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.

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

2014 KTM 690 Enduro R stock tire review (Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara)

The stock tires (Metzeler Enduro 3 Sahara)  now have 4670 kms / 2900 miles under them. They still have thread left, but no doubt need to be replaced at the end of the summer. My riding has been 80% on and 20% off road. I've been relatively easy on the tires on and off the pavement. The tires seem to be somewhat ok on the wet asphalt too, even though I did have an Oh shit moment on wet asphalt when the tires were quite new. What surprised me the most was that the Saharas worked ok on the track too. Not that I took them to the limit in any way, but track riding was in no way uncomfortable with them. Wet mud was somewhat of a problem for the Saharas and the tires became slippery very fast, but I quess thats the case with most dual sport tires anyway.

At first it looked like the Saharas would be gone very fast as they seemed to wear quickly in the beginning. The apparent wear soon slowed down, but I did manage to flatten the profile on the 2000 km ride up north.

Metzeler Enduro 2 Saharas at 4670 kms (rear)

I'm comparing the stock Saharas to Michelin Siracs and Continental TKC 80s that I had on the 660 Tenere. I think the Saharas or somewhere between the two, definitely better than Siracs but worse  off road than the TKC 80s. Bear in mind though that the bike was very different so the comparison isn't very fair. All in all I would not hesitate to buy the Saharas again for my type of riding, but if you are fortunate enough to be able to get off the pavement a lot more, maybe buy something else.

Metzeler Enduro 2 Saharas at 4670 kms (front)