ChristiaanJ
Pack Dog
Hi Guys,
This thread is a continuation of a thread started on the Orange Crush side of the forum.
I have been appointed as the sole distributor in South Africa for Gugglatech. If you want to know more about Guglatech, you can go and read here:
https://guglatech.it/en/revolution
It all started for me when I wanted to buy a KTM 990 Adv. The owner assured me that the bike was spotless with a full service history. As the bike was located a long way down the coast from me, going to inspect the bike was not that realistic.
So as discussions got more serious, and we started moving towards the sale of the beast, I decided the best way for me to collect the bike, was to fly down, and then ride the remaining 1000km+ home. Upon hearing this the owner decided that I needed full disclosure, and told me about the one small problem the bike had - Fuel starvation.
This had me quite worried, as I didn't want to be stranded on my way home, and also because I wasn't sure how much it would cost me to repair. Heaven help me if I bought a bike only for it to spend weeks/months at a dealership with them trying to diagnose the problem.
The owner assured me not to worry. This had happened to him before, and the fix was simple. Drain both tanks, pull the fuel pump, and replace the filters. Cost of said filters R1100+ Cost for the two O-rings needed to seal the pump R600+... Cost to transport a broken down bike back home, Probably R5000+
Needless to say, I wasnt very happy. For starters, I didn't feel like getting into a relationship that will make extra work for me. Time is precious, and should be spent on, not under or next to the bike. Secondly, at R1000+ per filter, I was in for less riding time anyway, as that money buys 3 to 4 tanks of fuel. Thirdly, and most importantly, I didn't like the idea of getting stranded on a trip. Even if I did replace the filters by myself, and carried a spare set, I didn't fancy the idea of sitting in the middle of somewhere having to drain fuel and replace filters. Reliability was crucial. So with a heavy heart, I told the seller that I will have to go have a long hard ponder about my choice of machine.
That I did. And I came to the conclusion that there are loads of these bikes on the road, and surely they aren't all stranded? There must be a fix. Off to Google I went.
What insued was loads of coffee, cigarettes, late nights and newly discovered knowledge. Knowledge that the problem is not isolated to KTM, that it is actually very common, it is caused by dirty fuel that can, to my surprise, even be found in big European cities with strict guidelines and regulations, and most importantly, there are solutions to the problem...
Here is where I would like to remind you that my research was based on the KTM Stable, but this doesn't mean it is not relevant to other brands. The opposite in fact as some brands use filter sets that are permanently coupled to the pump. Meaning that pump and filter needs to be replaced at great cost if this problem occurs
To simplify things, and keep a long thread short, here follows a brief description of the problem:
We fill up fuel on our travels whether they are local or further afield. This fuel contains contaminants including rust sediment etc. These contaminants get trapped by our fuel filters (that is their sole purpose), our fuel filters get clogged, the pump starts straining - leading to issues such as jerking, twitchy throttle (starts to operate as a switch instead of being able to ease power on or off), engines not being able to rev past a certain point in the range, and in some cases, even complete pump failure (consider what would happen to a hair dryer if you had to block either the inlet or outlet). This issue is so prevalent, that some vendors make a living out of selling replacement aftermarket fuel pumps for our motorcycles as an answer to bike riders complaints about the astronomical costs of fuel pump replacement. Just to give you an idea, the KTM fuel pump costs more than R6000 to replace.
Back to me being desperate to find a solution that would allow me to buy this bike. My research lead me to the following options:
1. First potential solution was a copy of the KTM filter at a reduced price. This was an option, but would not solve the problem, as it is just another filter. It would remove some of the sting from purchasing the Filters from KTM though, but in terms of quality, I wasn't sure how good the copy was. I did read about some KTM riders following this route, but I was not conviced. There had to be a better option.
2. Next solution looked a little more promising. I found an Australian company that produce a pre-filter. This pre-filter gets fitted to the fuel inlet in the tank. It looks like a sock, and effectively filters the fuel you put into your bike, thereby trapping the contaminants before they enter the tank, and have a chance to clog up the fuel filters. Good option, but my concern was for a lack of technical information. No mention of what media was used, and how effective it would be in filtering the fuel. This coupled to the fact that they mainly list quads, older offroad bikes and a DRZ as their test cases (these all have simple fuelling systems, that are not that sensitive when compared to the LC8 KTM, and GS range), I decided to keep looking.
