High speed wobble / head shake

On the way to see the races I noticed that the bike started to have the shakes at around 110 - 115 km/h. This was a new issue as it never happened with the Sahara 3s. The TKC 80s have now done around 2000 kms, but they still have plenty of thread left in my opinion.

The head shake on the 690 is an interesting phenomena as some people suffer from it and some people don't. It's usually "solved" by adjusting the suspension, adding a steering damper, changing tires etc. None of which seem to be the end all solution to the problem.

As I didn't have any tools or time to mess with the suspension I decided to check the tire pressures on the nearest gas station. The front had 1.2 bars and I decided to up the pressures (to 1.8) on the front first to see what happens.

Interestingly the head shake disappeared and the bike became instantly less twitchy at high speeds! You might want to try messing with the tire pressures first before buying expensive dampers etc.

ABOUT HEAD SHAKE

Reading the reports around the net from people experiencing head shake blames the problem on several different things or a combination of them. Which ones you believe in is up to you.

1. Bad tires: some tires when worn will start to induce head shake and some seem to do it even when new.

2. Incorrect tire pressures for high speeds. Raising front pressure made a big difference for me.

3. Suspension not adjusted correctly (preload, sag etc.)

4. The amount of load (luggage) on the bike and how it's placed. Mine seems more stable the more suff I pack on. This is ofcourse related to suspension setting.

5. The bike's steering geometry in general. (I don't agree as the problem is not with ALL the 690 Es)

6. Wheels not balanced correctly

7. Wheels not aligned correctly (rear especially)

8. Heavy inner tubes. I personally find that the heavy Michelin UHD tubes feel a lot different than regular thin ones and might very well be a contributing factor to the problem.

Many people attempt to fix the problem by installing a steering damper which in my opinion only mask the original problem and is not a proper fix.

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?

New shoes- TKC 80s to replace the Sahara 3s

[UPDATE June 12th]

Finally got the TKCs on. I'll try to keep track on how they wear and report back periodically. The rear feels pretty similar to the Sahara 3 but the front feels completely different both on and off the pavement. The Sahara front was pretty much done so no surprise there.

 

Rear knob height is 11,5 mm after 10 kms

Rear knob height is 9,8 mm after 10 kms

my measuring method

Very lightly worn Metzeler Sahara Enduro 3 rear next to a brand new Continental TKC 80

This summer's big adventure begins in about a month. The little riding I have had the chance to do this year has underlined a problem with the tires. Specifically the front. As the "main part" of the adventure will take place on very poor quality roads I also felt the need to go with something a little more aggressive than the Metzeler Sahara 3.

The current rear has very little miles on it, but I wanted to change both front and rear anyway. Mostly because of the fond memories I had with the TKC80s on my 660 Tenere.

I looked at several options for the new tires and came out with the conclusion that I wanted either TKC 80s or Pirelli MT 21s. The reasoning being that I will be doing most of my riding on pavement out of necessity, but wanted better (or best possible) performance off road as long as I could keep the on road manners of the bike at a reasonable level. TKC 80s seem to hit that spot perfectly. From what I have read the MT21 while very good off road, will not quite match  the TKCs on the pavement. Also, I'm a bit concerned that I will find myself battling with headshake if I choose the wrong tires. Given that the TKCs are mounted on a variety of all-road bikes with little issues and that the fact that I had no problems with them on the Tenere, made them the safest bet at this point.

I didn't quite get the mileage on the TKCs on the Tenere that I would have liked, but I'm hoping that the 690 being a much lighter bike, will eat the tires less.

Pirelli MT21

Sahara 3 front next to a TKC 80

The front was getting iffy on gravel (after roughly 7000 kms)

TKC front brand new

The difference on the front is significant

KTM 690 Enduro R battery case

KTM 690 Enduro R battery case

Out of curiosity I took the battery out to take a peek under the battery case. Some 690 owners have experienced problems with the electrical wires (left circle) wearing through under the battery case. The wires are indeed pinched by the battery case and with time the vibrations and dirt may very well cause problems. I currently have no solutions to the problem, but it also seems that nothing has happened yet. I will have to keep an eye on things and check the wires periodically.

KTM 690 Enduro cush drive

Took the wheels off for maintenance and while they were off I checked the cush drive for wear. From what I can tell there were no visible signs of wear or need for replacement. The 690 cush drive elements seem to be far superior to the ones on my old Tenere as far as durability.

Dust in airbox?

690 Enduro R stock air filter

I've been seeing several reports of 690 owners (including the 2014 model) getting dust in the airbox. The problem is usually analyzed to originate from the lid and filter not sealing properly to the box itself. As a solution some have applied grease to the filter in order to trap the dust before it can enter the airbox. The actual cause of the problem (some say) is because the strong suction deforms the airbox and by doing so brakes the seal between the box and the filter.

As a concerned citizen I opened my airbox after a 6000 + kms and found no dust at all. Granted, I have not ridden in very dusty desert conditions, but if there is a problem on my bike, I'm not seeing it with my riding.

No dust to be seen

Removing KTM 690 Enduro R spark plugs

Now usually removing spark plugs is a two step deal. 1. disconnect spark plug cable 2. unscrew spark plug. Deal done. Not so with 690 Enduro R. It doesn't help that the owners manual doesn't have any instructions on how to change / remove the spark plugs.

The following is a step-by-step instruction on how to remove both of the spark plugs.

1. Disconnect the white coupler from the stick coil and pull the outer stick coil out from the stick coil holder. If the stick coil O-rings are dry, as they probably are, the coils need some force for it to pop out. Grease the O-rings once you you get them out.

