I am the OP for these images and I've more detailed all posted info from my RC390 engine rebuilt time, mine was the last kit to be available with older forged ones, it was discontinued from 2021.
Those changes were discussed with regional KTM head and run pillar to post to source forged pistons last ones available.

It was a pure cost cutting exercise, new KTM 390's lack what old ones had. You cannot get forged pistons now which is very said, even as a paid spare part!

Manoj has explained perfectly a post above, do have look, it's very helpful for the current gen motorcycles, especially.

Cheers!
VJ

How often do you guys top up engine oil? I have recently found that we have to do that regularly. Also, most SVc are saying losing a little bit of engine oil is normal.

For 2017 and 2018 models
The single channel Bluetooth versions there is a TFT update. It fixes some connectivity issue and clock running fast or slow.

Hi everyone,

I'm owning a 2020 OCT gen 1 ADV390.
Would love to share certain critical stuff I noted with the ADV390/D390, It might get a little technical from here.

Cylinder kit update...

So there is this issue of oil burn/consumption across the 390 platform which I wanted to share here for a long time. This is across 390 platforms DUKE/RC/ADV, right from OCT 2020 least that's when I started noticing complaints across owners in India. No matter how sane you keep the throttle. Yes, the oil burn is very evident. When asked at ASC we got a reply that its normal to lose up to 50ml every 1000kms. Which was a case for a 50k clocked bikes.

So the lame reason given by ASC, that made me think of all possible reasons for some months were:
i) Possible valve stem seal wear (quality/material change)
ii) There was a oil wiper rings part update in the past but it was way back in 2015.
iii) Oil leak from shift shaft oil seal.
iv) Oil leak from output shaft seals.

A lil history:
There was a view that the 390 block piston assy. (OLD CYL assy. PART No. - 36JP0031) is very pricy. At least that's what Indian buyers were ranting about when bike needs a replacement. The cost was approximately under 16000/- INR (i.e - 197USD, 189EUR approx. conversion). For a Liner less NiKaSil Vacuum cast block combined forged piston with a hard anodizing and Grafal coated skirts the pricing is very much relatable. The cylinder block was manufactured in India, but the pistons(OLD PISTON PART No. - JY521214) and rings were done at ELKO Konig, Austria (https://www.elko-koenig.com/porducts/pistons/?lang=en) . So all the import cost and taxes made the piston prices to increase.



OLD part number and MRP



GREY colored hard anodized forged piston.

Now the Actual reason:
KTM updated the cylinder kit I guess from October 2020 or something to (UPDATED CYL assy. PART No. - 36JY0251). approx. price was 8200/- (i.e - 101 USD, 97EUR).
Now this kit comes with a localized made in India pistons Sriram Pistons (https://shrirampistons.com/). (NEW PISTON PART No. JY521223). This is also a forged unit but it lost the hard anodization on the surface, different metallurgy even.


NEW PART NUMBER

SILVER COLORED Non Anodized Pistons.

The new one comes with the corrugated oil scrapper ring spacer and two thin scraper rings VS The old one came with spring wire, spring behind the single piece oil scraper ring.
This change right outta the box was shitty and every bike has this oil consumption issue which KTM says its very normal which is BS in my opinion.

So if someone faces this issue try to find the old piston assy. and swap it out. You'll not have this issue of topping up frequently or wearing the engine by running dry.

NOTE: Some of these images are from other Threads/forums. Some of their information regarding the same was a little misleading. Have compiled all the changes and this post clarifies all.(CREDITS to the respective image owners)
HOPE THIS HELPS

As I said, the stock ones are Rolon indeed, so a brass coated one from Rolon shouldn't be anything less of a quality, plus it adds to brass bling.

Cheers!
VJ

Thanks VJ.

Unfortunately just saw the reply and i have changed to brass coated rolon chain 15/45T few days back.

My observation with the new sprocket ratio is that the talller nature of the 5th and 6th gear have been reduced. Now the bike runs 5 to 6 kms speed lesser than the stock chain at same rpm.