3. Third time lucky as they say. I found Guglatech. If you have visited the site, you will understand that one can spend quite some time here, as it is awash with valuable information on fuelling related matters. Everything from videos of testing different filter medias, to the dissection of dirty fuel filters, lab results, case studies for different bikes, these guys even had a free guide detailing how I could wash my existing filters without having to pay anyone a sent...
Needless to say, I was convinced. Guglatech offers the same concept as the Australian crowd, but just much better executed and designed especially for our high fuel pressure, fuel injected bikes. These filters can be specced to different micron ratings depending on the level of protection you require, are completely washable, can be fitted in less time it takes to do a fuel filter swap, and cost less than a set of filters. WIN WIN WIN! I was confident that this solution would finally give me the piece of mind I needed to go ride where I wanted, without the need for worry about fuel quality and without having to carry extra fuel filters or pumps with me.
Guille and I started chatting, and the passion for what he does quickly became apparent (something which I already knew from spending time on his website). An agreement was signed, and here we are today.
In the end, I didn't buy the KTM 990 that started all of this, as the buyer decided he liked the bike too much to sell it, but my glass was half full. My cup was actually running over, as I had acquired all this valuable knowledge, and soon thereafter I became the owner of an awesome KTM 1190 Adventure R!
I did use some of my aquired knowledge not long after collecting my bike, as I must have gotten some dirty fuel on the way home, and had to wash my filters whilst I was waiting for my pre-filter to be delivered.
So to round it all up guys, if you have the same problems, or concerns as I had, reach out. We'll get you sorted with a filter solution made for your specific bike, that will put all those worries and expensive filter replacements to bed!
I have a couple of takers from the discussion in the Orange Crush forum already, and I have arranged a nice discount code for our first order. Send me a PM, and I will mail you some prices.
The order will be placed towards the end of the week or maybe early next week, depending on interest, and your filters will be delivered a week later, to your local Postnet for only R99.00
List of interested buyers to follow shortly.
Christiaan
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
This thread is a continuation of a thread started on the Orange Crush side of the forum.
I have been appointed as the sole distributor in South Africa for Gugglatech. If you want to know more about Guglatech, you can go and read here:
https://guglatech.it/en/revolution
It all started for me when I wanted to buy a KTM 990 Adv. The owner assured me that the bike was spotless with a full service history. As the bike was located a long way down the coast from me, going to inspect the bike was not that realistic.
So as discussions got more serious, and we started moving towards the sale of the beast, I decided the best way for me to collect the bike, was to fly down, and then ride the remaining 1000km+ home. Upon hearing this the owner decided that I needed full disclosure, and told me about the one small problem the bike had - Fuel starvation.
This had me quite worried, as I didn't want to be stranded on my way home, and also because I wasn't sure how much it would cost me to repair. Heaven help me if I bought a bike only for it to spend weeks/months at a dealership with them trying to diagnose the problem.
The owner assured me not to worry. This had happened to him before, and the fix was simple. Drain both tanks, pull the fuel pump, and replace the filters. Cost of said filters R1100+ Cost for the two O-rings needed to seal the pump R600+... Cost to transport a broken down bike back home, Probably R5000+
Needless to say, I wasnt very happy. For starters, I didn't feel like getting into a relationship that will make extra work for me. Time is precious, and should be spent on, not under or next to the bike. Secondly, at R1000+ per filter, I was in for less riding time anyway, as that money buys 3 to 4 tanks of fuel. Thirdly, and most importantly, I didn't like the idea of getting stranded on a trip. Even if I did replace the filters by myself, and carried a spare set, I didn't fancy the idea of sitting in the middle of somewhere having to drain fuel and replace filters. Reliability was crucial. So with a heavy heart, I told the seller that I will have to go have a long hard ponder about my choice of machine.
That I did. And I came to the conclusion that there are loads of these bikes on the road, and surely they aren't all stranded? There must be a fix. Off to Google I went.
