[Syer Shulver]

No idea if these are that much more expensive than SS?
Have a look at Rick FB page Race Specs (GB).

I’m guessing Ti is at least 3-4 times the price. Lighter by huge margins too of course. No doubt its the very best option. But I’m guessing you could easily spend £500 (?) on swapping literally everything over….

The only thing for me is I have availability to every size, shape, thread rate Stainless fixing you can imagine from work - so it’s soo easy and cheap to swap every standard item.

 

[Syer Shulver]

Something more light hearted 😎

THIS absolute sucker of a sticker was crazing me badly. And was on there so tenaciously; it deserves a post of its very own 🤣

I’m not sure if it was so hard to get off - after clearly going through quite a few heat cycles. Or the fact KTM stick it on with glue containing equal parts of Frustration and Annoyance 😳

Either way it’s quite some time I’ll never get back. Looks better mind 😉

 

[Mirius]

What grade of stainless are you using?

 

[Syer Shulver]

What grade of stainless are you using?

A4 grade wherever I can. A2 if not. Tensile strength is much the same. It’s only the extra corrosion resistance where A4 really shines…..pardon the pun.

To be fair I guess most of the bolts being changed are effectively somewhat ‘superficial’. I won’t be changing Swingarm bolts, axles, headstock etc etc. One because of specialist sizing, shapes, shoulders etc. And two: because these are high load points.

So yes the tensile strength in Stainless is less than a 12.9 cap-head bolt - for example (More like 8.8 grade plated bolts I gather). But in the real World will still take something like 80-100kg of force per square mm if you cut a cross section through any particular bolt.

Never caused me issues before. And I don’t foresee it this time either 😎

Cheers.

 

[Syer Shulver]

This morning i tackled the 'dirty job' of fitting the new D.I.D VX3 Gold X-Ring chain. You'll notice i didn't say....."and sprockets".* Yes, yes - i'm well aware you should fit the two together. Perhaps. But the chain and sprockets look like they are nearly new, are not worn or hooked etc. 99% of people would argue i don't NEED another chain. And i'd agree.....i'm merely doing it because i fancy the 'Bling' of a Gold Chain

Heel guard and sprocket guard removed. So a good clean up can take place upfront:

And the same at the other end - getting rid of a few thousand miles worth of grease and crud !

CHA CHING ! And after i dragged my mega enthusiastic Teenage Son out of bed: "We" correctly tensioned the new chain together :

**A boat-load more bolts / fixings swapped over to Stainless Steel last night too. So far i've found 2 bolts completely missing [One was one of two holding the clocks to the metal mounting frame, one was from a passenger foot-peg heel-guard] and the front chain-guard fixing was pretty much ready to drop out. Who said doing this / regular checks of your bike isn't worthwhile......

Starting to get close to how i at least first imagined it being now. I'll get some suitably arty, overall pics soon as.............

 

[Syer Shulver]

Finished my day in the garage by fitting a radiator guard i ordered a while ago. Which turned out to be 'Not great' in many ways......

Firstly it was advertised as Stainless Steel. Its not its Aluminium. I ordered a KTM Orange coloured version - what came was truly horrid......more like a Blood Orange / near Red. [So i had it Powder-coated Silver for a bit of contrast]:

And likely worse still: The way its designed to fit; means the already short top studs are barely long enough to now get a nut onto - once the tabs on the Rad Guard AND plastic covers are on that short stud:

Luckily for me i have full access to Lathes etc at work; and shall be machining up a pair of 'Top Hat' shaped threaded nuts / washers on Monday. Not everyone is so lucky........

 

[Syer Shulver]

So last weekend I noticed some play at the front end 🤨 My immediate thought being ‘OMG’ of course. And seeing headstock bearings needing replacement etc etc…..

However after holding various parts still - while moving others; I quickly narrowed this down to the handlebars moving in the risers. Which a Google search quickly told me are rubber mounted on the 390. And have been found to have been loose on some bikes. Inc brand new ones…..

So this Morning I removed the bar clamp in order to access the 2 bolts underneath the bars - and holding the risers onto the top Triple clamp. And low and behind - after getting a 17mm spanner underneath:

….and a Allen key into the cap-head bolt underneath the bars: The left hand riser fixing was slightly loose. And the right hand bolt fixing was looser still 😳

Not easy getting the correct and uniform torque on a rubber mounted fixing. But there’s no doubt at least one of these was way looser than you’d like. And one was borderline - at best. So both were nipped up appropriately.

For reference the bolt / nut is rubber mounted as stated. And the nut used is a nyloc nut. So I do not believe these have worked loose as they are effectively ‘damped’. Imo it’s more likely they’ve been this way since assembled at the factory from new.

Anyway: Simple fix. And 4 x new Stainless fixings later in the clamp - and the World is a better place again 😎

 

[Syer Shulver]

Not the cheapest ‘accessory’ ever @ £136 (Approx $185) delivered. But looks great and feels superb in the hand. Great quality / fit indeed:

Can confirm that on this 2018 model bike - all 7 bolts were used and actually screwed in (ie: NONE were for decoration only - as discussed on the current ‘fuel cap thread’ ).

And fitted. Really pleased. Looks the dogs danglies in person 😍

Cheers.

