover
What a coincidence to bump into you! Nice!

Can you please let me know where you sourced you the Rolon Gold and the cost? I wanted to get mine replaced to as it was at end of life.
Did you order it from lrlmotors or any shop in Bangalore?

I was about to place an order on lrlmotors, but due to Covid, delivery time is unknown and can get delayed, so held back! Any help in sourcing one for me will be much appreciated!


No problem, I don't mind to drop-in if you want me to come by and offer any help. DM you number.

You mentioned and said that bike is at well known outside garage, Is that garage Lakshmi's or is it somewhere else?
If it as Lakshim's then you have absolutely nothing to worry about, they get all the parts sourced are original KTM, just that they get it from direct Pune dealer than local main sub dealers like Khivraj, RV, Popular etc etc.

For KTM you don't have to worry about anything like fake or thirdparty parts, there are no 3rd party or fake products as of I know for the 390's, given the limited sales and target audience and cost (unlike Activa or Splendors or Pulsar where you ton of 3rd party products) , except for Valves which are sourced by OEM vendors itself Varroc, Timing chain by Rolon/MPE.

P.S. What is the last part mentioned in the estimate "Fuel tank ₹4200"? Are they changing the fuel pump or is the metal fuel tank? 22K kms if too less for fuel pump to go bad, unless you have always ran with less than 2-3L of petrol in the bike.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hi,

Sorry for the delayed response, I had a bunch of exams that I had to get out of the way but I'm finally done

First of all, thanks to everyone who commented on this, I really appreciate the detailed responses, it is very kind of you, especially [MENTION=59090]kiran2508[/MENTION]

I have attached an image of the final quotation I was given. It is a full engine rebuild for me (he showed me some crank bearing play, but once again, I know absolutely nothing about any of this). However, a lot of the points on crank bearing play/scoring etc seemed to be the case so I believe he was being accurate about it.

I left the bike there till they worked on procuring the parts, I didnt follow up at all due to exams/workload etc. but I dropped by yesterday.

They expect all the parts to arrive by the weekend (today) or early next week, but was hoping to get an idea of how this works. When I enquired, he told me they procure their parts from the distributors directly. It didn't strike me then, but I was just wondering if there is anything to worry about in terms of third-party / non-KTM parts etc. I did tell him I plan on using the bike for another 1-1.5 years, so I wouldn't want him taking that into account and putting in inferior parts etc. (Again, I don't know about this so I'm not sure if this is even a thing).

Apart from that, is there anything I would need to be mindful of?

I stay in Bangalore. I know this is probably unlikely, but in case there is anyone who could possibly come with me once to oversee this is just for a little bit when they start the work sometime next week, I don't mind paying for any of it or buying you lunch/coffee/transport or anything you may deem appropriate. It's just that I'm entirely in over my head here but I could really use some help especially when I'm footing a 50-60k bill, which is really expensive for me considering I recently started working etc.

Thanks!

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Yes, I was at Auto service Banashankari. I remember you. Your engine was covered and placed in the front right?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

If you dont mind, may I ask, which SVC you were at?
If I think who you are, I might have seen you in the same service center on that day you were there? We were both on the same place on the same day.

Do you remember did any guy who walked up and came near your bike, bent down and took a look at your rear sprockets and went back? If yes, than that was me!

Because I remember there was exact similar bike getting the exact same jobs done, guy was wearing glasses with a hairband!
If its not you then sorry I'm mistaken to someone else.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hello,
Just finished my 4th year service at 16.5k Kms. 2016 RC 390.
1) Changed the usual engine oil (7100 motul) and oil filter.
2) The coolant was changed, this time trying motul motocool.
3) fuel filter.
4) Air filter looked okay, but they said its better to change.
5) Brake pads were changed, it was nearly about 5% of its original size.
6) Spark plugs were changed.
7) New battery was put.
8) Chain and sprocket were changed, have put rolon brass chain sprocket.
9) All checks were done to see wear and tear.
Have spent the whole day at SVC and was in front of the bike upon requesting, 2 SVC refused to let me be near bike while service, idk why.
Total bill came up to 13K. I sourced most of the things I could. Labor charges came upto 2.2k, he did a good job, he explained things pretty well too. was a bit pricey but he had to devote literally a day for this. Hope i don't need to go to SVC for another year.
Thank you.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hi VJ,

Talking about another chapter , I found this beautiful 3 parts video series on the manufacturing process involved in forged pistons, I should be honest now I feel the price ₹8K is pretty cheap for the 390 piston, now that after seeing the complete manufacturing process, steps and R&D involved.

Also, saw your post on the ktmduke390forum where you are following thread on the Over-sized piston for the 390, I still wonder why we don't have a over-sized Cylinder/Piston kit option for the 390 even on the international market! I would've happily gone ahead and put one in my bike while I was it now (I mean keeping the fact that it makes the illegal with the RTO and Insurance factors in India aside).

The bike is almost out now 7 years in the market and no big reputed 3rd party OEM vendors have come up with one as an option! I mean even the R15 v3 has one for sake already in the Indonesian market(probably as it's being used in Cup racing series)!

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I've already mention in my earlier post, the Cylinder Block and Piston was completely fine, would had run another 20K kms easily(I used to change oil at exact 3K kms). No vertical scoring, still plenty of cross-hatch lines.

But the timing chain was end of life(tensionor had released to it's max limit), I could feel the judder and knocking sound during cold starts due to loose timing chain, remember all these was never changed or touched from the beginning (valve shims, timing chain, timing chain guides, tensioners, clutch plates all are the factory fresh and never been removed or changed or touched or adjusted),

I'm pretty proud of this fact atleast the stock factory kit has taken so much abuse untouched for 27K kms and held on till now for the way it was put to use, piston and block would have easily lasted another 20K kms if it weren't damaged and bent!

So it eventually failed at high rpm around 8k rpm, one of the exhaust valves hit the piston and then it went boom! So that's the reason for the rebuild.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

That's quite early for a rebuild, as far as I've come across most ktm 390s needing a rebuild at 40-50 k km

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Bike has done 27K kms change on the ODO.