Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Stop doing these restarts, and get their diagnostics tool connected and run a diagnostic including the one for the radiator fan. The Fan on the 390 starts almost immediately even in normal traffic conditions. What you are seeing is definitely not normal.
There have been quite a few RC 390's with faulty radiator/radiator fans, you do not want to end up with a fried engine, do you ?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Ok. Great news here. The High Coolant Temperature is supposed to come on when the bike is REALLY hot and the bike cuts off which is a good thing. Thats what happened to me. I dont blame the bike. But you say they replaced the radiator. So that means the light is not supposed to come on at all? OR because the new batch of radiators have a better cooling capacity?... The throttle response does not happen all the time only sometimes. The SVC guy said it might be a prob with fuel. I tried all types of fuel...normal, speed and now running 97. still the same slight chocking sensation sometimes under hard revs.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Sorry with the vague response on the earlier one.
The high coolant Temp is supposed to come up when the bike is really hot; but it shouldn't happen as the fan is supposed to cool it down. In my case, the fan never kicked in, which was a fault with the first slot of bikes, and hence replaced under warranty. I think there was another ( or maybe more) member who had similar issues.
With ref to the throttle problem - yes fueling can play a huge part. But if it's ONLY during the first few kms, then let the bike warm up ( say 2-3 bars on your temp gauage) and then start riding it.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Is your bike still under warranty? Did you check your coolant level before hitting the road? The bike is supposed to switch on the fan well before the High Coolant Temp warning on the console. But sometimes it can be due to loose earthing wires that show erratic display or at least that's what I can think of from what a few users here have reported. Check if your coolant level is on the recommended level, top up if necessary, and again, I'd suggest you get your motorcycle checked thoroughly for anything uduly, especially loose cables, loose earthings nitty-gritty etc.

The Engine Check/Malfunction isn't independent on just one sensor alone, the ECU commingles all of the inputs it gets from different sensors and then gives the reading/warning to the user (you) I'd be wise to get your motorcycle diagnosed for any fault codes, it might be something on the hideout for a potentially bigger problem, and no one loves to be stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Also Akilan at KTM Coimbatore does a good job, but you'll have to cajole him to do your job, he's a pretty stubborn chap, but his work as a mechanic is very much appreciative.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Yes. The bike is under warranty. Well what I am trying to explain here so we are all on the same page is: The fan kicks in I think around 7 bars; 2 bars short of before the high temp block---If u know what I mean. The temp gauge has two long boxes kind of Inverted L shaped. I am saying two bars less on the first box is when the fan starts.

Ok. Now the prob is when at full blast...there is no prob....the fan is working fine and probably the high airflow from wind is helping. When I stop the Temp shoots up to the last box and the bike cuts off. (Xtreme hard revvs-racing style) Now when the bike cuts off- It does not start till the first temp box clears and then it starts. The PROB is the fan does not immediately come on... it takes around 2-3 kms of riding for the fan to kick in and then all normal...... Hope I explained my self clearly tried to though... Appreciate all your help. BTW. I know Akilan.... but he says he is busy with accident vehicles.... The last time he took my bike for a test ride I thought I would never see my bike again...The way he took off at that speed.......

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

My comments in bold above.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Same with Mahesh, they ride it like they stole it. Guess it's their way of test driving a motorcycle. Completely diss it though.

The fan isn't supposed to switch on at such a high temp. The Duke has if I remember correctly, 13 bars (temperature gauge) from bottom up, there are 10 bars on the first lot, and the last RED zone which display 3 bars. My fan almost usually always switches on at 8-9 bars the moment it senses the motor idling, which is a good sign that the fan and the temperature gauge both are at sync. In your case, I sense it's high up above the threshold range, which isn't the case it should, from what I discern from your post.

Most if not all, bikes won't switch on the fan, the moment you switch on your ignition even after you've hit the RED ZONE after switching off the bike via your ignition key. If you kill the ignition using the kill switch, you can hear the fan still running, even when the engine is turned off. For the fan to kick in you must either idle the bike for a while or get it moving in B2B.