 

[ImMatt]

That looks pretty great compared to stock. My OCD hates the silver bolts, would rather all black personally.

 

[Syer Shulver]

That looks pretty great compared to stock. My OCD hates the silver bolts, would rather all black personally.

Thanks ! Subtle - but infinitely more pleasing to the eye I think…..

Ha ! I love the stainless steel fixings all around. And have gladly been swapping out all those dull and tardy standard black fixings. As much as anything - it’s knowing they’ll never tarnish / rust going forward. And I can get caught in the wet; wash as i want etc without fear of my bike turning even ‘more Orange’ 🤣

Cheers.

 

[KTMasean]

I like my TI bolts on the 200 as well. At first I thought they were too Micky Mouse but I got used to them now 😉

 

[Syer Shulver]

As per an earlier post - after fitting the new Radiator cover - even the small extra thickness of the cover; means the studs that are used to hold the the plastic front slatted cover (And now also the cover itself) at the top; are barely long enough to attach a normal nut to and get more than 2 or 3 threads on. Not ideal……

So after work today: I machined up a couple of knurled Stainless Steel thumb screws to pick up on the stud through the slot in the slatted cover - and with a shoulder on to stop the cover rattling:

Another job jobbed 😎

 

[Syer Shulver]

Sunday: and I get up bright eyed and bushy tailed with the ‘simple’ 🤦‍♂️ task in my head - of fitting a BoosterPlug to my girl….

And the one solitary, single, small screw holding the O2 sensor cover / sensor to the airbox won’t budge. I try various drivers and methods but all I manage to do is round the head off on the Phillips head 😳

So tonight - after arming myself with a 90 degree drill Chuck and a new set of drill bits and easy-out’s:

…..I eventually manage to remove the little sucker. A little sucker of a Phillips screw that’s got oodles of Red (Permanent) thread-lock on it !!! 🤨 WTF ? Why 🤷‍♂️

Between the fact of where it is: having so little space to work in, trying to extract it on my own with a 90 degree drill Chuck, the head of the screw being made of cheese - blah blah. I reckon I was ‘lucky’:

Anyway……BoosterPlug now fitted 🤣

 

[Syer Shulver]

Yes: their cheap. And yes they are Chinese (From AliExpress)….but to be fair these front axle sliders look and will fit awesome I reckon 👌

And any of these bolt on protection devices are pretty much only as good / strong as the bolts / fixing points……

BUT: in order to fit the near side (U.K.) you have to remove an end cap on the Axle:

There’s still the two pinch bolts on the opposite side of the axle:

And once the near side - that required the cap to be removed - has the slider bolted in: its effectively doing the same thing as the cap.

Would anyone else be concerned in any way, or does my thinking make some sense 🤷‍♂️

 

[ImMatt]

You'll be doing a test on how well the sliders are later on?

When it comes to protection, shouldn't buy something that isn't tried and true, not just a few codes in a CNC machine, and produced in bulk in a line. I tried a cheap Chinese tidy tail, and not a single hole lined up, not even the LED brake light that was "designed" for it.

But hopefully for your sake, you don't need to find out about how they hold up after a drop lol

 

[Mirius]

All of the sliders replace the end cap.

 

[KTMasean]

No problem @ all, been riding (and sliding) with them.

Yes: their cheap. And yes they are Chinese (From AliExpress)….but to be fair these front axle sliders look and will fit awesome I reckon 👌

And any of these bolt on protection devices are pretty much only as good / strong as the bolts / fixing points……

BUT: in order to fit the near side (U.K.) you have to remove an end cap on the Axle:

View attachment 54322

There’s still the two pinch bolts on the opposite side of the axle:

View attachment 54323

And once the near side - that required the cap to be removed - has the slider bolted in: its effectively doing the same thing as the cap.

Would anyone else be concerned in any way, or does my thinking make some sense 🤷‍♂️

 

[Syer Shulver]

No problem @ all, been riding (and sliding) with them.

Good to Hear !

What protection did your bike have crash-bung wise in your recent spill - and how did they hold up. Did you bike slide or flip (That's where real damage occurs of course) ?

More importantly - How's your shoulder BTW ????

 

[KTMasean]

Sholder is almost 100% again, thanks 4 asking.
Only front wheel bungs, no other crash protection.
End stop on lower tripple clamp bent, left mirror glass broken, handlebars left end scratshed, clutch lever bent, left rear pilion seat holding handle bent inwarts, left footrest (adventure) broke off the alu flap and the plastic tank cover cracked/scretched. No other issues and the bike rides as clockwork. 😉 The bike must have made a half flip before coming down on the tarmac and then slid a bit.

Good to Hear !

What protection did your bike have crash-bung wise in your recent spill - and how did they hold up. Did you bike slide or flip (That's where real damage occurs of course) ?

More importantly - How's your shoulder BTW ????

 

[Mirius]

Slides can also cause a lot of damage. When I bought my bike it had no protection. Slide damage scratched fork stanchion, engine case, bent handlebars and handlebar clamp, bent clutch lever, broken mirror, destroyed tank fairings, dented tank, ripped seat, bent gear lever and rear pod fairing.

When I high sided it with protection it scraped the engine bars and the sliders.