Soon to be new owner!

Hi guys,

After years of trackdays on superbikes I've decided to try my hand at off-roading and green laning! :mrgreen:
I'm looking at a 2001 FE400, seems mint enough, 1 previous owner and lots of receipts along with a set of supermoto wheels too
As someone whos only ever spent a few hours on a 2stroke MX bike in my youth, would this be suitable for a newbie?

Anything I should look out for? I've heard they use KTM engines so should be reasonably reliable?
What mods should I look to get done... stainless hoses, better seat etc?

Thanks!

Roy

Interested too. Just ordered 2012 FE450. Know what farkles I want, but would like to know the weaknesses. Been through this forum a bit, but not a lot of recent 2012 info. Anyone with time?

Blackboots45 said:

Just ordered 2012 FE450.

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Good choice! If it's the same as my 2010, have a look at where the breather pipe comes into the airbox, and either extend it with a bit of pipe so it ends further up inside the airbox or route it somewhere else. The bike's generally very good at handling deep water as the airbox is so high up, but it can get in through the cutout in the front of the subframe and work its way under the back of the air filter into the airbox. When that happens, there may well not be enough to actually stop the engine as the intake bell mouth is much higher up, but the breather pipe is in the lowest part and any water in there will run straight down into the engine.

Ask me how I know... :shock:

Still, apparently the engine rebuild will be finished tomorrow and I'll have the other arm and leg left after paying for it. The dealer tells me their racing bikes have the breather pipe rerouted away from the airbox to somewhere higher up and then back down, which they're going to do to mine so hopefully this won't happen again.

BTW I took the seat off and checked the air filter after the crossing and it wasn't wet at all, just nicely oiled so I thought it was ok, and the oil looked fine in the sight glass though we were in a dark area under trees. It was only later I found out that the water had come up from underneath and worked its way though the very bottom layer of the filter, so the rest was dry - only wish I'd actually taken the filter out as I'm sure there would have been water sloshing about in the airbox at that point. Live and learn I guess.

The only other problem I've had has been just a few times where the engine died and wouldn't start for 5-10 minutes even though it was turning over fine on the starter. Never did find out the cause and there don't seem to be any common circumstances, e.g. engine not always particuarly hot, did it once when we hadn't been near water all day so it's not water in the electrics, did it when well above tickover and accelerating, etc. I've heard suggestions that the fuel pump can vapour lock, so maybe it was that? It has always restarted after a brief rest when this happened, so just enough time for a snack bar.

In general though it's been extremely reliable, starts right away on the button hot or cold, doesn't flame out, just does the job very nicely.

That sounds like the fuel pump filter might have been temporarily blocked up???

Blackboots45 said:

That sounds like the fuel pump filter might have been temporarily blocked up???

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Yeah, that was one of the things they looked at. It was fine when they checked it but of course the engine had started again after a few minutes anyway so whatever the problem was it had gone before they got a chance to look at the bike, which makes it hard to find!

There was no sign of the manufacturing crap ISTR some people had in the tank on new bikes that blocked things up, but in any case it didn't start happening until the bike was about a year old so if anything it would most likely be dirt going in with the fuel. I've always been careful about that anyway but I started using a filler neck sock just in case, but that was only recently so we'll have to wait a while and see whether it happens again to know if that made any difference.

I know that some KTMs had this problem, particularly the 990 which had a small 10 micron teabag shaped pre-filter. 10 micron to protect the fuel pump.
Later the filters were made a little bit larger which might help too.
Also a bloke has invented a fuel pump purge kit for the KTMs and Husabergs. Basically it is a setup which causes the fuel pump to cycle in reverse for 5 seconds, this occurs 5 minutes after the bike is turned off. Kind of like blowing fuel/aircompressor back through the filter. There's a minor modification and some plugin bits. Probably a bit more complex than my description??
Apparently prevents the buildup of gunk, good reports I hear e.g. 20,000kms with grey filter, but no reduction in fuel quantity/flow.
His name is Ken Allan, Ken Allen's Auto Repairs, Maryborough, Queensland, Australia. Google it. They are now available all around the world apparently and also from Dalby Moto website (although Allen is cheaper-direct).

I have no affiliation with him etc, but some mates have them on their bikes & reckon they are the goods.