2019/2020 KTM 450 first top end maintenance according to real experience

313 SlowDown
Edited Date/Time 7/29/2022 1:57pm
Hello all,
I’m looking to buy a used 2019 or 2020 KTM Sxf 450 and I can find bikes varying from 70 to 100 hours.
To help me understand the real value of these bikes, I’d like to know when it’s time to make some top end maintenance according to the real experience of owners of those models.
Did anyone suffered any catastrophic issue due to delayed replacement of a piston or valves or other?
Thanks for helping
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hypermoto
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hypermoto 11/26/2020 8:32am
11/26/2020 8:32am
60-80 hours is a good time to put a fresh piston in.

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hypermoto
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hypermoto 11/26/2020 8:55am
11/26/2020 8:55am
greg570 wrote:
150 hours....piston looked like new...
KTM’s can easily make it to that, but when buying used, it’s not worth the risk. You don’t know the bikes history. It’s always good to start fresh, unless it’s extremely low hour.
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Tad450
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Tad450 11/26/2020 9:26pm
11/26/2020 9:26pm Edited Date/Time 11/26/2020 9:27pm
I did a top end on my 2016 450FE at 70 Hours years ago.
It looked great and showed no visual wear at all. I wasn’t having any issues with the bike either, just wanted to do what the manual recommended.
I was surprised how good it looked and valves were still in speck too. Timing chain didn’t need to be changed either.
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fullysicmate 11/27/2020 3:27am
11/27/2020 3:27am
I did one at 100 hours because I thought it was a good number.... I used to go 50 hours on a 2 stroke....at 100 hours the 450 piston looked perfect the bike ran perfect, afterwards I was worried that I had comprised it by opening it up when it clearly didn’t need it, rather being happy it was fresh...I’ll go150 next time.
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cloud41
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cloud41 11/27/2020 4:53am
11/27/2020 4:53am
Depends on the rider. A class ~ 50 hours. C riders can easily go 100
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CarlinoJoeVideo
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CarlinoJoeVideo 11/27/2020 8:48pm
11/27/2020 8:48pm
I know fast test riders in so cal who have done 100+ hours on KTM 450 and the pistons came out like new. I’m sure vet rider could easy go 150 or 200 if they take care of the bike.

