Not Bagging.....But What Is Up With

[Rick]

All these KTM's over heating????

Backgound.....My 99 EC200 is going through a mid life rebuild......ok, so I've been racing my 2005 YZ 125 here in Nor Cal D36 series, why? Because it is a kick in the butt to race, plus I get a kick out of racing with my peers on a 125 when most of them are on 250's 350's and 450's........

So, last weekend I raced the AMA West National Harescramble up at Shasta Lake, CA, near Redding, CA. The course was 23.5 miles long, had some really tight single track, long steep up hills....fast fire roads...pretty much everything...except wet dirt

This very same hill /trail the club ran the (AA, A, B's ) which I had no problem getting up on my 125, in fact I had a great battle banging bars with one of the guys in my class who has pointed out. Anyways....the club decided to run the second race "C" race up this same hill / trail, yes it was steep, loose rocks, dry dirt, very little traction.....but besides the bottle neck.....one thing that caught my eye is, both riders who shot the video their Ktoom's are over heatings. The temps were mid 70's into the low 80's during this race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlUeiuIopI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJoer...ature=youtu.be


What gives???

Have the KTM's always been prone to over heating?

I know that over heating is NOT and issue with my 200, in fact there are very few posted here pertaining to overheating issues.

If your thinking...how did I finish.....I got an 8th....had a bad....bad day....not my normal finish....

Thanks

[papa_j]

Originally Posted by Rick

All these KTM's over heating????

Backgound.....My 99 EC200 is going through a mid life rebuild......ok, so I've been racing my 2005 YZ 125 here in Nor Cal D36 series, why? Because it is a kick in the butt to race, plus I get a kick out of racing with my peers on a 125 when most of them are on 250's 350's and 450's........

So, last weekend I raced the AMA West National Harescramble up at Shasta Lake, CA, near Redding, CA. The course was 23.5 miles long, had some really tight single track, long steep up hills....fast fire roads...pretty much everything...except wet dirt

This very same hill /trail the club ran the (AA, A, B's ) which I had no problem getting up on my 125, in fact I had a great battle banging bars with one of the guys in my class who has pointed out. Anyways....the club decided to run the second race "C" race up this same hill / trail, yes it was steep, loose rocks, dry dirt, very little traction.....but besides the bottle neck.....one thing that caught my eye is, both riders who shot the video their Ktoom's are over heatings. The temps were mid 70's into the low 80's during this race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKlUeiuIopI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJoer...ature=youtu.be


What gives???

Have the KTM's always been prone to over heating?

I know that over heating is NOT and issue with my 200, in fact there are very few posted here pertaining to overheating issues.

If your thinking...how did I finish.....I got an 8th....had a bad....bad day....not my normal finish....

Thanks

I ride the desert and my ktm 530 boils and steams every time I'm out. Fluid dyne radiators didn't help. Heat wrapping the header didn't work. Re-jetting didn't help. Engine ice didn't help. I haven't tried evans waterless coolant yet.
The only solution that you can find on ktm-talk is "ride faster".

I haven't lost a drip of coolant from my 2011 EC 300 in 2.5 years.

[cbutler]

Everyone I know with them have to put a JD jetting kit in them to make them stop boiling.

[desertgasser300]

A gentleman I ride with occasionally has cooling fans on both his 2T KTM's.

I just did the Campwood enduro last weekend and ran into maybe 3 or 4 katooms that were over heating.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by cbutler

Everyone I know with them have to put a JD jetting kit in them to make them stop boiling.

Are they that lean out of the box?

[Moto7man]

I have a buddy who uses the Evans waterless coolant in his KTM 300, its still boils over. My GasGas hasn't boiled over any at all. Wow, those orange tea kettles on the video were alarming.....close to seizing......yikes..

[PEB]

You guys have never boiled your bikes over? The KTMs definately boil over sooner than the GG but if you slip the clutch for long enough I can attest to the fact they will boil. I don't run the recovery bottle and have dumper water on ther ground lots of times.

[rosco]

I have found the same thing. Even the ones with cooling fans still overheat and the fan runs so much that it drains the battery so the elec. start doesn't work. The Gas Gas's seem to be really good at cooling. I very rarely over heat mine. I really have to be flogging the hell out of it on a warm day and then it might overheat a little. But any other bike would be overheating way before that.

[Rick]

Originally Posted by PEB

You guys have never boiled your bikes over? The KTMs definately boil over sooner than the GG but if you slip the clutch for long enough I can attest to the fact they will boil. I don't run the recovery bottle and have dumper water on ther ground lots of times.

I have the catch tank on the 200, I've only seen water in it a few times after some serious slow goat trail clutch work.

A month or so ago i was flogging the clutch on the125 really bad trying to get up a rocky river bed at the last National....so bad that the clutch just went away.....it was mush......but my 125 never did puke water or steam.....

The radiator cap on those KTM's could be an issue?
The older GasGas bike used KTM radiators in I remember correctly.

[AZRickD]

Neither my 05 or 11 EC250 boils over. I've smelled coolant on two occasions during long, clutch climbs but I wasn't sure if it was me or the KTM in front of me.