Whethefakawe
Race Dog
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2006
- Messages
- 621
- Reaction score
- 2
- Bike
- KTM 950 Adventure S
Please don't spread this around, but I went several months without riding this past summer. Main reason was grafting too much for my liking, but the paychex were nice, must say.
I didn't have a choice in the matter, by the way.
So when I tried to start the 950 in December, she was "not in the mood". It ran just fine on the choke, but as soon as I touched the throttle, instant silence. :BangHead: I knew immediately what the problem was. The petrol they sell here has so much chemical shite in it to reduce emissions supposedly, that it turns into old paint if it sits for more than two weeks judging by the smell. I'd had the same issue before on my dirt bikes, knew right away that the pilot jets were clogged with old fuel. Now on a 250 or 525 or even a 650 it's a simple matter of taking seat and tank off, loosen carb, twist sideways, remove jets, blow clean with compressed air, and vice versa.
Except on this beast, it's not that simple. The only thing I'd had off it in 6000 k's was the seat.
By the time I had the jets cleaned out (or so I thought) I realised that working on the 950 is, shall we say, a BITCH :BangHead: (As with anything though, practice makes perfect ;D ). I decided to do the long-overdue canisterectomy and every other --ectomy the thing needs while I had it halfway apart.
I won't bore you with trivia, but I had the carbs out and in four times, the fuel tanks off and on three times, the pilot jets in and out three times, and the fuel screw at three different settings by the time it was all done. In between I mounted the blanking plates my welder neighbour fabricated for me better than KTM could dream of, and used only two needles and two mainjets out of a R700 jet kit that better be solid f**king gold.
Days and days doing research on ADVrider, KTM HOW etc paid off though. Canisterectomies are like arseholes. Everybody has their own, and they swear by theirs. I applied the KISS principle and went with the way the bike was set up when Meoni won Dakar with it - air into carb, add fuel and spark, make huge power ;D and out the kerzos. Just like any 250 or 525. SIMPLE.
In a nutshell, I vented the carbs to atmosphere individually, the fuel tanks the same, ripped out ALL plumbing, canisters, vacuum valves and pulled the baffles out of the Akra's. An oke on ADVrider named CPmodem preaches this method, and the man is a genius.
The bike runs like a motherfarker. The only thing I can claim credit for is doing the research and not screwing up the process, but it's flawless. I did a 140 k testride yesterday all on tar, and was impressed. Today took it out for a 210 k, 5 hour ride, half of which was tight. twisty dirt with serious elevation change. I can't find any fault with it. No surging at high RPM in any gear or low RPM in any gear, in crosswinds or any other conditions. Throttle response is razor-sharp, and it revs like a runaway electric motor.
I don't know how much of this k@k comes on bikes in SA, but I suspect at least some of it. If anybody wants to try what I did, I'll gladly give all the details.
NOW.....for all of you who move your lips when you read, it's picture time. :blob10:
As far as I had the bike disassembled:
The blanking plates my neighbour made for me. The left side was easy to install:
The right side was not, loosening the oil tank and radiator and lots of patience and care got it done.
Talk about BLING. Friggin' R700 jet kit out of which I used two needles and two main jets:
Jetting the carbs, this was the second or third time I had them out, forget which:
I thought I did a bang-up job cause I only ended up with these parts left over.
This, however, is what I removed. Almost two kilo's of k@k.
I got the bike back in one piece Saturday night, and headed out just after noon today. I was officially on call with a two hour leash, but prioriities are just that ;D
Nice day for riding, about 22C, clear skies. unfortunately, it was Sunday, which they may as well call Greatunwashedmassesday. Every Hardly Ableson in Arizona for one, plus the Corvette Club, the Hotrod lot, cruisers, quads, bicycles you name it crawl out of the woodwork on nice Sundays. You have to be extreeeeemely careful.
My current abode is close to a nice 200 k loop that's half tar and half dirt. I've done it several times on the 950 as well as in my old Land Cruiser. The first tar section of 25 k's is called the "Beeline Highway", then you turn onto the "Four Peaks road" which is dirt and gets progressively more difficult so the traffic dies out after about 5 k's.
