[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by navpreet318

Interesting as I have just been informed by my friend that his KTM 200 has also had a major failure.He was on a Bhutan tour with his clients and the KTM gave away on the way back. Zero Compression. What they say is that there was a problem with the valves.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Navpreet this sounds very similar (sudden compression loss, valve train) to what's happened to another KTM guy from Bangalore who was on his way to Cochin. Although he did manage to limp back to Bangalore (around 200 kms return).

So apart from Nitin who started this thread, there are two more KTM's confirmed to have engine issues. I wonder how many more are out there with such serious reliability issues. In a way, its good to know that Bajaj is supporting the owners on the problems faced but nevertheless, shocking enough to note that an international brand has so many issues.

I wonder if the 125's which are exported are having similar issues. Could it be that the QC on the domestic market bikes are below required levels?

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

.........

I wonder if the 125's which are exported are having similar issues. Could it be that the QC on the domestic market bikes are below required levels?

Infact the 125's being exported also are having a lot of issues. I friend who has bought a 200 is on internation 125 forums and had reported a lot of issues with the engine of the 125. A lot of bikes are having this problem with the engine. He was apprehensive but bought the bike because I advised him that its a good bike. Now with sudden cropping up problems which one least expects from modern bikes, I feel that I will be in trouble if his engine has a problem.

Bajaj still hasn't zeroed in on the problem but are blaming low octane grade petrol for the same. What works me up is that when companies like BMW, Audi and Mercedes can make cars suitable to standard indian fuel why can't they test the bike and launch it. They are launching a bike in India and high octane fuel is not available everywhere. What does a person do with that small excuse of a fuel tank they have given.

[NikhilB]

^^

Not that I'm batting for Bajaj here.
But If I were to play the devil's advocate, could it be possible that they have tested it for "Indian fuel" but that the bike reacts severely to the adulterated variant?

Again, I'm not trying to speculate that adulterated fuel would cause loss of compression. I'm not even knowledgeable enough to know if it does or diesn't.

[navpreet318]

Well there is no reason not to bat for Bajaj. They are taking care of their customers well. We have to acknowledge that. Though fuel is a lame excuse but other bikes have been travelling length and breadth of our country and we rarely see any problems. The RE's on this trip to Bhutan and Nepal have had no issues at all. And they filled at the same pumps.
Yes agreed that indian fuel quality is suspect. And maybe the low compression of the RE can compensate with the bad quality fuel.

Never the less, this is an issue that needs to be sorted out by the company else the bikes will be useless for touring.

I will tell you a point about the KTM though. My friend has been riding RE's throughout his life and on tours. He might as well have over a million kilometers under his belt by now. And he sweared by the KTM till the problems appeared. He was very happy with the light and flickable frame of the bike. Atleast until the problem started.

[ebonho]

Personally, I am going to keep pushing my Duke regardless till and if something breaks.

She wasn't babied during runin so there is absolutely no reason to back off now.

Ladakh season is around the corner and we should soon see and find out how this baby performs there.

[navpreet318]

Oh yes absolutely! Don't stop pushing her at all. Let whatever happen, happen in the warranty period. And hopefully with god's blessings your leh trip will be successful.

By the way do plan some modifications to the bike for the trip. This friend who does tours, had raised the front end by a couple of inches. He made an adapter for the front fork to sit in and it then sat higher than stock. Absolutely no changes to the fork or its internals. And made a custom bash plate out of aluminum. A few other comforting mods too like front pegs relocation which was so amazing that nobody could tell it was modified. Only alongside a stock KTM one could tell that its been moved a couple of inches forward.

[ebonho]

Thanks bro. And we are on the same philosophical wavelength wrt warranty LOL, though I'm not the one who's necessarily going to be doing ladakh this year.

I would be very interested in all these mods (especially the bash plate) if you can help me with them and if your friend is agreeable.

Any luggage carrying options worked out as well - panniers and the like? Anything for extra fuel?

P.S. Aside from the engine grenading, how did the following hold up on the bad/rocky terrain?

1) the alloy rims

2) the rear fender overhang over the tyre hugger

What was the rider's weight and the weight of the luggage load?

I personally am shuttling between 92-94 kilos currently, and like the No.5 setting on the rear shock (solo, no luggage - good for aggressive riding on good roads). But it gets jarring over bad surfaces. So I changed down to No.4 to try.

But now the chain setting has gone for a toss and we can't get it right (too tight or too loose) and the rear fender touches the tyre hugger over broken sections more often.

[navpreet318]

1.Alloy rims held well throughout the trip.
2.The rear fender overhang and the tyre hugger were removed. Infact we tried some dirt riding with knobby tires as well. It was a pain finding knobbies in 17 inch but after that it was a hoot to ride in fast gravel and dirt tracks. Very fast!

The rider's weight is very low. Must be around 50-55 at most.
He has his own backup vehicle at all times so luggage is not an issue for us. But you could try the Cramsters. I have it and they are very very good quality. I have the slightly inclined ones. Whatever they call them.

The plastic engine fairing has been removed and the aluminum bash plate has been custom formed under the engine. If you know a good welder who can do ali welding then it'll be an easy job. Maybe I'll post some pics of his bike later. Though now as the issue of engine has cropped up, he is a bit dissapointed with the bike.

[shiju.dba]

This news is really going to affect adversely the KTM Duke sales. I will consider Yamaha R15(Quality and Sports), Honda CBR 250(Practicality mainly for Commuting purpose), RE Classic Chrome(Because it is Classic), KTM is no longer in my wishlist anymore.

[gopa99]

Originally Posted by Rahulkool

^^i don't buy this theory about air pockets, even if air pockets are there. done.

I too agree, air pocket theory for a closed loop cooling system as a reason for overheating doesn't make sense to me too. There is always a head space above the coolant reservoir which accomodates coolant vaporization and prevents cavitation. Also the pumps always work on submerged mode precisely for this.