It helps to have the knowledge to keep any bike going on the road, whether Japanese or Euro bike... Like I mentioned in the other thread the KTMs on my back country expeditions have been among the most reliable amongst the group suffering the least amounts of breakdowns.. Mention any model and make of bike and it will have known issues that have repeated failures... The sad part is after yrs and yrs some manufactures turn a blind eye to known issues... The doohicky on the KLR, weak rear sprocket/hub/bearing on the DR 650 along with a weak exploding gearbox in a small percentage... KTM at least tries to cure reliability problems in there lineup from yr to yr by making changes... The early 640s had a weak main shaft bearing, in 03 they swapped in a roller bearing that was the cure, the later models also added a second oil jet to spray under the piston for better cooling...
The later model 990s do seem to be more sorted as the year to year updates have often been more than just cosmetic on that bike too...
Last edited by Island Hopper; 5 Nov 2015 at 14:50.
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