KTM 500 EXC-F dual sport Mod thoughts

That 500 looks very nice, making me jealous as we are still in lockdown up here.
 
Finally managed to get out for a short (ish) 100 mile bimble with the big Oirish Lunatic (Smallfoot of this Parish) on his rather lovely Nomad EXC500.

It is beautifully put together and looks the dogs dangly bits in the flesh. It has, however, been christened "the widowmaker" due to its propensity to chuck you in the hedge if you're a bit cack handed with the throttle! :eek::D

Here it is alongside it's smaller half-cousin

As cack handed as I might be, it stayed between the ditches all day. Mind you, one poor little girl on a push-bike meeting us did fall over in fright when Toddy floated past her looking good - I didn't stop as her Dad was bigger than me and didn't look best pleased - it must have come as a shock to see bikes on a BOAT - even the civilised variety - no damage done.

There is no mapping switch on the 2015 model - much less TC - I nearly RTFM'd (I will..) but sure no such thing on that year - no doubt I can get a wossit to plug in if needs be. Being used to CCM 450GP without the power-pack, the 500 has more horses on demand and they're all fresh. No real scares, but found it pulls like a train in 4th even on loose uphills - 3rd probably OK but my cack throttle hand not sensitive enough to stop spinning up the back yet in the loose stuff - I'm sure it'll be more gentle to the touch after a couple more hours aboard.
 
Smallfoot, do Nomad Adv normally do a fitment service and if so, how long did it take?
 
Mind you, one poor little girl on a push-bike meeting us did fall over in fright when Toddy floated past her looking good - I didn't stop as her Dad was bigger than me and didn't look best pleased.

Poor little thing did take a it of a tumble :eek:...............but at least I did pull over to offer the dad my first aid kit! :rob
 
Smallfoot, do Nomad Adv normally do a fitment service and if so, how long did it take?

They did my 501 and they had it for 4 weeks but in that time they had to redesign the tower mounts, make a completely new rack and side plate to suit the composite rear subframe and make a new design baseplate with an integral toolbox. Oh, they also had to get a new tank, wheels, brakes, steering damper, sort the wiring out and basically do a lot of work.

Off the shelf to fit a new tower from scratch I’d guess at 2-3 days.
 
Smallfoot, do Nomad Adv normally do a fitment service and if so, how long did it take?

They had mine for 3 or 4 weeks - like Andy_B's, they had to fabricate the rear support for tail tidy and a few other tweaks to tower to make it fit - then send off to be anodised etc, plus the sticker kit. I'd suspect they'd turn things around over a long weekend for a later model where they have the bits off the shelf. They're a very 'can do' outfit with no bullshit whatsoever - top notch. Give Mike or Ade a call.
 
When I dropped mine off they offered to take me either to the Hook or Schipol to get home then pick me up from there when it was finished and I was coming to collect it so there’s no need for taxis.

Because I’m only 100 miles from Harwich my wife took her car over both times and we caught the overnight ferry out then the afternoon return. It’s worth keeping in mind that you’ll have parts to bring back so you’ll either need to carry them, post them or get someone to go with you.

Going from Scotland it’d be worth checking the price to use a courier both ways rather than slog down the A1/A14 to Harwich, pay for the ferry, pay for flights, pay for a hotel at Harwich on the way back, pay for postage of parts taken off your bike, time off work and the list goes on.

As Smallfoot says, they’re very good and will do basically whatever you want, make parts they don’t have on the website, modify existing parts, fit anything you want and they do know the bikes because both of them ride 450 KTMs.
 
Thanks to you both for the info, think the extra cost and time might not be worth it.

The biggest thing I am struggling with is finding a bike to start with.
 
Thanks for the heads up guys, I’ve contacted the owner of the 450 and asked some questions. Also speaking to Mark71 about his build.
 
Well Ive found my 500, now do I go Rade Garage or Nomad Adv Nav Tower?
 
Well Ive found my 500, now do I go Rade Garage or Nomad Adv Nav Tower?

I’d say that depends on your budget, what you want to achieve and whether you want it all in one go. I don’t know anyone who’s used Rade Garage parts so can’t comment on their quality but I firmly believe it’d have to be very good to better Nomad.
 
Andy, the Rade Garage and Nomad stuff are roughly the same price, but would like to fit a system without making any alterations to the standard bike. Think I have read the Nomad needs a few tweaks, unless I have read wrong.

I have Rade Garage parts on my 690 and it is good quality.

Want to achieve a bike I can travel on, for distance, mostly off road if it is possible.

Want to fit a Sat Nav and maybe will look into the Trailtech Voyager unit.
 
I didn’t fit mine so I can’t say if there were any modifications needed as it went together. If you’ve got Rade parts and are happy with them I’d probably go with them again.
 
Cheers Andy, will send Nomad an email and ask them about fitment. Can I ask what accessories you had fitted to you Nav tower, photo would be good ��
 
All I had was a RAM mount for my satnav amd 4 toggle switches, relocated the standard ‘instrument’ pod and fitted an ignition key on the top then a twin USB and a DIN socket on the right hand side.

I’ll bung photos up later.
 
Top view

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Right hand side

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Well Ive found my 500, now do I go Rade Garage or Nomad Adv Nav Tower?

No experience of Nomad (Andy and Smallfoot are yer experts on them), but I have got some Rade parts on my 690 and they are very high quality and fit perfectly.
Mate has also just bought and fitted their tower system to his 701 and reckons it was a perfect fit with plug n play electrics. He also said the quality was better than the Rally Raid stuff he's had on previous bikes.

Looks like you can't go wrong with either option!
 


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