Lesser jerking , better torque spread acorss gears and responsive 6th gear under 100 kmph @ 6k rpm with this spec and i feel itd the best compared to stock

The factory OEM that KTM uses is provided by Rolon. Rolon brass is nothing but a stock chain, except that the plates are of brass coated. RK seems to be company from Japan and if you don't mind the Rs. 1000 deficit, you can perhaps try the RK considering it's an X ring one as per its spec sheet. I would recommend RK purely for the Japanese name tag and the X ring. Good luck.

Cheers!
VJ

Hi all!

My 2018 Duke 390 have clocked 25k kms on stock chain sprocket. On the last ride, it was making considerable noise and i realized that the time has come for sprocket replacement.

Now, with multiple options for chain sprocket, the rolon brass 15/45T , rolon ktm stock chain sprocket , RK XW brass kit , i am unable to conclude what makes a perfect combo of performance and longetivity.

With my riding style and maintainance, the stock sprocket lasted this long. Please guide me on choosing the right set.

i am looking for good performance with decent maintainace.

TIA

Double whammy eh! Usually, the rotor side is always up, most local tire folks use the rotor as a leverage to stand over and then work their way around the tire. The bigger the disc, the higher the chances of it warping, and this warpage would end up causing vibrations through the bars when braking or at certain speeds. Hope you've replaced the rotor. IIRC, the rotor costs approx 1799-ish

Cheers!
VJ

When you are going to replace the tyre, never let them mount the wheel on the machine with the brake disc facing down. Or better, just remove the disc and give. Otherwise, you will end up with a bend disc.

I recently replaced my tyre and the tyre changing guy did exactly this and bent the front disc.

So, i gave the bike to the nearby KTM service center to replace the front disc. It should have ended there but sadly it didn't.
I wanted to replace the front wheel as well since it had a slight bent as well although it was not affecting the ride.
The service center people fixed the new disc to the new wheel and took it to a tyre shop to refit the tyre from the old wheel to the new wheel. Lo and behold, they bent the new disc as well.

The front sintered brake pad costs Rs.2662. A whopping increase of 77% from an year back. The normal brake pad is still available for Rs.400. Does anyone know what is the price for the front disc?

The low pressure warning light doesn't come up any other time i.e. riding/idling engine. Thanks for the suggestion, if the clutch sensor switch doesn't solve this issue, i'll try the ECU fix.

Yes. I'll get replaced and hope it solves the issue. Also, i've got the video of all the issues popping up on my GoPro so that i can show them.

do try to clean and reinstall the clutch switch or a new one and see.. otherwise try the following :

Have you tried riding another bs6 390 ? Pl do ride one (preferably start off from a cold engine).. maybe the test ride bike at the svc or a friends/or maybe ask another customer at the svc if you can ride his bike and he your bike, so you can see if the same 'issue' persists. Sometimes its just the riders riding style that needs to be adapted, especially the engine shutting off when you abruptly close throttle and pull in the clutch (usually a wee bit of throttle blip is required to avoid the shut off). with the engine suddenly shutting off, this probably is causing the low oil pressure warning light to come up.. Do you see the low oil pressure warning light come on even otherwise i.e. during riding/engine idling ??
There have also been some cases of a faulty oil pressure sensor, replacing that might solve the false low oil pressure warning issues.

Another thing is, Ask the svc to connect their diag tool (on a cold engine). check for any error codes.. if no error codes, ask them to clear the dtc (you will see that option on the tool).. after clearing the dtc, put the bike on paddock with side stand retracted.. start the engine, don't touch throttle.. let it idle for 15 min and then shut off the engine (idle it for between 15 min -15 min 30 second.. not more or less). This procedure lets the ecu 'relearn', otherwise after clearing the dtc the idle with be a bit erratic and you will face engine shut down at times for the first few minutes of riding.

Also iirc the 390 now has an option to reset the ecu, remember reading it in the service manual.. will share the procedure once i get hold of the manual, cant remember it off my head. But the above steps should be a good starting point in troubleshooting.