My personal summation would be to get your fan/temperature sensor checked. Most RCs have had this issue and have had their fan replaced.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

+1 to this.
It doesn't matter how hard/long you been riding. If the temp goes high, the fan is supposed to kick it and cool it down. If the coolant level is good ( good catch by B7ACKTHORN) the fan should power on and "try" to cool it down.
If it doesn't , have a check on the fan. My post might be judgmental about the quality of the fan because I faced issues with it.

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Hmmm. The last time Akilan took my bike cause I said the gears were clunky; he revved it so hard in first gear that I heard it hitting the rev limit and chocking... I was all jittery till he came back ten minutes later. A 1000 thoughts crossed my mind by then. I am a mechanic my self and have a full fledged workshop at home, just that I am not used to this kind of engineering on the KTM. I am learning and reading up... basics are the same. I wonder how much is the diagnostic tool kit. Would love to buy one. I will post some pics later home workshop and all my tools I have at home.

Anyways since the Bike is under warranty I will take it there on maybe Friday for a check-up. Just that I hate to leave the bike and have to go back in the evening. The taxi expense from workshop to home and home to workshop it self costs 500-500 bucks. And not to mentions the size of the KTM workshop at Coimbatore is smaller than a road side tea stall and they park the bikes on the main road after the job is done....

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B7ACKTHORN


Hello B7ACKTHORN.
It is great to see you participating in discussions even when you are a moderator. I am also a moderator for a financial company and only moderation is done. We are not allowed to actively participate in discussions. That said I work night shifts, so I am active on XBHP mostly during the night...

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

I was a humble xBhpian when I started my journey, and still am the same old xBhpian. By virtue, we're nothing more than shepherds with a different tagline, bottomline, we're still the good ol chaps, with a shepherding job.

We're here to help, and it's you guys who keep xBhp hot on its heels.

Keep us posted on your bike's progress.

Cheers!
VJ

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

heard about price increase on forum, why the price increase? Are any news on slipper clutch on rc390 ?
anyone knows inside news? waiting period is dropped, does it indicate that there would be updates including slipper C?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

OT, but saw the Pulsar RS200 in flesh. I guess many like me had this bike (RS400) at the back of our minds before booking the KTM. RS200 and RS400 look the same, so by the looks I would say it didn't impress me much. It looks good, but the RC is smoking hot :P .

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Can't you simply hang around at the workshop? the checking will take hardly 15 minutes.
Call in advance and inform them..and preferably go in the morning as soon as their workshop is open.
Unfortunately you cannot buy their diagnostic tool. You can get one of those generic obd 2 scanners (to read out fault codes) but again these ktm's do not use the standard port, so some juggad has to be done to adapt the connector.

Is someone here using any such obd2 scanners? Them cheap ones,some which even have bluetooth..??anyone?

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

Okay, Well I am thinking of changing my bike's name from Bubbles to PANDORA'S BOX.

Latest update is my fan is working but not like before. Sometimes I find the fan speed too low. The other day when the HIGH COOLANT TEMPERATURE warning came on; I opened the cover on the tank which houses the battery and fuses to check and see if I have a blown fuse since the fan was not switching on in-spite of the warning. Well, now after putting back the plastic cover on the tank; there is a constant vibration. I tried several times removing and re-fitting and the same plastic vibrations.... I have been using speed97 for quite some time now since there was chocking which I had mentioned in the earlier posts and guess what, the bike is extra smooth and I am kind of missing the roughness.... I am feeling the power reduced... So switched back to normal fuel. I have around 50lts of Speed97 stocked at home since we rarely get this fuel in Coimbatore... Earlier I was craving for it...now I am dreading to use it

Well, I am always noticing things to irritate me on the bike. Maybe it is my riding style but hey these bikes are meant to be punished. I had never ending issues with my RD350 and was more in the workshop than on the road. Whats the fun if you have a high performance machine which starts becoming problematic when ridden hard.

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I forgot to mention, I am taking the bike to the SVC on Friday for the complete diagnostic check stuff. Lets see whats up...

Re: KTM RC 390 Ownership Experience

The bike is tested and tuned for fuel you get all over the country, thats ron 91.