2007 450 KTM EXC Rejuvenation August 2015

[troy]

I sent my 500 EXC suspension off to be rebuilt today. Was super easy to remove the forks and shock.

Not to hijack a thread (Troy please don't ban me again, something about being referred to as a previous member..) but can I ask where sent your suspension off to and some detail on what exactly you are having done?

Definitely a hijack... I ride with a few guys out of St. Louis that belong to the MTRA. I don't know this guy well, buy there is a guy, Layton, who runs a little suspension service out of his house. At least one friend recommended Layton.

Layton's Suspension Service
http://www.laytonssuspensionservice.com/

I removed the forks and shock and shipped UPS to him. He is replacing the springs all around with progressive springs designed for my riding weight, which with gear and tools and such is probably close to 230 lbs for a serious trail ride. The bike was set up for Stu's perhaps 140 lbs so way under-sprung for me. Of course the rebuild means new oil, nitrogen recharge for the shock, I assume new seals, etc.

[Jamee]

I sent my 500 EXC suspension off to be rebuilt today. Was super easy to remove the forks and shock.

Not to hijack a thread (Troy please don't ban me again, something about being referred to as a previous member..) but can I ask where sent your suspension off to and some detail on what exactly you are having done?

Definitely a hijack... I ride with a few guys out of St. Louis that belong to the MTRA. I don't know this guy well, buy there is a guy, Layton, who runs a little suspension service out of his house. At least one friend recommended Layton.

Layton's Suspension Service
http://www.laytonssuspensionservice.com/

I removed the forks and shock and shipped UPS to him. He is replacing the springs all around with progressive springs designed for my riding weight, which with gear and tools and such is probably close to 230 lbs for a serious trail ride. The bike was set up for Stu's perhaps 140 lbs so way under-sprung for me. Of course the rebuild means new oil, nitrogen recharge for the shock, I assume new seals, etc.

Just the front, or rear rebuild to?

[troy]

Just the front, or rear rebuild to?

I removed the forks and shock and shipped UPS to him...the rebuild means new oil, nitrogen recharge for the shock...

[kendall_smith]

I sent my 500 EXC suspension off to be rebuilt today. Was super easy to remove the forks and shock.

Not to hijack a thread (Troy please don't ban me again, something about being referred to as a previous member..) but can I ask where sent your suspension off to and some detail on what exactly you are having done?

Definitely a hijack... I ride with a few guys out of St. Louis that belong to the MTRA. I don't know this guy well, buy there is a guy, Layton, who runs a little suspension service out of his house. At least one friend recommended Layton.

Layton's Suspension Service
http://www.laytonssuspensionservice.com/

I removed the forks and shock and shipped UPS to him. He is replacing the springs all around with progressive springs designed for my riding weight, which with gear and tools and such is probably close to 230 lbs for a serious trail ride. The bike was set up for Stu's perhaps 140 lbs so way under-sprung for me. Of course the rebuild means new oil, nitrogen recharge for the shock, I assume new seals, etc.

I've got a buddy in Shawnee, KS that has a similar setup to Layton (works on bikes out of his house) if you're interested in getting it done without involving UPS.

Let me know and I can give you his number.

[carlrf]

Broken radiator scoop,





Mended radiator scoop,


Sanded, cleaned with rubbing alcohol. Two layers of Goop and a couple of washers should work.

[carlrf]

Did you put the case saver back on? I trashed a kx way back in the day over some such foolishness when a chain let go.

Not yet partner!

After looking round at the parts I took off, I don't think it's got one. I have seen those break out the mounting holes and the clutch slave on other bikes so I guess I am not really sold on them. Maybe they are OK?

[carlrf]

OK, I know it's a dirt bike and will get dirty again but I like to know what's under all that plastic and get familiar with at home rather than explore for my first time on a trail somewhere. So I think it's time for some cleaning before I go any further.

[troy]

I'm not sure how grandma got that thing so dirty just riding to church on Sundays. Weird.

[carlrf]

Let's see, car wash or bucket and brushes? Well it's nice day, I have some time (and not to mention the scolding I would probably get for car washing) so I got out the stuff at home.

After all, when you spend $6K on a used bike you like it to look good for a while.