What insued was loads of coffee, cigarettes, late nights and newly discovered knowledge. Knowledge that the problem is not isolated to KTM, that it is actually very common, it is caused by dirty fuel that can, to my surprise, even be found in big European cities with strict guidelines and regulations, and most importantly, there are solutions to the problem...
Here is where I would like to remind you that my research was based on the KTM Stable, but this doesn't mean it is not relevant to other brands. The opposite in fact as some brands use filter sets that are permanently coupled to the pump. Meaning that pump and filter needs to be replaced at great cost if this problem occurs
To simplify things, and keep a long thread short, here follows a brief description of the problem:
We fill up fuel on our travels whether they are local or further afield. This fuel contains contaminants including rust sediment etc. These contaminants get trapped by our fuel filters (that is their sole purpose), our fuel filters get clogged, the pump starts straining - leading to issues such as jerking, twitchy throttle (starts to operate as a switch instead of being able to ease power on or off), engines not being able to rev past a certain point in the range, and in some cases, even complete pump failure (consider what would happen to a hair dryer if you had to block either the inlet or outlet). This issue is so prevalent, that some vendors make a living out of selling replacement aftermarket fuel pumps for our motorcycles as an answer to bike riders complaints about the astronomical costs of fuel pump replacement. Just to give you an idea, the KTM fuel pump costs more than R6000 to replace.
Back to me being desperate to find a solution that would allow me to buy this bike. My research lead me to the following options:
1. First potential solution was a copy of the KTM filter at a reduced price. This was an option, but would not solve the problem, as it is just another filter. It would remove some of the sting from purchasing the Filters from KTM though, but in terms of quality, I wasn't sure how good the copy was. I did read about some KTM riders following this route, but I was not conviced. There had to be a better option.
2. Next solution looked a little more promising. I found an Australian company that produce a pre-filter. This pre-filter gets fitted to the fuel inlet in the tank. It looks like a sock, and effectively filters the fuel you put into your bike, thereby trapping the contaminants before they enter the tank, and have a chance to clog up the fuel filters. Good option, but my concern was for a lack of technical information. No mention of what media was used, and how effective it would be in filtering the fuel. This coupled to the fact that they mainly list quads, older offroad bikes and a DRZ as their test cases (these all have simple fuelling systems, that are not that sensitive when compared to the LC8 KTM, and GS range), I decided to keep looking.
3. Third time lucky as they say. I found Guglatech. If you have visited the site, you will understand that one can spend quite some time here, as it is awash with valuable information on fuelling related matters. Everything from videos of testing different filter medias, to the dissection of dirty fuel filters, lab results, case studies for different bikes, these guys even had a free guide detailing how I could wash my existing filters without having to pay anyone a sent...
Needless to say, I was convinced. Guglatech offers the same concept as the Australian crowd, but just much better executed and designed especially for our high fuel pressure, fuel injected bikes. These filters can be specced to different micron ratings depending on the level of protection you require, are completely washable, can be fitted in less time it takes to do a fuel filter swap, and cost less than a set of filters. WIN WIN WIN! I was confident that this solution would finally give me the piece of mind I needed to go ride where I wanted, without the need for worry about fuel quality and without having to carry extra fuel filters or pumps with me.
Guille and I started chatting, and the passion for what he does quickly became apparent (something which I already knew from spending time on his website). An agreement was signed, and here we are today.
In the end, I didn't buy the KTM 990 that started all of this, as the buyer decided he liked the bike too much to sell it, but my glass was half full. My cup was actually running over, as I had acquired all this valuable knowledge, and soon thereafter I became the owner of an awesome KTM 1190 Adventure R!
I did use some of my aquired knowledge not long after collecting my bike, as I must have gotten some dirty fuel on the way home, and had to wash my filters whilst I was waiting for my pre-filter to be delivered.
So to round it all up guys, if you have the same problems, or concerns as I had, reach out. We'll get you sorted with a filter solution made for your specific bike, that will put all those worries and expensive filter replacements to bed!
I have a couple of takers from the discussion in the Orange Crush forum already, and I have arranged a nice discount code for our first order. Send me a PM, and I will mail you some prices.
The order will be placed towards the end of the week or maybe early next week, depending on interest, and your filters will be delivered a week later, to your local Postnet for only R99.00
List of interested buyers to follow shortly.
Christiaan
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
