Everything KTM thread

KTM Factory Racing Tour is Still Alive and Kicking​

Credit; KTM


 
Like so many greed driven execs, they saw someone else floundering and a company for sale cheaply so started hoovering those companies up, without fully understanding why those companies were in the shit. Next thing you know, the big company buying, are in trouble themselves. Pure and simple piss poor management.
 
Like so many greed driven execs, they saw someone else floundering and a company for sale cheaply so started hoovering those companies up, without fully understanding why those companies were in the shit. Next thing you know, the big company buying, are in trouble themselves. Pure and simple piss poor management.
That and far too many bikes in the range.
 
And they built far more than they had orders for and couldn't shift them. Basic error. I also feel they stopped listening to customers a few years ago, at around the time the prallel twins came out. Before that they would monitor social media and if there was a gripe about something on a particular model it would be addressed the following year. And they built the bikes that people were asking for. They stopped listening and people stopped buying.
 
And they built far more than they had orders for and couldn't shift them. Basic error. I also feel they stopped listening to customers a few years ago, at around the time the prallel twins came out. Before that they would monitor social media and if there was a gripe about something on a particular model it would be addressed the following year. And they built the bikes that people were asking for. They stopped listening and people stopped buying.
Tooling your factory for road bikes for 6 months then shifting to off road for the next 6 months was ridiculous and the reason they had to guess how many bikes they needed to build in advance ...
 
Tooling your factory for road bikes for 6 months then shifting to off road for the next 6 months was ridiculous and the reason they had to guess how many bikes they needed to build in advance ...
The business model worked fine for them for years, this all kicked off when they did the deal with the Chinese, manufacturing the parallel twins and the Indians the small capacity singles, each getting a piece of the cake, all this recent nonsense is the result of a hostile takeover, initiated by removing two of the three founding directors, followed by deliberately withholding motorcycle stock from market, intimating to the propaganda machine that the company is in trouble, shorting stock thereby bringing the company value down.
Capitalism 101 :mad:
 
The business model worked fine for them for years, this all kicked off when they did the deal with the Chinese, manufacturing the parallel twins and the Indians the small capacity singles, each getting a piece of the cake, all this recent nonsense is the result of a hostile takeover, initiated by removing two of the three founding directors, followed by deliberately withholding motorcycle stock from market, intimating to the propaganda machine that the company is in trouble, shorting stock thereby bringing the company value down.
Capitalism 101 :mad:
I don't agree bob I owned ktm bikes from 2006 right up to 2013 every model had the same problems that never got fixed... I put a new starter in every endure bike i owned due to water ingress into the engine casings ... the sdr i have now has the same electrical niggles the 1090 had in 2013 you are blessed you do the miles so your battery never sits idle because once they give any issues they throw up faults and go into limp mode ...don't start me on the stupid exhaust flaps and useless battery draining alarms ...
 
I don't agree bob I owned ktm bikes from 2006 right up to 2013 every model had the same problems that never got fixed... I put a new starter in every endure bike i owned due to water ingress into the engine casings ... the sdr i have now has the same electrical niggles the 1090 had in 2013 you are blessed you do the miles so your battery never sits idle because once they give any issues they throw up faults and go into limp mode ...don't start me on the stupid exhaust flaps and useless battery draining alarms ...
I've never had any trouble at all with my 1190 over nearly 60,000 miles. Had a gen 1 SDR as well. Only did about 24 K on that but again no problems other than a cracked radiator, which is a well known fault as the brackets are attached in the wrong place and cause vibration fractures to the top tube. Wrexham Radiators provided a permanent and inexpensive fix without having to buy a new rad.
My first KTM was a 990 SMT. It had all the usual 990 rough edges that had to be fettled - water in the swinging arm, lack of grease in headstock bearings, poor water pump gasket, crappy KTM clutch slave etc. Once I'd learned all the wriggles through the forums I got it thoroughly well sorted and uncorked with all the emissions crap junked and then it was rock solid.

