KTM 990 Adventure

5,480 miles - G2 Thottle Cam

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:22:00 +0000

I finally picked up a G2 Throttle Cam from KTMtwins.com. The 990 has a pretty twitchy throttle, especially at low RPMs. Rolling 'on' and 'off' throttle, just at that transition, the bike can really buck around -- this has been endlessly discussed in the Orange Crush forum at advrider.com, and a lot of people said the G2 helped. I'm using the '400' cam (marked "K400" on the cam itself, but also referred to as the "G400" for whatever reason).

I've found that the 400 cam really helps -- the twitchiness is still there, but reduced. I think it's also really important to tweak the throttle cables when you install it. If I left a little 'dead spot' at the closed position, that seemed to help a lot. When I tightened it up so there wasn't a dead spot, the bucking returned. A little bit of slack when the throttle is closed seems to really help buffer the closing phase of the throttle, and it feels less like the throttle slams completely shut. After tweaking the cables while riding around for a couple hours this morning, I'm really happy with the outcome -- smooth throttle response down low, and it rolls nicely into the tons-of-power throttle phase, which everybody loves. I'm back to wanting to ride this thing all day every day.

2,178 miles - Scotts Tripleclamp and Stabilizer

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:25:00 +0000

Along with the lights, I replaced the top tripleclamp with a Scotts clamp and a SUB mount steering stabilizer. The new bar towers are slightly higher and forward than stock... since I'm short, I need the bars back a bit, so I also added some Rox vibration damped risers. Hopefully this will also help with the numbness I get in my right hand on long rides.

2,178 miles - More light!

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:09:00 +0000

Installed a pair of Trail Tech MR11 HID lights today. These are compact HID lights with a built-in ballast so there's no extra box to hide anywhere.

Each light emits about 500 lumens, similar to what a standard 55 watt halogen headlight emits, but these lights only consume 13 watts each. So, for just 26 watts you get around 1,000 lumens, like having two more headlights.

Here is the stock headlight:

Here they are with the clear silicon covers:

Here they are with the amber silicon covers:

1,650 miles - Caribou Cases

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:00:00 +0000

I bought a Caribou luggage rack and cases. On my last two bikes (KLR 650 and then an F650 Dakar) I had Pelican 1550 cases on a Happy Trails rack. The cases on the KLR was just bolted to the rack, so they were secure but I couldn't remove them very easily. On the F650 I had a cobbled-together homebrew mounting system that worked, but was not very easy to get the cases on and off the bike.

With the 990, I finally broke down and bought a kit. Caribou cases are made here in Boulder, Colorado so it was easy to go look at them, and since they use Pelican 1550 cases I was pretty much hooked. Hopefully the rack turns out to be as sturdy as the Happy Trails rack, though I have my doubts.

I also picked up a set of SW-Motech engine guards, hopefully I won't have to test those out.

1,347 miles - A nice ride today

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 03:53:00 +0000

Rode from Boulder to Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road to Granby, then north-west to Walden, down to Ft. Collins via Poudre Canyon, then back to Boulder. Just over 300 miles -- my first real day-ride on the new KTM. This thing is a rocket ship... it'll accelerate from 65 to 110 without even trying.

View Larger Map

Here's a gallery of pictures I took along the way.

892 miles - more bar risers, 48mm total

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:00:00 +0000

Installed the KTM bar risers tonight. It's extremely important to torque the nylocks that compress the rubber bumpers inside the tripleclamp to 20Nm! That amount of torque keeps down the vibrations in the bars, and was the difference between a numb right hand and no problems.

I'm a little concerned that the combination of the KTM and Touratech risers will weaken the setup. The KTM risers appear to be very strong and seat securely into the tripleclamp and provide a strong base for the bar clamps. The Touratech risers seem less strong, I guess only time will tell. Hopefully I won't be testing the crash worthiness of this setup.

872 miles - electrical mods, new handlebars, new hand guards, a ride to Cameron Pass

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 03:18:00 +0000

Went out for a few hundred miles on Sunday after spending the better part of Saturday doing electrical work.

I installed an ignition-switched relay to run 6 fused circuits kept in a Pelican 1010 case that sits in the little compartment on the top of the faux tank just behind the handlebars. Turned out to be a really clean install, since the ACC-2 accessory power circuit is easy to get to under the dash. I ran power and ground lines directly from the battery and used ACC-2 as the signal line to the relay. The 6-circuit fuse block from Napa and a standard 12v relay fit into the Pelican 1010 case with a little help from a Dremel.

I also replaced the stock handlebars and hand guards with Renthal Fatbars (bend number 608) and Acerbis Rally Pro handguards. This is the same setup I had on my F650 and it worked very well. I need to get some more rise on the handlebars, more even than the current 30mm Touratech risers I've got. I'm going to try and install the KTM 18mm risers in addition to these and see how that goes.

So-far, I've got the GPS, KTM Hard Equipment heated grips and a Gerbings outlet for my heated gear. Should make for some comfortable fall riding!

Next on the list is a remote control for the trip computer (so it can be operated without taking my hands off the bars) and a Signal Dynamics voltage meter installed in the dash.

640 miles - 600 mile service

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:45:00 +0000

Took the bike in for the 600 mile service at Fay Myers on Thursday afternoon, picked it up this morning. It's running great, and it's really nice to be able to go over 6,500 rpm. Heh.

437 miles - Pelican 1450 topcase

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 00:22:00 +0000

Added a Pelican 1450 case to the rear rack. I just bolted it into the rear subframe by replacing the four bolts that hold the little mounting bracket on (I kept the bracket, it's just flush with the bottom of the case now). I've got spare front and rear tubes, tire irons, a CyclePump 12v compressor, chain riveting tool and a couple other sundries. It makes a nice topcase.

Under the dash electrical exploration

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 02:39:00 +0000

Just took a look in the front end of my 990 Adventure. ACC1 and ACC2 are there, nicely labeled. Here is a view from the front with the headlight/windscreen assembly removed (it is sitting upside down on the front wheel).

Directly under the accessory socket on the right side of the bike is this:

Top left corner, there are two disconnected female power connectors for ACC1 and ACC2. ACC2 is switched with the ignition key, ACC1 is on at all times.

It's very flimsy wire, so I think I'll just use ACC2 as a signal line to a relay and run power directly from the battery for heated grips, etc. It's nice to see a manufacturer thinking ahead on this stuff, this is going to make a real clean accessory install.

This was surprisingly easy to get to. Remove the 5 allen head screws on either side of the front fairing, then remove the windscreen/headlight assembly (this is in the manual under changing headlight bulbs). The two short screws go adjacent to the windscreen, the longer ones are for the rest.

380 miles - Trail Ridge Road

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 03:24:00 +0000

Went for a ride today over Trail Ridge Road, I've got some pics up on Smugmug.

0 miles

noreply@blogger.com (nate) — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 00:15:00 +0000

Picked up my new KTM 990 Adventure today from Fay Myers in Denver.