Hi All,
Having just got home from a trip I found a letter waiting for me from KTM.In short the letter is regarding the 21" front wheels on LC4-E and SXC bikes 2000 trough 2005. As the only real problem that I've had with my machine is spokes that snap I was interested to read that KTM are urgeing owners to return their bikes to the dealer so as " retaining clips" can be fitted to the front spokes. KTM however donot say that there was a manufacturing problem, they only say that " some owners are not diligent when it comes to spoke maintenance ".
Having seen a picture of these retaining clips I was not impressed as they look very much like an afterthought and don't think that any of us would buy a bike new if it had these clamps fitted to the front wheel. I will be writing to KTM to suggest that a replacement wheel would be a better solution, Which brings me round to the reason for this post. Has anyone expireanced similar spoke faults or indeed recieved the same letter from KTM, if so what are your thoughts on the proposed retaining clips and what are you going to do about it ?
Please, I welcome any feed back on this issue.
Cheers Les.
This is a somewhat late edit, but to up date this thread I've had the clamps fitted to my front wheel by my local dealer. (Who by the way was very helpful). The addition doesn't look to bad and has stiffened the wheel up no end with out affecting the handeling of the machine so as a result I'm pleased with the out come and my faith in KTM as a company has been restored. The KTM clamps are sertainly a better solution to the problem than any thing I could have cobbled out of my shed. conclusion Star's out of 10.

May i sugest posting this question on www.advrider.com if you don't get any results here, you'll be bombarded with answers and opinions. Just make sure you search the topic first, there's lots of info to be had.

Apparently the problem is that if the spoke breaks it can cause a flat tire, causing a crash and lawsuits...

I safety wire my spokes anyway, just to stop them flailing around, AND it strengthens the wheel.

Remember of course that if you don't follow their remedy you have no comeback on them.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I am using the clamp type clip on my '02 640 Adventure even though my front wheel was replaced on recall and is a brand new Excell. I added them at my personal expense.
The clips are well made and a good idea at any time for any wheel. I use them on the brake side spokes-front wheel. You will get a lot of ideas about the cause of this problem but it is my opinion that using the bike on the street fully loaded with the powerful front brake is too much for the spokes, especially combined with the dive of the WP front end and the excessive weight of some riders.
Well anyway they are a good saftey measure. So is saftey wiring the spokes as Grant indicated.
Bill.

Bill... how did you get the front wheel replaced?? I've received the recall notice that Les mentioned, but haven;t done anything about it cos the rim's already donald ducked...

Greg

__________________
I wish my wheelies were intentional...

Greg,
I just contacted my local dealer, in my case Corse Superbikes in Saulkville, WI and spoke with the service manager and the parts guy. They got me a replacement wheel based on my serial number. I may have had to send them a copy of my title, I don'r remember. I ordered the clips from KTM World, a dealer in Georgia, as extra insurance. I am headed to Mongolia so....
Bill.

I also experienced this problem on ktm 640 h.e. 2003.This was before any recalls.I REPLACED the spokes in the front wheel with rplacments sourced from the ktm exe or sx 520.These spokes are a slightly thicker diameter but most importantly they are not chromed [which can make spokes brittle]
Interestingly the only spokes that snapped was the ones on the brake disc disc side of the wheel and it was only the outer spoke each time.this happened on 3 ocansions before ktm supplied me with a complete set of sx spokes.
This problem has never happened on my 2004 ktm 640 adventurer.

Hope this helps.