990 Fuelling

[Melch]

I'm toying with getting a 990 Adv. I know on the early 990 they suffered with poor fuelling. As I gather KTM don't seem to like rectifying known issues either.

Question being - were the later (2012/13) ones pretty much sorted? Anything else to be wary about? Ta.

 

[rocky burns]

The later 990 was pretty sorted.
Milage per tank is crap
Fuel economy is crap
You have a chain.. which is crap
Screen as standard is crap
You could buy the touring screen, but that's crap
Standard seat is crap
Apart from that their pretty good

 

[Melch]

The later 990 was pretty sorted.
Milage per tank is crap
Fuel economy is crap
You have a chain.. which is crap
Screen as standard is crap
You could buy the touring screen, but that's crap
Standard seat is crap
Apart from that their pretty good

Thanks Rocky. Chains I'm quite happy about, in fact it is my preferred drive method. Seats and screens I generally expect to change anyway as they are invariably crap or at least don't suit.

 

[oddshapedballs]

I had one of the last 990's:

Milage per tank was crap
Fuel economy was crap
It had a chain.. which was crap
Screen as standard was crap
I bought the touring screen, but that was crap
Standard seat and upgrade was crap
Apart from that they're pretty crap
KTM hate fixing anything or admitting there's a problem...they are an insecure lot, and therefore, crap!

I tried the 1190 and loved it, but in the end I was fearful it would end up........crap!

 

[doyle]

I'm toying with getting a 990 Adv. I know on the early 990 they suffered with poor fuelling. As I gather KTM don't seem to like rectifying known issues either.

Question being - were the later (2012/13) ones pretty much sorted? Anything else to be wary about? Ta.

Brilliant bikes,
Overlooked by all the latest and greatest that are around now.
Fast enough for anyone on the road.
Handle far better than anyone could imagine.
Fuelling? Never a problem,2012-13 bike.
Fuel consumption, 200 miles from a tank,unless you really rag it.
Chain,not a problem,use dry lube collects no grit plus no chain throw.
Tubed tyres-well.
Ome scorpions are ok. conti attack2's far better on road,but do have harder sidewalls,so a bit harder a ride.
Seat-not a problem -500 mile days =easy peasy.
Build quality ,typical KTM =high standard.
Screen-don't know why folk complain,yes its not like a GSA.
Prices=a lot of bike for the money, a genuine do it all. good riding position,quick,light and flickable,and very capable off road.fun,fun,fun.
What's not to like??
H

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

Just fecking do it young Melch!

Since when has practical bollox been at the top of your list FFS - the bike will be top dollar fun, enough of a reason to JFDI

Andres

 

[Melch]

Brilliant bikes,
Overlooked by all the latest and greatest that are around now.
Fast enough for anyone on the road.
Handle far better than anyone could imagine.
Fuelling? Never a problem,2012-13 bike.
Fuel consumption, 200 miles from a tank,unless you really rag it.
Chain,not a problem,use dry lube collects no grit plus no chain throw.
Tubed tyres-well.
Ome scorpions are ok. conti attack2's far better on road,but do have harder sidewalls,so a bit harder a ride.
Seat-not a problem -500 mile days =easy peasy.
Build quality ,typical KTM =high standard.
Screen-don't know why folk complain,yes its not like a GSA.
Prices=a lot of bike for the money, a genuine do it all. good riding position,quick,light and flickable,and very capable off road.fun,fun,fun.
What's not to like??
H

Good info, thanks Doyle. I agree about the price, you can get minters for good money.

Just fecking do it young Melch!

Since when has practical bollox been at the top of your list FFS - the bike will be top dollar fun, enough of a reason to JFDI

Andres

No, agreed Andres, practicalities not no.1 priority but I like to know if I'm about to shell out a load of hard earned on a bit of shitter. I am currently suffering a bit of Twizz-itus in the 'ooh, what should I get next, looking for the elusive perfect bike' malarkey. Still, me and him are off to the bike show in a couple of weeks so no doubt will come back in a right old quandary about what to buy. 2 wide eyed kids in a sweet shop.

I'll have to flog 'Strumpet' first though.

 

[RedRick Esq.]

Button moon came on a round Scotland trip with us on one

He pretty much kept up so speed and handling not an issue
he walked a bit funny at night so the seat may be to blame but it could just have been him
The bike seemed to veer into every petrol station we came across but that is learned behaviour as the range and fuel consumption were actually crap

Other than that i was impressed with the thing although i never stooped low enough to actually ride it

 

[Timolgra]

I prefer the 950.
Fuelling is perfect.