Hose, simple green, assortment of brushes, rags to block engine openings, and electric leaf blower for drying all those components and wire connections.





Looking better!















[imghttp://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m122/carlrf1/KTM/IMG-20150812-01024_zpsowdb7sdn.jpg][/img]

[carlrf]

Well darn. Being my overly anal self I decided to check for water inside the magneto? case after having just washed it.
I don't know if you have ever had water freeze in that area and spent a lot of time troubleshooting and being convinced your motor has locked up for some unknown reason, but if you do it sticks in your head!

So I pull the cover loose and oil comes out. I forgot this is common on four strokes. Anyway I tore the gasket.

Now I need to order one of those. Not expensive but a pain.

[Jamee]

Did you put the case saver back on? I trashed a kx way back in the day over some such foolishness when a chain let go.

Not yet partner!

After looking round at the parts I took off, I don't think it's got one. I have seen those break out the mounting holes and the clutch slave on other bikes so I guess I am not really sold on them. Maybe they are OK?

o.O.. Damned if you do, damned if ya don't..
I put a hole in the case on mine. Really turned into a mess and the JB Weld never did quite work out. The bike wasn't worth trying to find another motor or just a case for and rebuilding. Maybe in my case changing out the worn parts would have been better then "one more ride" mentality.

[troy]

I put a hole in the case on mine. Really turned into a mess and the JB Weld never did quite work out.

My brother, kc here on the forum, put a hole in his case on a ride down in Arkansas. He patched it with JB Weld in the parking lot of our cabin. It not only held for the rest of the ride, it lasted for years after that. He sold it that way as I recall--still working fine.

[Jamee]

Someone explained to me that it was the 2t oil in and around the hole that wouldn't allow the JB to adhere correctly. Also took it to a guy to see about welding it and was told the same thing... Would never get it clean enough without a tear down and a parts washer.

[carlrf]

New stator gasket on the way.

[carlrf]

[/quote]


Forgot to picture and mention the goo that was attached to the inside of the rotor. It was almost like an oily clay that dispersed into minute independent particles on the rag. My uneducated guess is metal dust accumulation from the 5k miles of service, floating in the oil and finding a happy home on the rotor magnet. Or not?

[carlrf]

TROY, do you have a preferred coolant you reccomend for this thing?

Thanks

[troy]

TROY, do you have a preferred coolant you reccomend for this thing?

Thanks

In the past, I bought a stupidly expensive jug of something at a motorcycle store that was supposed to help prevent boil over. NO. I don't.

[Jamee]

On thumpertalk, under the WR450 thread, there is a lot of discussion about the bikes boiling over. The WR doesn't come with a fan like the KTM's do, so a lot of guys that run in the Southwest seem to have issues with them getting hot. Long story short, all of the "trick" coolants do not really seem to help and the general consensus seems to be to just run a good quality coolant from your local auto-parts store.

Some will go with a higher PSI radiator cap, but there doesn't seem to be a general consensus on if that's a good idea or not either.

[troy]

The fancy coolants, as I understand, don't really do anything to make the bike run cooler--they simply have a higher boiling point. So this means your bike gets to run even hotter before you realize it. The advantage being if the 5 degrees was all you needed to keep from boiling over, well that's good--you didn't boil your coolant out.

The good news, Carl, is that 450 didn't have issues in that regards. It didn't run as hot as some of the other machines on the trail. Sure, on a good hot day, the fan will run a lot. I've even steamed her and boiled the water plenty of times. I've never been stranded because I lost all my coolant on the trail.

[carlrf]

Things like "water weter" claim to increase the ability to transfer the heat, similar I guess to water being a better coolant than glycol mix. However the consequences of just using water outweigh the lower transfer ability of the glycol coolants.
I used to be a fan of the "water weter" type additive but I really don't have any basis to do so.


Also had a not so good night with the EXC last evening. I was working with turn signals and the front brake and by the time I got done I have no lights, starter or front brake!

I guess I will start over tonight. Sometimes I think I would be better off not trying to do anything but watch TV (which I seldom currently do) maybe I wouldn't screw that up. Naw I would just break the remote or get the channel stuck on "I love Lucy" or something.