I have 90 on my 2019 350 and plan go to 150. I haven’t checked the valves once. I do clean filters and oil. The new bikes are very solid.Regular preventative maintenance, very happy with the bike.
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313 SlowDown 11/28/2020 3:55am
11/28/2020 3:55am
Thanks everyone, I’m coming from a super solid 2013 and happy to learn it goes on with the newer models
mtndoc_842
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mtndoc_842 11/28/2020 9:27am
11/28/2020 9:27am
150hrs on my 2019 350, race Pro/A offroad. Have done oil, filters, and tires. No problems so far, but will trade her in soon.
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Monk
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Monk 11/28/2020 7:45pm
11/28/2020 7:45pm
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain, clutch, etc. I have never opened the motor. I race Pro/AA offroad in Canada.
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navalseabee
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navalseabee 11/29/2020 5:08am
11/29/2020 5:08am
Apples to oranges but i cracked open my 2019 KTM 250SXF at 50 hours for a fresh piston and everything looked and spec'd perfect. Vet expert level mx rider who likes to rev. I also put a piston in a friends 350EXC at 200 hours mixed road riding, trail riding and woods racing, had no notable wear on anything.
walent215
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walent215 11/29/2020 6:27am
11/29/2020 6:27am
navalseabee wrote:
Apples to oranges but i cracked open my 2019 KTM 250SXF at 50 hours for a fresh piston and everything looked and spec'd perfect. Vet expert...
Apples to oranges but i cracked open my 2019 KTM 250SXF at 50 hours for a fresh piston and everything looked and spec'd perfect. Vet expert level mx rider who likes to rev. I also put a piston in a friends 350EXC at 200 hours mixed road riding, trail riding and woods racing, had no notable wear on anything.
What kind of oil do you and your friend run?
Thanks , Chris
BobPA
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BobPA 11/29/2020 6:41am
11/29/2020 6:41am
Sold my 450 with 85 hours. Never even pulled the valve cover to check valve lash. Still ran like it was brand new.
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mx317
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mx317 11/29/2020 7:48am
11/29/2020 7:48am
Do yourself favor and buy the piston pin clip installation tool. The clips are a pain the the ass to install without it.
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FGR01
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FGR01 11/29/2020 8:35am
11/29/2020 8:35am
Monk wrote:
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain...
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain, clutch, etc. I have never opened the motor. I race Pro/AA offroad in Canada.
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to let the bike idle all night to keep it warm like a diesel truck, also.. haaa
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Monk
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Monk 11/29/2020 8:50am
11/29/2020 8:50am
Monk wrote:
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain...
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain, clutch, etc. I have never opened the motor. I race Pro/AA offroad in Canada.
FGR01 wrote:
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to...
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to let the bike idle all night to keep it warm like a diesel truck, also.. haaa
Maybe like 50hrs worth of dual sporting. The rest is racing and training. At peak it's pretty common for me to put 250-300hrs a year riding...
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FGR01
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FGR01 11/29/2020 8:56am
11/29/2020 8:56am
Monk wrote:
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain...
No direct experience on a KTM 450, but I have a 16 350xcf with 700hrs+ on the stock original motor, including valves, piston, cylinder, timing chain, clutch, etc. I have never opened the motor. I race Pro/AA offroad in Canada.
FGR01 wrote:
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to...
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to let the bike idle all night to keep it warm like a diesel truck, also.. haaa
Monk wrote:
Maybe like 50hrs worth of dual sporting. The rest is racing and training. At peak it's pretty common for me to put 250-300hrs a year riding...
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2 entire days each week just catching up on maintenance!
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Monk
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Monk 11/29/2020 9:15am
11/29/2020 9:15am
FGR01 wrote:
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to...
Holy hell, how so many hours? Is there a lot of street or fire road riding in there? I guess in Canada you probably have to let the bike idle all night to keep it warm like a diesel truck, also.. haaa
Monk wrote:
Maybe like 50hrs worth of dual sporting. The rest is racing and training. At peak it's pretty common for me to put 250-300hrs a year riding...
FGR01 wrote:
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2...
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2 entire days each week just catching up on maintenance!
Funny you mention the air filters. I have about 40 of them and when they get dirty I throw them in a garbage bag and clean them all at once. Unfortunately I must have thrown the garage bag out about 2 months ago cause for the life of me I can't find them anywhere. I'm so disappointed.
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addimatty 11/29/2020 9:25am
11/29/2020 9:25am
My friend has 2019 FC 450 and he changed piston after 100 hours, the piston looked perfect without any significant sign of wear etc. Dealer also mentioned it would be possible to easily put 150 h on the piston without doubt. Just clean/change your air filter regularly and change engine oil each 5 hours.
mark_swart
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mark_swart 11/29/2020 11:33am
11/29/2020 11:33am
Purchased my 17.5 FE in January with 140 hours on original top end, I am second owner and original owner was a vet Intermediate. I replaced piston and timing chain, but the stock piston looked great and could have gone much longer I'm sure.
TeamGreen
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TeamGreen 11/29/2020 1:32pm
11/29/2020 1:32pm
I have a 2019 KTM 450 SXF with a different ECU (Twisted Development), FMF Exhaust and runs VP T4 and sometimes Pro 6 H/T.

It has EXACTLY 100.0 hours on it...laughed my ass off when I noticed the hour meter showed that! So, it’s being torn down to see what things look like. The only power-train parts they’ve been changed are chain & sprockets, air filters, oil and oil filters, 1 spark plug-just because, 1 clutch... & that’s all!

Motor is coming out and going to Jamey Ellis for a good look at what 100 hours does to the motor.
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313 SlowDown 11/29/2020 2:05pm
11/29/2020 2:05pm
TeamGreen wrote:
I have a 2019 KTM 450 SXF with a different ECU (Twisted Development), FMF Exhaust and runs VP T4 and sometimes Pro 6 H/T. It has...
I have a 2019 KTM 450 SXF with a different ECU (Twisted Development), FMF Exhaust and runs VP T4 and sometimes Pro 6 H/T.

It has EXACTLY 100.0 hours on it...laughed my ass off when I noticed the hour meter showed that! So, it’s being torn down to see what things look like. The only power-train parts they’ve been changed are chain & sprockets, air filters, oil and oil filters, 1 spark plug-just because, 1 clutch... & that’s all!

