Hey all,
Ive had a few bent bergs for the last few years, had a blast on them.
Im looking at/have the opportunity to buy an older 04-07 berg- there's a few I know of, 450/550/650 that all seem reasonably clean for their age.
Whats the best capacity for all round? or is it a case of torque, more torque and stupid torque, so pick your poison?
Ive read here and there about some issues- kick start shafts, cam chain issues.
But (can of worms and one sided views incoming) how generally reliable are the old girls?
I love the old school clunky style of them (I had an 99 KTM 660factory rally for reference, it was an old tractor).
I believe the post 04 models had the later Kokusan ignition rather than the earlier troublesome SEM stuff.
But what goes wrong otherwise? Anything to be aware of, anything to watch out for, preventative maintenance? Water pumps, cam chains, kick start shafts and idler gears.....
Are there any parts that regularly implode that are now hard to get?
And..... if (say) a 450 rod lets go, from what Ive read all bottom ends are the same, is it easy enough to (say) fit a 550/650 barrel crank/rod and cam chain and guides? What other parts would be required, say the 650 headers etc?
Thanks for input all.
Ive had a few bent bergs for the last few years, had a blast on them.
Im looking at/have the opportunity to buy an older 04-07 berg- there's a few I know of, 450/550/650 that all seem reasonably clean for their age.
Whats the best capacity for all round? or is it a case of torque, more torque and stupid torque, so pick your poison?
Ive read here and there about some issues- kick start shafts, cam chain issues.
But (can of worms and one sided views incoming) how generally reliable are the old girls?
I love the old school clunky style of them (I had an 99 KTM 660factory rally for reference, it was an old tractor).
I believe the post 04 models had the later Kokusan ignition rather than the earlier troublesome SEM stuff.
But what goes wrong otherwise? Anything to be aware of, anything to watch out for, preventative maintenance? Water pumps, cam chains, kick start shafts and idler gears.....
Are there any parts that regularly implode that are now hard to get?
And..... if (say) a 450 rod lets go, from what Ive read all bottom ends are the same, is it easy enough to (say) fit a 550/650 barrel crank/rod and cam chain and guides? What other parts would be required, say the 650 headers etc?
Thanks for input all.