However, none of my KTM were first-year models. All were third year. KTM are notorious for annoying flaws in the first iteration of new models. Leaky airboxes and weak starter motors on the 1190 adv, wobbly rear hub on the 2014 SDR etc. It was a rule of thumb in forum land that you didn't buy the very first version of a new model, you waited til the following year when without admitting anything was wrong or issuing recalls, KTM quiety fixed all the issues after monitoring the gripes on owners forums.

I'd have any of those bikes again. I lost faith when they went TFT and keyless and started loaded up the tech. That's when the electronic niggles began.
 
I've never had any trouble at all with my 1190 over nearly 60,000 miles. Had a gen 1 SDR as well. Only did about 24 K on that but again no problems other than a cracked radiator, which is a well known fault as the brackets are attached in the wrong place and cause vibration fractures to the top tube. Wrexham Radiators provided a permanent and inexpensive fix without having to buy a new rad.
My first KTM was a 990 SMT. It had all the usual 990 rough edges that had to be fettled - water in the swinging arm, lack of grease in headstock bearings, poor water pump gasket, crappy KTM clutch slave etc. Once I'd learned all the wriggles through the forums I got it thoroughly well sorted and uncorked with all the emissions crap junked and then it was rock solid.

However, none of my KTM were first-year models. All were third year. KTM are notorious for annoying flaws in the first iteration of new models. Leaky airboxes and weak starter motors on the 1190 adv, wobbly rear hub on the 2014 SDR etc. It was a rule of thumb in forum land that you didn't buy the very first version of a new model, you waited til the following year when without admitting anything was wrong or issuing recalls, KTM quiety fixed all the issues after monitoring the gripes on owners forums.

I'd have any of those bikes again. I lost faith when they went TFT and keyless and started loaded up the tech. That's when the electronic niggles began.
I don't agree bob I owned ktm bikes from 2006 right up to 2013 every model had the same problems that never got fixed... I put a new starter in every endure bike i owned due to water ingress into the engine casings ... the sdr i have now has the same electrical niggles the 1090 had in 2013 you are blessed you do the miles so your battery never sits idle because once they give any issues they throw up faults and go into limp mode ...don't start me on the stupid exhaust flaps and useless battery draining alarms ...
TBF gent's, I've had big Sonja now for a little over 13 months and just coming up on 5K. No electrical gremlins or engine/frame issues, one issue since returning from the charity run is at the moment the n/s pannier will not unlock so also can't remove from the bike. hopefully I will resolve issue before resorting to Wayne's Shithampton removal methods.
She's had three services, KTM first service, and I've done 2 short services, she is due her annual service. Last year when I had to lay her down in a wet gravel car park in Coldstream when my foot slipped, engine still running, I got an EML for oil level sensor, thankfully having the OBDPROG was able to clear and reset.
Just need to replace tyres as the rear is shagged.
On the whole really happy with ownership and performance.
 
KTM loyalists aren't worried about prices so much as whether spares supply will hold out and warranties will be honoured. A lot of them are also concerned about the engineering quality of the Chinese produced engines, specifically the parallel twins which have had a range of problems that can be traced to manufacturing quality. KTM off-shored it's manufacturing, reducing quality, but didn't reduce prices and at the same time over-produced. That's why they're in the mess they're in now.
At the moment they're trying to claw back revenue by charging obscene prices for parts and consumables. That is also putting people off, compounding their problems. This is what happens when you put Ruperts in the boardroom who don't know one end of a bike from the other.
 
KTM loyalists aren't worried about prices so much as whether spares supply will hold out and warranties will be honoured. A lot of them are also concerned about the engineering quality of the Chinese produced engines, specifically the parallel twins which have had a range of problems that can be traced to manufacturing quality. KTM off-shored it's manufacturing, reducing quality, but didn't reduce prices and at the same time over-produced. That's why they're in the mess they're in now.
At the moment they're trying to claw back revenue by charging obscene prices for parts and consumables. That is also putting people off, compounding their problems. This is what happens when you put Ruperts in the boardroom who don't know one end of a bike from the other.
Some on here have that problem - they haven't ridden for soooo long :unsure:
 
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