KTM 530 exe

[Deadskin]

The 2008 owner's service manual says that the oil and filter should be changed every 15 service hours.....likewise the gear oil.
Sparkplug 30 hours, valve clearances 15 hours.



PS Bloody hell...it's orange in here isn't it!!

If the bike was for a daily commute it wouldn't be top of my list,
but for lightness power and mind blowing fun i don't mind a bit of
maintenance

 

[North]

I just wanted say that my 530 is blast. It goes anywhere and has endless power. I have had it for 8 months now.

I did have to desmog the bike.

 

[alcanara]

If you were wanting a bike as per Deadskin, what would be the best.... the 690 Enduro or the 530Exe.

I would want to do tarmac in Spain and an awful lot of off road too. Say the odd 50 mile trip to the KTM dealer, numerous trips to the beach just for fun,but mainly exploring the hundreds of miles of dirt road/trail as is most of the spanish roads around me in Murcia.

Any thoughts peeps?

cheers

Stuart

 

[alcanara]

Well That got a good response

Stuart

 

[ChasF]

690 would be best. I've got a 530 and you wouldn't really want to do a 50 mile road trip on it. Mines done 3000km but only about 20 on the road. 12 litre tank and TKC type tyres are a bonus on the 690

 

[alcanara]

Thanks French Tom..... that was exactly the type of response I wanted... cheers, very helpful.

Regards

stuart

 

[Nin]

Well I've got a 10 year old 640 that is every bit as good as my 4 year old 450 EXC off road for my use, but is reasonably comfy and capable on the road too. And the servicing intervals are much more civilised. Not sure why I didn't get one of these ages ago ...

Nin

 

[ChasF]

'Enduro' magazine here in France slated the original 690 for being too much of a trail bike despite the fact they rave about other, smaller leisure bikes such as the WR250R, the Serow (which I think is known as the 'Tricker' here) and the Honda 230 'easy'. However, in this months magazine they're raving about the 690R which looks like an Exc (apart from the trellis frame), is fitted with MT21s and longer suspension (+25mm).

The 530 is really a racing bike and thrives on being driven agressively. It needs regular servicing (oil changes every 12hrs) and a new rear Michelin Comp tyre every 700km or so, just for trail riding. Much as I'd love a twin (KTM Super Enduro) I'm really beginning to think that the 690 might be bike for me.

 

[Big Den]

With modern oils why would they need such frequent oil changes, the first 2-3 from new are critical but after that i did mine after every 4-5 outings / races. Do the Yam offroad day every year (8th year) and they said oil changes were over the top.
I have had 6 WR,s and have never heard of one blowing up even in the early days of supermoto (bought my 1st off a supermoto guy) and in them days KTM's were known as ktbooms due to regular blow ups but not yams. Put me off ktm's for years but they are much better now, as to Honda / suzuki (not drz) and Kwak's they have fearsome rep for blowups, saw a shelf full of wrecked cylinders at Revs in Brum all Suzuki an Kwaks, no Yams.

 

[ChasF]

I agree regarding the oil changes only I don't want to be the one to test the theory that they'll do twice that and discover that it was wrong.

Same magazine as above did a stripdown on a 2008 450 exc after 100 hours of mostly racing. The oil had been changed every 10-12 hours. They found that every component in the engine was within the manufacturers tolerances - even the clutch plates. The only thing on the whole bike that was knackered was one of the steering head races probably from over zealous pressure washing