Motor is coming out and going to Jamey Ellis for a good look at what 100 hours does to the motor.
I'd like for sure to know the verdict from the TD expert!
navalseabee
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navalseabee 11/29/2020 2:09pm
11/29/2020 2:09pm
navalseabee wrote:
Apples to oranges but i cracked open my 2019 KTM 250SXF at 50 hours for a fresh piston and everything looked and spec'd perfect. Vet expert...
Apples to oranges but i cracked open my 2019 KTM 250SXF at 50 hours for a fresh piston and everything looked and spec'd perfect. Vet expert level mx rider who likes to rev. I also put a piston in a friends 350EXC at 200 hours mixed road riding, trail riding and woods racing, had no notable wear on anything.
walent215 wrote:
What kind of oil do you and your friend run?
Thanks , Chris
I run Blud Lubricants, I believe he uses Maxima products in his.
APLMAN99
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APLMAN99 11/29/2020 2:52pm
11/29/2020 2:52pm
Is the stock top ends look perfect, why are they being replaced? Why not throw those parts back in and keep the new pistons until you open it back up in another 100 hours?

😎
inthebadboycorner 11/29/2020 3:06pm
11/29/2020 3:06pm
Looking at all the differing threads, when buying ANY used bike. I would be spending my time closely inspecting the frame rather than worrying about a cheap piston.
JB 19
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JB 19 11/29/2020 3:42pm
11/29/2020 3:42pm
Monk wrote:
Maybe like 50hrs worth of dual sporting. The rest is racing and training. At peak it's pretty common for me to put 250-300hrs a year riding...
FGR01 wrote:
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2...
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2 entire days each week just catching up on maintenance!
Monk wrote:
Funny you mention the air filters. I have about 40 of them and when they get dirty I throw them in a garbage bag and clean...
Funny you mention the air filters. I have about 40 of them and when they get dirty I throw them in a garbage bag and clean them all at once. Unfortunately I must have thrown the garage bag out about 2 months ago cause for the life of me I can't find them anywhere. I'm so disappointed.
Holy shit! Easily the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Sorry it's at your expense....literally. .... and I've followed the life of your 2016 350, but didn't realize it was over 700 hours now. Just shows that the guys doing rebuilds at 50 and 75 hours are throwing good parts away.
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Monk
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Monk 11/29/2020 4:26pm
11/29/2020 4:26pm
FGR01 wrote:
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2...
That's a lot of seat time! I imagine you have 55 gal drums of oil and crates full of oil and air filters and spend 2 entire days each week just catching up on maintenance!
Monk wrote:
Funny you mention the air filters. I have about 40 of them and when they get dirty I throw them in a garbage bag and clean...
Funny you mention the air filters. I have about 40 of them and when they get dirty I throw them in a garbage bag and clean them all at once. Unfortunately I must have thrown the garage bag out about 2 months ago cause for the life of me I can't find them anywhere. I'm so disappointed.
JB 19 wrote:
Holy shit! Easily the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Sorry it's at your expense....literally. .... and I've followed the life of your 2016...
Holy shit! Easily the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Sorry it's at your expense....literally. .... and I've followed the life of your 2016 350, but didn't realize it was over 700 hours now. Just shows that the guys doing rebuilds at 50 and 75 hours are throwing good parts away.
I fully intended to rebuild it at 100hrs—but it ran perfectly. So went another 50, then 100, then 200...and it still ran perfect. So I said, f**k it, let run it till she pops... Half of way through 2019 I gave it to my wife, she competed a couple off-road races that year and did a few moto rounds this year and she still runs great.

I know it's down on power but she doesn't burn oil, starts and runs perfect too. If it pops, it doesn't owe me anything so to get those hours was a good test to KTMs durability. But I do take care of it (and all my bikes). I run T4, Rotella and cycle the filters regularly. I also run a fan so the bike has never over-heated either.
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KPS_46
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KPS_46 11/30/2020 7:35am
11/30/2020 7:35am Edited Date/Time 11/30/2020 7:46am
Just sold my 2016.5 Factory Edition and had 190 hours with zero issues. The motor had never been opened and still had original clutch. When it starts getting hard to start is when I would start looking at a tear down and rebuild. Don't forget most newer(2016+) KTM's have a PANKL rod and main bearing. The PANKL rod and bearing assembly is a very stout assembly compared to Japanese counterparts. Your valves are going to give you problems before anything else IMO as long as the oil has been changed at reasonable intervals.
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kb228
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kb228 11/30/2020 7:45am
11/30/2020 7:45am
If its used id do one immediately just to make sure the previous owner didnt do something stupid like not change oil or let sand through the filter.

Its all about maintenance and how hard you are on it. Most guys on here have high hours because they take care of their bikes.

I had a yz250 shatter the skirt of the piston within an hour of owning it. And my xr100 lost compression the first day i had it. Both bikes i rode without doing a top end first. Its a risk you take when buying used.

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