This outer stick coil with the white coupler

Outer stick coil removed

the 2014 KTM 690 Enduro R stick coil itself. 1 of 2.

Now here is where it starts to get tricky. One would assume that the inner stick coil could also be simply pulled out from the holder, but that's a NO. The frame gets in the way and I didn't feel comfortable applying force to try to pry it past the frame.

Nope

At this point you would think that you could insert the spark plug removal tool in to the stick coil holder and simply remove the outer spark plug. Again NO. The bottom end of the stick coil holder is too narrow for the tool to reach the plug at the bottom of the hole! Yes, really. So more stuff to do before getting to the actual spark plugs.

Nope again

2.

a) You need to pop out the inner stick coil, but since you can't fully remove it this point, leave it in the hole but make sure it is disconnected from the spark plug. (You can feel it pop of the plug). Disconnect the wire from the stick coil too.

b) You need to unscrew the 2 stick coil holder mounting bolts.

stick coil holder bolts

This bolt goes to the cable holder, removing it gives you a tiny amount of more room to work on the bolt behind the cables

The KTM toolkit T-wrench is slim enough to access the other bolt

 3. Lift off the stick coil holder. Dry O-rings may need some convincing again. I recommend applying grease to these O-rings too when you remount the holder.

2014 KTM 690 Enduro R stick coil holder

bottom end

top end

O-rings

Finally! Access to the spark plugs!

Now You can finally just unscrew the plugs using the spark plug tool included in the toolkit.

FYI

2014 KTM 690 Enduro Spark plug specs

Inside spark plug: NGK LKAR8BI-9

Outside spark plug: NGK LMAR7A-9

Spark plug electrode gap: 0.9 mm (0.035 in)

Decatting the 690 Enduro R stock exhaust [updated 20th Dec.]

-14 690 Enduro R stock exhaust

I got the idea from ADVrider forums where I found a couple of different approaches to the process. There is no real sensible purpose for this project, but out of curiosity I want to see if the decatted exhaust will run noticeably cooler. I'm also interested in how the decatting affects the sound. (I like my exhausts as quiet as possible). The starting point is a -09 SMC exhaust which looks visually identical to the current  -14 version with the exception of it not having the single mounting hole and the missing "crash guard". If all goes well, I will have a slightly lighter and somewhat cooler quiet OEM pipe.

The patient (-09 690 SMC exhaust) sedated for surgery

At this point I'm not at all certain if I can mount the -09 pipe directly to the bike simply by using one of the two mounting holes. I.e. I don't know if the holes will match.

***Disclaimer, I recommend you don't attempt this at home. Neither should you install a decatted exhaust on your bike since it may be illegal and/or damage your bike.

Step one, hacksawing the exhaust in two [Sat Nov. 15th]

(Step one should really be to check if the holes match and the pipe can be mounted using the existing mounting holes etc., but I'll worry about that later)

Sawing complete. Took some time with a plain old manual hacksaw

The catalysator is the big round thingy with the "filter"

Step two, removing the cat [Sun Nov. 16th]

cat removed

With the help of a power drill, a long iron rod and a hammer the cat was first drilled and then pounded clean off. Seemed hopeless at first, but the key was to drill it full of big holes first and then chip away what was left.

The weight (the now separated end cap not included) was reduced from 4,315 kilos to 4,137... This means removing the cat resulted in weight savings of 178 grams or 6,3 ounces. Clearly saving weight is a very poor excuse for decatting.

Next step: find a welder... (this can take a while)

Step three, welding it back together

I found a welder through a friend and he did a rather good job in my opinion. Cost me a bottle of gin so the price was very reasonable too. 

Next step, mounting it on the bike

For now, I'm assuming the existing mounting holes will not match. I will probably have a chance to test this assumption during the weekend. I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE [30. Nov]
Eyeballing the pipes side by side the holes could match, but the problem was the width of the -14 adapter. Apparently the earlier bikes with two hole mounts had an adapter that was narrower.

The original -14 model pipe still mounted

the -14 mount is too thick to fit on the -09 pipe

Next step, ordering the 08 - 13 exhaust mount.

 I need parts 13,14,15, and 17. Let's see how much that will set me back.

Mount sourced

The mount set me back 55€. Ouch.

UPDATE [20. Dec.]

Mounting and testing

Today was finally time to mount and test the modified pipe. I was armed with a temperature "gun" and an iphone decibel measuring app. After running the bike with the original pipe for a while it became clear that the temparture measuring would not work under these conditions. The outside temp was 2 Celsius degrees (35 F) and the pipe would only warm up up to 14 degrees after 6 minutes. I wasn't going to stand out in the cold and wait for both the pipes to heat up properly. 

The noise levels were pretty similar which was good. My unscientific measuring method, showed an increase of 2 to 3 decibels at 5000 rpm. At lower rpms the difference was maybe 1 decibel. Again very unreliable data and very unscientific method, but watching the videos will probably give you a better idea. 

The mounting itself did not go according to plan. For some reason the mounting holes on the pipe would not match up. The pipe was seated properly, maybe even a millimeter or two deeper than the OEM -14 pipe, but there was still a half a bolts width to go. There was no hope of getting the bolts in place. No big deal for now, but I will have to figure out a solution later.

I just can't understand what is causing the mismatch though.

modified exhaust mounted, sort of...

nothing is happening

nope

the modified pipe was seated well

no differences in lengths as far as I can see