Fuel filler neck valve

the source of the problem

I started once again getting a vacuum in the tank. Last summer the problem was solved by rerouting the fuel breather hose (actually also a KTM recall issue) but this time the problem was elsewhere. I tried to fix the problem on the road by promptly cutting the breather hose in half as my assumption was that the hose was obstructed somewhere lower beyond where I could see. That did not fix the problem.

Blowing & sucking on the the remaining part of the hose revealed that the still attached part was not letting air through and the part that was cut off had no obstructions...

troubleshooting on the road

After some head scratching I noticed that something started moving inside the hose connection. I had the filler cap removed so I could see if something was coming out of the hose while I was blowing. Apparently there is a tiny valve inside the hose connection that had jammed shut for some reason. With furious blowing and sucking at the gas station pumps it seemed that the valve was cleared up.

The problem has not reappeared since, but I'm not going to wait for that. I will be installing an aftermarket fuel filler neck & cap as soon as possible.

I'm wondering if these valves and the resulting vacuum has something to do with the fuel pump problems the 690s seem to be having? Will the vacuum have a damaging effect on the fuel pump? Someone smarter than me have an opinion on this?

1:2 crash ratio

Windy as **** today. Battled the hard winds and a GPS gone insane all day. The TomTom was having a really bad day and for some reason was constantly pointing us to the wrong roads. Probably user error, but I still cant figure out what was the cause since I had not changed any settings since the last outing. While warming up my hands on the thumping exhaust I made a decision to refrain from riding until it gets at least above 10 C.

On a positive note, we did find some interesting spots on the route and we will be checking them out again later.

While dodging (or more accurately just giving way) an oncoming tractor on a forest road I inexplicably lost the front end and went down. At first it seemed nothing had broken, but I later discovered that I was about to need rear turn signal number 3...

The crash ratio for rides this year is 1:2. I'm seriously hoping to improve it.

KTM 690 Enduro R radiator protector [76535940000]

KTM 690 Enduro R radiator protector

Better to have it and not need than to to not have it and find your self with a leaking radiator in the middle of nowhere. I now talk from experience. As the bike was mended back to health by the local KTM dealer, I really can't say much about the installation, but from the looks of it it can't be too laborious.

UPDATE

After closer inspection it seemed that the radiator hose was now pinching the regulator wires. This was not the case before the crash (see here for reference). Pinched wires become exposed wires after a while (especially on thumper) so this was a problem. Since the side fairing fit fine and the radiator guard seemed to also fit without a problem I concluded that the radiator / radiator hose had to have bent during the crash.  After worrying about it for a day I decided to take a chance and try to bend the pipe&hose back a bit. I snuck a piece of nylon strap behind the pipe and pulled outwards till it started to give. Few gentle pulls and the problem was solved. Nothing cracked or started to leak so I was lucky. Bending aluminium back and forth is generally a very very bad idea.

This is what you get when you buy the protector

Below the lower right corner where the radiator started to leak after the crash. Judging from the marks on the side panel and the radiator, the tree stump hit the radiator exactly in the middle knocking out the temp sensor. The hard hit then bent side panel attachment bracket which in turn ripped a hole on the radiator.

radiator welded back to health

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A better view of the weld / damage spot

First bad drop

The fantastic day of roaming around the countryside and forest roads ended in tears when I managed to drop the bike and bust open the radiator. I was at and an end of a forest road when me and my friend decided not to push our luck and go riding on a what looked like a self made enduro training track. It looked gnarly at parts and we should've been heading home anyway. As I was turning the bike around at crawling speed I lost my balance and dropped the bike on it's right side. I immediately heard a hissing noise that told me I broke something badly. After I picked up the bike I noticed the radiator was leaking and the temp sensor on the right side had broken off. I had managed to drop the bike on a 3 inch thick tree stump that had hit the bike on it's most vulnerable spot, the radiator.

 No warning lights lit up on the dash and the bike seemed otherwise intact so I limped to the nearest gas station and bough a bottle of radiator fluid. Luckily the leak was so small that I could easily ride 20 kms, refill and carry on. I rode the bike to the dealer who promised to take a look and give an estimate of the damages.

My fear was that the radiator would be unrepairable and that alone would set me back 560 €... Luckily they reported that the radiator could be fixed by welding and the whole thing would cost me around 300€ Including the broken side panel etc. Like an idiot I had not done the zip tie mod or bought the radiator protector even though I knew that the bike was vulnerable at the radiator. Needless to say I ordered the radiator protector to be installed as they repaired the bike.

Oh snap - broken clutch lever

Son of a ....! Managed to snap the tip off from the clutch lever. Naturally it was the result of a minor tip over and that in turn was the result of a brain fart extrarodinaire. I don't think anything else was broken, in fact there is not a scratch on the bike. I don't know how long it will take for me to get the spare part, so I will probably have to embark on next weekends  ride with this new sporty and shorty clutch lever.

Removing the clutch lever was pretty straight forward, but putting it back was bitch. There is a small rubber grommet that just refused to go back in it's place. After a lot of swearing and fiddling I managed to get it back though. My technique and tools were probably lacking. I recommend having a certified gynecologist on stand by when frustration gets the better of you.

The clutch lever rubber grommet. 

The before

I took the lever off and rounded the tip off with a belt sander and gave it some finishing sweeps with a finer grain sand paper. Not good as new but perfectly rideable.

Rounded off clutch lever tip

Moment before it happened

Changing a KTM 690 Enduro R broken rear indicator

Oh snap. I didn't break anything else and if the bike wasn't brand new I would fix it with black tape. The cold weather probably played a part in this. I assume the plastic was rather hard at 36F and that might have made it prone to snapping in half like it did.

Anyway, time to switch the indicator to a new one. The connectors are hidden between the rear fender and the tank so the rear fender assembly must come off. That's a matter of removing three screws from the underside of the fender and two from the top.

After unsnapping the connector ( you need a small flat head screwdriver) the nut needs to come off and then you can just pull out the old indicator. The nut is needed for the new one, because a new nut is not provided with the spare indicator.

The two top screws

rear indicator nut

KTM 690 Enduro R rear indicator connector