I had a Renazco seat, and a 2 into 1 exhaust which gave space to fit an aux fuel tank which almost doubled it's range. Once only got 130 miles to empty on the standard tanks!
Tried three different screen, all were crap even gave it a beak

Lovely bike though, another which I perhaps should've kept

 

[strod]

I had a 2012 990A, no problems with fuelling, tank range not the best (120 to 150 depending on how eagerly ridden), standard screen OK in summer, used touring screen for winter commute, chain not a problem (better than an unreliable final drive or cost of replacing shaft), used for Euro trips without issue. Still miss that bike despite since changing twice to the more contemporary and powerful offerings from the Orange side...

 

[bowser]

To try and give a measured reply.

The later ones are pretty much sorted, the early ones are easy to sort in that there are a number of "tunes" available for tune ECU.

Fuel range is not CRAP, if you drive the 990 as you would a GS1100 then you can get reasonable milage, I can get 40/45 to the gallon the problem is that due to the sprited nature of the engine I rarely ride it in a manner conducive to fuel efficiency.
If you do crack on and drive like a hooligan, I can drop it to 30 ;-)

screen is only an issue depending on your size, I am 6'5" and it is no problem,

Seat is a different issue, I find the standard one rubbish, but was lucky enough to have a renzaco with mine when I bought it, even then its not made for my weight and it could do with re-foaming.

I dont find the chain an issue and that is in part one of the reasons for the spirited ride.


I am sure that someone with better off road skills will say that the suspension is not up to the job, but the fact is that its more than up to the job, its almost impossible to get it out of shape at any speed on road, tyre choice does help, goes round corners like its on rails even at three figure speeds.

For me the issues are:- that the rear brake needs to be bled once every couple of months, I am lead to believe its due to the closeness of the pipe to the pipes, and I have also known cases of the window in the master cylinder becoming loose.
The ABS on all versions is an idiot system and the most basic, I have removed it, it is a real pain to service. to avoid having to do the tank filter as often I use "socks" in the filler caps to filter the fuel as it goes in, none of the rest is difficult just time consuming, I have fitted an ITG foam air filter, which makes getting to do the tappets a whole hell of a lot quicker and easier.

Should you wish to, you can get an under seat tank, for fuel range, and also safari tanks, I am lucky enough to have both, and on the range and comfort front manged a 780km trip from Calais to southern Germany non stop, I think I have over 500 miles range depending on how I ride. And the arse puts up with the seat without too much issue.

 

[RJT_Berlin]

maybe I do miss the point but when did people start buying bikes for perfect fuel economy? I thought these are pleasure items not practical diesels?? I had a 2007 990 which I loved and yeah, I stopped more often than my mate on his 1200 GS but hey ho, was a blast ;-)

 

[Melch]

maybe I do miss the point but when did people start buying bikes for perfect fuel economy? I thought these are pleasure items not practical diesels?? I had a 2007 990 which I loved and yeah, I stopped more often than my mate on his 1200 GS but hey ho, was a blast ;-)

Yes, you are completely missing the point. I merely asked about fuelling issues (i.e. poor low speed running – something earlier models had a reputation for) and general opinions. People were (helpfully) giving first hand experience details about the bike from their point of view.

I would also imagine that fuel economy importance would depend on the use of the bike. If you are planning on using it to commute 100 miles a day I would imagine it would make sense to take that into consideration. I won't be so I'm not unduly concerned.

 

[Tricky]

On my 08 990 the fuelling was awful and jerkier than a really jerky thing. Tried all the mods including throttle cams and secondary butterfly thingies but it was to no avail so I sold it and bought one of the last carbed 06 950s which was perfect .
I kept that for two happy years and still regret selling it. As others have said the later 990s are better but would definitely give it good run out before you buy one.

 

[crotchrocket]

Had an 08 990 ADV, it was a fantastic bike, i loved it. Didn't have an issue with feeling personally. In fact i thought the feeling was great. Other than that, i found the seat to be very comfortable. Put a rally front screen on and that sorted the buffeting. I got the fog lights, as the headlight was terrible. If i could have had it as a secondary bike, not my main transport to work, id have kept it, but 4500 service intervals and some gremlins made it very expensive to run.