Glockman's KTM 690

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Couple things, the fuel injection can be very picky on these. I'd recommend replacing the inline fuel filter and having a couple on hand. I know a lot of guys also put an external fuel filter on as well.

Also, I have a set of OEM brake levers from my 501 Husky. If they'll work for you and you want them, they're yours.

Should be a fun bike.

I have read about the fuel injection problem, a lot. Mine seems to be mapped correctly and had zero issues after I fixed the coil. Hopefully it stays problem free. I will absolutely take those levers if you don't want them.
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
With the beautiful weather today I snuck away for a ride. I wanted to test both higher speed pavement and get into some dirt so I headed out of PG towards Eagle Mountain. The bike did great on pioneer crossing at 60-65 mpg. Wind is totally tolerable and the bike felt pretty planted for knobies on concrete highway. Once I got onto redwood road and asphalt it was more stable with less wander. I cut off redwood onto the first dirt road up lake mountain. This thing is a blast on dirt two tracks. I wandered around and eventually found a couple single track trails. The suspension was super stiff, the exact opposite of my other dual sports. I'll have to check the clickers and see what improvements I can make. This bike is so light and nimble you forget your on a dual sport capable of taking you across the country. I'm really impressed and loving this thing. IMG_20180107_151635_163.jpg
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Went for a decent ride this afternoon. Through Eagle mountain to the power line road down to little moab and back on redwood road. I dialed the clickers back to stock settings and it was way better in the dirt but still really stabil on the pavement. I'm loving this bike. 20180115_161236.jpg
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
This bike has made me do a 180 in my thinking. My DR 650 was too big for single track but to underpowered for highway speeds. That had me thinking about a big Adv bike. With agility gone you might as well load it up. Now that I see this bike is agile and will do 70mph with ease I'm thinking super light weight camping. I sold my wolfman expedition panniers with the DR so I needed some new bags. I found a good deal on some wolfman E12 bags and I really like wolfman quality, so I'll picked them up. I plan to run these bags with a dry bag on top that will hold my tent and sleeping bag. It will be like a modular giant loop. On day rides I can leave the duffle off and just run the E12'S. Here it is with camping gear in the panniers and the tent sitting on top for sizing which duffle I need. Did I mention I'm loving this bike?
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glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
I've been on the couch the last 10 days due to a spill I took during the last desert race. So this week the weather was so nice I couldn't stand being couped up. I pull the 690 out and took a quick spin to test my injuries. The broken bits weren't screaming so I headed up tibble fork, found they just opened the gate. I made it just below pole line pass before snow turned me back.
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I went back not done yet and rode up to. The pine hollow lot and sat in the Adv chair just enjoying the view and the weather.
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That was such a great ride the next day I decided to see if hobble Creek was open. So I headed to Springville and up the canyon. The gates were open all the way over so I came out diamond fork onto highway 6. This bike is more fun every time I ride it. It is just like a 450 on dirt two tracks and it carves 2 lane canyon pavement like a sport bike. It does have some head shake at 65 so I ordered a tkc 80 to replace the tractionator front knobby and match the rear tkc I already put on Hopefully that helps the head shake. Now I really have a want for some super moto wheels. My wife's sister lives in LA about 5 miles from Topanga canyon and I'm itching to get this bike down there and carve some CA canyons then cruise it up the PCH.
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Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
So 2 things I did to help headshake on mine:
#1 is set the sag which was hard to do because it seems to have lots of preload for carrying some weight on the back end.

#2 Set the forks flush with the top triple clamp to add trail.

I'm going to get the front tire balanced.
And I ordered a Scott's steering stabilizer and mount.
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
So 2 things I did to help headshake on mine:
#1 is set the sag which was hard to do because it seems to have lots of preload for carrying some weight on the back end.

#2 Set the forks flush with the top triple clamp to add trail.

I'm going to get the front tire balanced.
And I ordered a Scott's steering stabilizer and mount.

I have the forks flush but have not set sag. I will have to do that.
I have also been looking at stabilizers. I'm contemplating trying one of the Chinese Scott's knock off's on Ebay.

The TKC 80 tire I ordered arrived yesterday and I put it on last night. On my commute to work I have about 1.5 miles of concrete highway. The front end always got a little wander on that stuff with the Motoz knobby. This morning it was much more planted with the TKC. More miles will tell.
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
A little update. I now have over 1200 miles on this bike. Have I mentioned that I love it. Stratton, I owe you.

Since I put the TKC 80 on the front the headshake is gone, totally gone. This thing is planted up to 75 which is the fastest I have taken it for any duration. I have been running the tires at 18psi for mixed riding and plan to run 13-15 if I'm headed into long stretches of dirt.

During the initial baseline I noticed a bit of dust, quite a bit in the air box. This is a common issue with 690's with many guesses on the cause. Some say it is th paper filter, others claim the way the lid clamps the filter in place. I pulled the air filter out after about 600 miles and there was dust in the air box again so I decided to take care of it. This filter was the cheapest and easiest solution I could find.
https://www.twinair.com/news/news-item.php?itemdate=170217

It arrived last week so I threw it in. I also sealed the top portion of the box that has a tendency to leak with some RTV. The brass inserts seen here also suck and come out of the plastic air box easily. This is easily fixed with a dab of superglue and re-inserting them.
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Here is the filter installed.
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I have the Evo 1 air box lid that has a spine going perpendicular to the long slits in the cage of the twin air. I cut them with a dremmel and it fit great. This is a multi layer foam filter and it should do a great job. I'll post results later after a few hundred dusty miles.

Since I had the air box out I decided to check the valves. I had to tighten the exhaust valves when I did the initial baseline. That is unusual as valve clearance almost always gets tighter as things wear. The early 690's had some instances of rocker arms breaking so I wanted to make sure mine weren't getting worse. I took the valve cover off and turned the engine to TDC. At that point I noticed the timing chain seamed loose. Upon inspection I found the factory hydraulic cam chain tensioner was fully retracted. I had not released it properly on the first inspection! I rode this bike over 1k miles with no cam chain tensioner and it never jumped a tooth, it does explain the cam chain noise that I assumed was normal due to internet reports of these engines having a lot of timing chain noise. After releasing the tensioner correctly I checked valve clearance and they are all at the top end of spec (0.12mm) same as they were 1k miles ago so I am happy with that for now. I'll check them again in 2k miles at the next oil change.

With everything buttoned up I took her out for a spin up AF canyon which recently opened. I couldn't pass up a chance to test my shoulder that I injured a few weeks ago and test the bike on some singletrack. I peeled off FR85 and took trail 41 up from the bridge at the east end of Tibble fork. The bike did awesome with a little clutch work, even with my bum wing and super aired up tires.
20180530_171235.jpgIf you want a true do it all dual sport, you need a 690/701. I love this bike!
 
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