KTM 50 Clutch Question...
 

A friend of mine has just purchased two used KTM 50s. One is an '02 Senior and the other is an '03 Junior. Both bikes have had their top ends professionally rebuilt and are otherwise fresh and in great condition.

Question:

My buddy claims that the clutches on either of the two bikes do not engage fast enough. In his mind, the bikes don't have the "hit" that he thinks they should have.

What should he do to remedy the problem with these two bikes???

Is it really a clutch problem, or do the KTM 50s have some sort of adjustable power valve or some other adjustment that will deliver the "hit" he's looking for???

Thank you for your prompt replies,

Tom
'03 EC 300

They do not have a power valve. Just jetting and clutch stack-ups.
Tell him to look on KTM Talk in the Mini section. That should keep him very well informed on the clutches. My son has a Pro Jr and I need to change oil after every ride and clean the clutch washers (springs) every 2nd or 3rd
ride! He will spend many Hours working on those little monsters!
Good Luck!

Ditto the ktmtalk advice and my condolences to your friend.

Thanks for the advice.

As for the KTM 50's...

I too have heard horror stories concerning the level of maintenance required for these little scoots.

As for KTM Talk...

I tried to "join," however, they wouldn't accept my Yahoo mailing address. Moreover, they wanted too much personal information when filling out the registration form.

the hit you are after is not by getting clutch to kick in early but to get it to kick in late, 50's develop all there power high up in rev range that is why if you get work done on 50 you should only worry about getting more top end.
The best way to get the most out of bike is to set clutch to come in at about 8500 rpm, if you set clutch to come in to early in rev range it will bog down.
next problem is that std clutch drum cant handle that as they only have 3 spot welds, either take drum to engineering shop and get it fully welded, or buy new drum from USA that is lighter and stronger. note: if you weld drum you will need shaft hole to be re-machined as it closes up during welding and you will not get it back on shaft.
then get stainless steel washer kit form USA that takes guess work out of setting when your clutch kicks in.
You will find that if you do top end ,then clutch properly you will pull higher gearing as well for open tracks.

Then drill extra holes in air box as they are pretty restricted and motor breathes better, you will notice change straight away.

with all this you then need to change oil more often and will wear out clutch
pads faster but you will have rocket.

Update (with added humor)...

I spent the better part of last Sunday working on my buddy's two KTM 50s.

Personally, I hate the little orange b@$t@^!s. Moreover, it would probably be a sight cheeper--and a whole lot easier--to solve the problem with a book of matches and a gallon of gas. :D

At any rate, we played with bellville spring stacks until we finally arrived at a good "ballpark" setting.

I would happily recommend one of these little monsters to my closest enemy. It's the kinda toy that the kids love to beat the piss out of then, when it doesn't work, cry and stomp until "daddy" gets off of the couch and fixes it. :p On the other hand, try explaining the intrinsic value of a functioning bellville spring to a whining 8 year-old; there ain't enough beer made to make that moment possible!

I think the Austrians have found a novel way to pay us back for WW II.:)

Again, thanks for the insights and information.

TP

If you are going to use it in the woods, try the compression springs KTM uses on the Mini Adventure (air cooled) bikes. They will not get a holeshot like the bellville springs but you will not have over heating problems.
It will also make the bike much easier to ride and save Dad ALOT of time in the garage!
Good Luck!
Yes my son had one of those $%$^! Life is so nice now that he is on a 65!

Just to make sure, are these Adventures (air cooled) or the water cooled (SX) version?

Reason I asked is that after getting the 3 stacks shimmed to .640, I've found that changing the gearing makes a huge difference with (what is essentially) a motor the size of a weed-wacker.

If the previous owner's little delinquent was racing, he probably has them geared 11 or 12: 43 or 44. When I purchased my son's '03 SX, it was geared 12:43.

After changing the gearing to 10:44 it became a torque monster & he was able to adapt to the hit. We're now at 11:45 and he's really learing how using to use the powerband in a variety of conditions.

PS: The 2-two cool that is recommended really works.

Hope this helps.

dont know if the tomar holeshot clutch is available for the ktm but it was my solution for the Polini I sold my KTM 50 sr before it drove me to the nuthouse way more problems with them than the Polinis good luck