Well, that didn’t last long

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
8 days ago I bought my daughter a 2018 KTM 85. The bike looked super clean and only had a little over 39 hours on it. Fast foreword to 41.4 hours and the bike is already ROASTED.

My suspicions of trouble started on the first day. I found a wet spot on the cases just below the reeds. It appeared and smelled like fuel, but nothing near there was damp. After a few motos I began to worry that the moisture was coming through the cases since it seemed the only explanation.
The bike ran great, had crisp throttle response with no sputtering or popping so I figured I’d keep an eye on it.244F02A8-DC60-44E6-A9D8-F7587C8BCD1B.jpeg

Day 2 of motos I started finding more small issues. My daughter was complaining that the bike kept “knifing” and tossing her over the bars. After a closer inspection I realized the compression was dialed way in and the rebound was way out. Those are strange settings so I assume some kids were just playing around with the clickers. I also discovered that the fork seals were blown and are probably out of fluid. The only reason I know is because the bottom fork cap was full of oil soaked dirt that didn’t get cleaned up well by the seller.

Unfortunately the “knifing” feeling happened again so my daughter was getting really frustrated and wanted to just go home. As I was loading the bike I realized the front wheel bearing is completely blown out. This thing was so bad I heard it clunk when I lifted the wheel off the ground! No wonder she was wrecking! The front break would grab the rotor and the wheel would bind instantly.

Day 3 of motos. I’ve got parts on the way, but we decided to practice anyway. After her second moto ended I watched her cross the finish line and just come to a instant stop when she landed. The engine seized while it was in the air!

I quickly went home, washed the bike and started disassembly. I found a chipped piston, cylinder full of metal shavings, and melted crank stuffers lodged up inside the cylinder ports. The cranked is seized due to melted stuffers so a full tear down is in order. Too bad tomorrow is her first race of the summer season 803C2C19-242E-4AD5-8654-188D1580E9FD.jpeg1DDD9C5F-5E36-4FBC-BD0E-49EF97711576.jpeg1FCD3786-A7CB-4AF0-9BE7-13C903936010.jpegD1A9F48C-58E5-4DBB-A601-009CF7BD352E.jpegC9B1657A-8E1A-408F-9646-22899C4FF01D.jpeg844B09AC-EB71-4BC6-B401-8F257056034F.jpeg
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
@anderson750
I’m thinking about using the Nihilo aluminum Crank Stuffers. We’re you happy you went with those long term? would you send the crank to Nihilo or have them done locally?
 

jeeper

I live my life 1 dumpster at a time
Location
So Jo, Ut
Holy smokes! That is crazy. Do you think home boy that sold it to you knew it was trouble?
These KTM’s seem to be the 6.0’s of the Moto world. 🤦🏼‍♂️
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
Holy smokes! That is crazy. Do you think home boy that sold it to you knew it was trouble?
These KTM’s seem to be the 6.0’s of the Moto world. 🤦🏼‍♂️
He certainly knew about some of it. The guys is an ex local pro racer who is now a trainer. That right there tells me he knew about the blown fork seal, front wheel bearing, and mystery fuel leakage. He had to have wiped it all down when he cleaned it up to sell.

Remember how clean I told you this bike is? The frame or engine cases aren’t getting any wear marks from boots, the chrome pipe is still shiny like new, the aluminum isn’t oxidized at all, it even has the factory tires mounted on the rims! I just do not understand how all that can be possible and still have the other issues. I’m truly confused with this one.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
@anderson750
I’m thinking about using the Nihilo aluminum Crank Stuffers. We’re you happy you went with those long term? would you send the crank to Nihilo or have them done locally?
If you are going to rebuild the crank I would definitely use the nihilo stuffers. I always had Andrew Cooksey rebuild my 2 stroke cranks but he has retired. I am sure Nihilo could rebuild it or you could get the stuffers and have somebody like LMR or Utah Crankshaft rebuild it.


Holy smokes! That is crazy. Do you think home boy that sold it to you knew it was trouble?
These KTM’s seem to be the 6.0’s of the Moto world. 🤦🏼‍♂️
There usually is not a lot of warning when these mini cranks fail. It is best to rebuild based on hours and use. If it is ridden hard I would rebuild every 40-50 hours. Easier riding could be 60-75 hours. When it comes to minis there is so much that depends on how well the previous owner took care of it. It doesn’t take much dirt getting through a filter to take out the bottom end.
 

anderson750

I'm working on it Rose
Location
Price, Utah
He certainly knew about some of it. The guys is an ex local pro racer who is now a trainer. That right there tells me he knew about the blown fork seal, front wheel bearing, and mystery fuel leakage. He had to have wiped it all down when he cleaned it up to sell.

Remember how clean I told you this bike is? The frame or engine cases aren’t getting any wear marks from boots, the chrome pipe is still shiny like new, the aluminum isn’t oxidized at all, it even has the factory tires mounted on the rims! I just do not understand how all that can be possible and still have the other issues. I’m truly confused with this one.
Which one? Former pro doesn’t mean they know how to maintain a bike.
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
Andrew Cooksey did a crank for me 2 months ago after he had retired. He may be worth a contact to. I could reach out to him if you want. Text me if you want me to. They sure are smooth when he does them
Thanks Russ. I decided to quickly get this one running, get through the season, and accumulate the parts for a race build this winter.
I talked to Lindsay machine today, and they agreed to quickly rebuild the crank so we don’t miss another race.
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
I got the rest of the bike pulled apart for a complete maintenance overhaul.

The engine is in extremely good condition. All of the bearings, seals, orings, and gaskets look brand new. I will be replacing all of them anyway for peace of mind. luckily what I thought we’re metal shavings are actually crumbly pieces of plastic that melted off of the stuffers. I have zero wear on anything inside the case. That begs the question “why did the crank stuffers break off at all?” My opinion is just bad luck. I took the crank over to Lindsay machine to get rebuilt. Unfortunately Nihilo is back ordered on their aluminum stuffers so I had to stay with plastic for now 30E54A47-30D4-48E8-959B-E01F3EE510E7.jpeg849FC13D-A84C-4B7F-ADFB-C0791E90760B.jpeg

The bike comes stock with nice V-Force 3 reeds, but they were showing signs of wear. I ordered a set of new pedals. 7879E61E-0792-475F-8648-9C6BFF7B57EC.jpeg

While I’m at it I also replaced the wheel bearings, front and rear tires, chain, sprockets, and got the suspension completely disassembled ready for a spring, oil and seal swap.

F9D752CB-AD74-493D-86F2-68C58AD4B810.jpegB94D012E-C9B1-4C4D-862B-6F986101905A.jpeg
 
Last edited:

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
Can this be caused from running lean.. or heaven forbid forgetting to mix fuel?
Not sure if this could have happened from that. Ironically I had just made leimomi mix gas with me earlier that day as one of her bike duties. I supervised everything and taught her all about why we mix gas in her bike, but don’t in dads bike.
 
Top