Impulse purchased a 2014 KTM 350 on Facebook last month for $1000. Seller had it up for $2k, but the poor thing had been beaten like a red-headed step child. The images hardly show the condition, and it wouldn't start without a bump but when it did, I ripped it up and down his road. The engine and clutch feel incredible, the forks and shock clearly were re-valved for somebody near my weight (AKA Fat, s/o to factory connection) and overall, it was just cosmetically a pig, albeit mechanically sound. Here's how it looked when I went to pick it up (THIS IS NOT MY TRUCK I KNOW HOW TO CORRECTLY TIE DOWN A DIRTBIKE)
The Good:
-Tight engine
-Fresch clutch
-Oil looked great when i pulled it
-Chain was in shockingly good condition
The Bad:
-Iron stained dirt on aluminum EVERYWHERE
-Snapped Clutch master cylinder
-Every plastic part is junk
-Seat bolt was stripped
-Radiators were fucked
-The swingarm bearings and steering stem had very clearly never been touched
-Chinesium bling footpegs
Somebody let er fall down the road smh
And torn down the next day to get that CO iron-soaked dirt out
#aussieworkboots
held on with clamps, gum, and jesus
Factory pressed chain, grounded 'er down to get off.
Mid-way through the build now and almost done.
Nice- looking forward to seeing how this bike turns out!
I've done some ghetto shit in my life, but duct taping the broken master cylinder to the handlebar so I could back the nut off is up there, I know y'all will appreciate the note I left myself.
The progress continues
Rattle-Canned the clutch cover, added the sharpie paint pen for the #factoryeffect and threw on some fleabay clutch stickers. good as new.
This is driving me nuts, it's from when the bike dragged for a few seconds, these caps are outrageously expensive to try and find, even used.
Threw the grips on, bled the clutch. Will safety wire tomorrow when it's above 30 degrees in my garage
How she's sitting now, still needs a new chain and a new rear tire, but we're getting there.
I have an 11 I bought new I tore down a couple years ago and did a full rebuild on everything. Wish I had put it on here. If I was you I'd just go to the frame and powder coat stuff. It's super cheap and looks so much better.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Free shipping: VITALMX
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
A few annoying setbacks:
After i cut the chain, despite not removing any links, I could not, by any method, get it to fit back on the bike. I have never seen or experienced something like this in my life, oddest thing i've ever seen. So i ordered a new one
The O-Rings at the fuel pump both failed. 12 year old gaskets so it's not terribly surprising, but the bike had gas in it when i bought it, and i've been running it once a week to keep the fuel going and the oil rotating. my guess is that the inside of that tank was NASTY and the AvGas that I used cleaned it out, sinking this crap past the rubber on the bottom? Not sure never even seen these gaskets fail before. My garage smelled like a diesel shop for about a week because of this leak, damn near lost my mind.
Finally, I couldn't look at that broken master any more, so I put a new one on but inadvertently put mineral oil instead of brake fluid. I assumed that KTM still ran it to this day, but boy was I wrong when I couldn't get the clutch to work whatsoever.
Rule of thumb Brembo clutch needs brake fluid and Magura ones hydraulic oil (Magura blood)
I my experience this frame generation KTM's benefits a lot from 20mm offset triple clamps which bring the front end geometry same as current model KTM bikes. Current bikes have smaller front axle which is located 2mm rearwards so they are achieving the same overall offset with 22mm offset triple clamps which they are still using.
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