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Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



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  #1  
Old 5 Nov 2007
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Location: Brazzano, Friuli, Italy
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yo

Adventure 2002 about 20,000 km

Fork seals 3000 and 7000 km
Battery contacts 5000 km
Stator holding screw fell in and destroyed stator 13,000 and 20,000 km
Rear wheel bearing 17,000 km

but still runs strong and is a lot of fun to have ....

mattmexico
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  #2  
Old 2 Jan 2008
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ktm problems

2004 KTM 640 Adventure. 17,000 miles.

1. Cam cover gasget (more than once).
2. Summer engine and tank bars broke to pieces after 1500 miles, had it repaired by my ktm dealer. Lasted les than 600 miles and broke again, now given up and taken off the bike. Not happy with this product and dont recomend it to anyone.
3. worn and perished fuel pipes.
4. Perished vacume pipes.
5. Badly cracked sump guard, had to get it strengthend.
6. Their is a cliking noise coming from the top of the engine, not the tapheds but posibly something to do with the decompresion. It only hapend ocasionaly in the bigining but now its all the time, have tried raising the tickover but didnt do much diference, need to fix it this winter.

If anyone can advise me on the cliking noise from the top end I would be very gratefull. I would like to fix it my self to learn about the engine and to save on garage costs.
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  #3  
Old 3 Jan 2008
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There has been quite a few reports on the cam follower bearings failing on the '04-'07 LC4 640
Might be prudent to have a look see, symptoms are the valve lash gets much bigger over a short period of time

Lar
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  #4  
Old 11 Jan 2008
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ktm

Thanks Laromonster.
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  #5  
Old 22 May 2008
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KTM HQ Contact

Hi;
I have a problem about KTM Service in Turkey. Is there any contact e-mail in KTM Headquarters Austria?

Thanks
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  #6  
Old 21 Dec 2008
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I've got 14k miles on my LC4, and have had 2 problems, first had a kill switch short out a certain RPMs when accelerating the bike, causing the bike to act like it was a fueling issue. I just unplugged the switch until I replaced it with a new one, easy fix. And now I've got a hole in the top of my motor.
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  #7  
Old 18 Feb 2009
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Smile Ktm 640

I own a 2007 ktm 640 and road it from Cape Town to Cairo , not one problem
it is the only bike i would use on a trip like this.

cheers
Philip
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  #8  
Old 1 Mar 2009
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Was the list ever made?

Hi everyone

Do you know if CountPacMan who started this thread back on 14th July 2005 actually did finish the compilation of an issues lists covering the KTM 640?
Alternatively did anyone else?

... for those KTM 640 Adventure enthusiasts who dont know I recommend the following link: KTM LC4 (640) Thread Index - ADVrider

Cheers

Gade
New owner of 2002 640 Adventure
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  #9  
Old 1 Sep 2015
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Following islanders hoppers instructions above totally cured the problem. Have done several thousand Klm's since then and. All good.
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  #10  
Old 9 Oct 2015
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Still familiarising myself with the bike, can anyone tell me what the black cylinder is? It was in the workshop getting some stuff done and I'm assuring they forgot to put it back correctly. It's just hanging there not mounted to anything. Scanned through the manual but haven't identified it yet.

UPDATE: identified it - capacitor for ignition coil. And looking at photos online, it shouldn't be anywhere near there

KTM 640 Adv problems list-uploadfromtaptalk1444360035072.jpg
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  #11  
Old 11 Oct 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeS View Post
Still familiarising myself with the bike, can anyone tell me what the black cylinder is? It was in the workshop getting some stuff done and I'm assuring they forgot to put it back correctly. It's just hanging there not mounted to anything. Scanned through the manual but haven't identified it yet.

UPDATE: identified it - capacitor for ignition coil. And looking at photos online, it shouldn't be anywhere near there

Attachment 16083
Yes that is a capaciter.. It is supposed to mount on the outside end of the tank mount rubbers on the right side just behind the radiator above the spark plug..
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  #12  
Old 11 Oct 2015
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I'm curious how that capacitor fits into the elec. ignition system and what role it plays.

Normally wouldn't the CDI unit do that job? I don't recall that unit being on either of my 640's ... but I did not know them very well. ('99 and '01) Both would kick start nicely on a low battery. (Duke ll and Dual Sport)

I'm wondering if that KTM will run with the battery dead like many Japanese dual sport bikes will? Perhaps that is the reason for a capacitor the size of a Beer can ... so it will kick start with a dead battery?

Any ideas? In the old days, capacitors like that would fry (from over heating) and leave you stranded. How's the reliability of that unit? Is the engine dependent on it to run?
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  #13  
Old 13 Oct 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mollydog View Post
I'm curious how that capacitor fits into the elec. ignition system and what role it plays.

Normally wouldn't the CDI unit do that job? I don't recall that unit being on either of my 640's ... but I did not know them very well. ('99 and '01) Both would kick start nicely on a low battery. (Duke ll and Dual Sport)

I'm wondering if that KTM will run with the battery dead like many Japanese dual sport bikes will? Perhaps that is the reason for a capacitor the size of a Beer can ... so it will kick start with a dead battery?

Any ideas? In the old days, capacitors like that would fry (from over heating) and leave you stranded. How's the reliability of that unit? Is the engine dependent on it to run?
Actually it is about the size of a D cell battery...

I believe the Capacitor was added when they 640 moved to the Kokosan ignition... I believe it was a measure put in place so the bike could be started with a dead battery.. I know from experience that they will kickstart with a dead battery but are a bugger... A lot of guys install a shutoff switch on the headlight and say that makes it easier as the light is then not stealing from the spark...

As for reliability I haven't even thought about it, going problem free for over 208,000 km it is a forgotten item on my bike..
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  #14  
Old 13 Oct 2015
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A capacitor is used like a battery. It stores energy until it reaches it's peak.

They're often used to smooth out voltages for lighting on an AC only bike like XR650R for example.

Does the 640 use a CDI ignition ?


I guess like said, it's probably used to give the coil enough voltage to create a strong spark when using a kickstart.

But I dont know KTM's... I'm just guessing.
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  #15  
Old 3 Dec 2015
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It will touch 150kph but it's slow getting there. A lot of throttle is required for not much speed increase hence the high consumption perhaps so something isn't right for sure.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
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Last edited by MikeS; 3 Dec 2015 at 05:55.
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