The view of, you guessed it, Four Peaks, which I can see from my yard. I would cross the ridge just to the left of the peaks.
Beer o'clock.
I didn't have a choice in the matter, by the way.
So when I tried to start the 950 in December, she was "not in the mood". It ran just fine on the choke, but as soon as I touched the throttle, instant silence. :BangHead: I knew immediately what the problem was. The petrol they sell here has so much chemical shite in it to reduce emissions supposedly, that it turns into old paint if it sits for more than two weeks judging by the smell. I'd had the same issue before on my dirt bikes, knew right away that the pilot jets were clogged with old fuel. Now on a 250 or 525 or even a 650 it's a simple matter of taking seat and tank off, loosen carb, twist sideways, remove jets, blow clean with compressed air, and vice versa.
Except on this beast, it's not that simple. The only thing I'd had off it in 6000 k's was the seat.
By the time I had the jets cleaned out (or so I thought) I realised that working on the 950 is, shall we say, a BITCH :BangHead: (As with anything though, practice makes perfect ;D ). I decided to do the long-overdue canisterectomy and every other --ectomy the thing needs while I had it halfway apart.
I won't bore you with trivia, but I had the carbs out and in four times, the fuel tanks off and on three times, the pilot jets in and out three times, and the fuel screw at three different settings by the time it was all done. In between I mounted the blanking plates my welder neighbour fabricated for me better than KTM could dream of, and used only two needles and two mainjets out of a R700 jet kit that better be solid f**king gold.
Days and days doing research on ADVrider, KTM HOW etc paid off though. Canisterectomies are like arseholes. Everybody has their own, and they swear by theirs. I applied the KISS principle and went with the way the bike was set up when Meoni won Dakar with it - air into carb, add fuel and spark, make huge power ;D and out the kerzos. Just like any 250 or 525. SIMPLE.
In a nutshell, I vented the carbs to atmosphere individually, the fuel tanks the same, ripped out ALL plumbing, canisters, vacuum valves and pulled the baffles out of the Akra's. An oke on ADVrider named CPmodem preaches this method, and the man is a genius.
The bike runs like a motherfarker. The only thing I can claim credit for is doing the research and not screwing up the process, but it's flawless. I did a 140 k testride yesterday all on tar, and was impressed. Today took it out for a 210 k, 5 hour ride, half of which was tight. twisty dirt with serious elevation change. I can't find any fault with it. No surging at high RPM in any gear or low RPM in any gear, in crosswinds or any other conditions. Throttle response is razor-sharp, and it revs like a runaway electric motor.
I don't know how much of this k@k comes on bikes in SA, but I suspect at least some of it. If anybody wants to try what I did, I'll gladly give all the details.
NOW.....for all of you who move your lips when you read, it's picture time. :blob10:
As far as I had the bike disassembled:
The blanking plates my neighbour made for me. The left side was easy to install:
The right side was not, loosening the oil tank and radiator and lots of patience and care got it done.
Talk about BLING. Friggin' R700 jet kit out of which I used two needles and two main jets:
Jetting the carbs, this was the second or third time I had them out, forget which:
I thought I did a bang-up job cause I only ended up with these parts left over.
This, however, is what I removed. Almost two kilo's of k@k.
I got the bike back in one piece Saturday night, and headed out just after noon today. I was officially on call with a two hour leash, but prioriities are just that ;D
Nice day for riding, about 22C, clear skies. unfortunately, it was Sunday, which they may as well call Greatunwashedmassesday. Every Hardly Ableson in Arizona for one, plus the Corvette Club, the Hotrod lot, cruisers, quads, bicycles you name it crawl out of the woodwork on nice Sundays. You have to be extreeeeemely careful.
My current abode is close to a nice 200 k loop that's half tar and half dirt. I've done it several times on the 950 as well as in my old Land Cruiser. The first tar section of 25 k's is called the "Beeline Highway", then you turn onto the "Four Peaks road" which is dirt and gets progressively more difficult so the traffic dies out after about 5 k's.
The view of, you guessed it, Four Peaks, which I can see from my yard. I would cross the ridge just to the left of the peaks.
Beer o'clock.
