KTM 50 Tips & Tricks

Moto5497
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Moto5497
Going to be getting my son a 2019 ktm 50 in the next few months. He has been racing a pw50 for 2 years and finally big enough to move up. Does anyone have any good tips, tricks, experiences to keep the bike as reliable as possible? Thanks!
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Helda
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Helda 4/3/2019 12:26pm
4/3/2019 12:26pm
Filter and oil every ride, set the clutch to 9000rpm
Tracktor
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Tracktor 4/3/2019 3:06pm
4/3/2019 3:06pm
www.ktmtalk.com is best place for advice........
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Moto5497
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Moto5497 4/4/2019 11:11am
4/4/2019 11:11am
Helda wrote:
Filter and oil every ride, set the clutch to 9000rpm
Any preference on oil? I've heard of people adding an addative to the oil as well?

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4csHATER
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4csHATER 4/5/2019 6:05pm
4/5/2019 6:05pm Edited Date/Time 4/5/2019 6:07pm
irp triple grip clutch, ceramic bearings, reed valve spacer, t4 feul mixed with castor927 at 55:1, keep a ton of spare gaskets, a ton of front sprockets and a ton of stators, and send the radiators to icw immediately or your gonna have the right side radiator seam leak just like the rest of us, use really good filter oil and keep del orto gaskets on hand for carb as well, all gaskets need changed about every three washes from pressure washer soaking them then they leak
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4csHATER
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4csHATER 4/5/2019 6:11pm
4/5/2019 6:11pm
also nihilo axle blocks and ktm hard parts clutch cover and stator cover are a must have oh and the swing arm bearing design is super stupid i re-did ours with a custom sleeve and bearings from mcmaster car along with a titanium swingarm pivot bolt the stock one is stupid as it pulls on one side of frame as you tighten it up. stock ktm 50 bar bend is cheesy and dont fall for the micro bar bullshit.
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526
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526 4/8/2019 12:54pm
4/8/2019 12:54pm
4csHATER wrote:
also nihilo axle blocks and ktm hard parts clutch cover and stator cover are a must have oh and the swing arm bearing design is super...
also nihilo axle blocks and ktm hard parts clutch cover and stator cover are a must have oh and the swing arm bearing design is super stupid i re-did ours with a custom sleeve and bearings from mcmaster car along with a titanium swingarm pivot bolt the stock one is stupid as it pulls on one side of frame as you tighten it up. stock ktm 50 bar bend is cheesy and dont fall for the micro bar bullshit.
Why no Micro Bar seems like a great idea ?
SBD
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SBD 4/9/2019 12:44pm
4/9/2019 12:44pm
Best thing would be to skip the KTM 50 nightmare and get a Cobra.
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FFDan
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FFDan 4/11/2019 10:57am
4/11/2019 10:57am
My experiences after 2 kids and 3 KTM 50s, glad those days are over. In all seriousness they were just fine with great maintenance.

1. The clutch is a probably the most time consuming, due to frequency, but easy thing to maintain. Change the clutch oil after every moto when racing. Change frequently during play days and practice days. I used Motorex. I did hop up the clutch and used Nihilo bolts and springs. Always keep a replacement clutch.

2. I only ran VP race fuel in the bike and never had a carb problem. I know some how used pump gas and premix and had nothing but problems with gummed up jets.

3. Clean the air filter after every ride. The bikes get finicky when you run a dirty air filter.

4. New top ends were pretty simple, I didnt do them as often as called for in the manual I usually averaged 3 top ends a year, but we didnt ride/race every weekend either. Probably averaged about every 4-5 race. My kids were not on the pipe like some kids are either.

5. Check the radiator before every ride, there were a couple times the bikes got hot and lost some fluid. These bikes are not putt around the yard type either, I had a friend that bought a bike the kid rode around the yard at slow speed for an extended period and seized it. They must have decent airflow for cooling.

6. Never had the dreaded KTM bog some talk about, and never had a stator go bad.

7. Honor the torque specs, I did strip a couple when I was in a hurry and broke one when replacing the rear brake lever.

8. If you do not mind working on and maintaining the bikes it can be enjoyable.
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526
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526 4/11/2019 1:38pm
4/11/2019 1:38pm
FFDan wrote:
My experiences after 2 kids and 3 KTM 50s, glad those days are over. In all seriousness they were just fine with great maintenance. 1. The...
My experiences after 2 kids and 3 KTM 50s, glad those days are over. In all seriousness they were just fine with great maintenance.

1. The clutch is a probably the most time consuming, due to frequency, but easy thing to maintain. Change the clutch oil after every moto when racing. Change frequently during play days and practice days. I used Motorex. I did hop up the clutch and used Nihilo bolts and springs. Always keep a replacement clutch.

2. I only ran VP race fuel in the bike and never had a carb problem. I know some how used pump gas and premix and had nothing but problems with gummed up jets.

3. Clean the air filter after every ride. The bikes get finicky when you run a dirty air filter.

4. New top ends were pretty simple, I didnt do them as often as called for in the manual I usually averaged 3 top ends a year, but we didnt ride/race every weekend either. Probably averaged about every 4-5 race. My kids were not on the pipe like some kids are either.

5. Check the radiator before every ride, there were a couple times the bikes got hot and lost some fluid. These bikes are not putt around the yard type either, I had a friend that bought a bike the kid rode around the yard at slow speed for an extended period and seized it. They must have decent airflow for cooling.

6. Never had the dreaded KTM bog some talk about, and never had a stator go bad.

7. Honor the torque specs, I did strip a couple when I was in a hurry and broke one when replacing the rear brake lever.

8. If you do not mind working on and maintaining the bikes it can be enjoyable.
Great Info !!!!! What Ratio did you mix the fuel?
FFDan
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FFDan 4/11/2019 3:30pm
4/11/2019 3:30pm
I didnt mix, I used T2 VP race fuel. T2 is premixed at 40:1.
Moto5497
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Moto5497 4/11/2019 6:17pm
4/11/2019 6:17pm
FFDan wrote:
My experiences after 2 kids and 3 KTM 50s, glad those days are over. In all seriousness they were just fine with great maintenance. 1. The...
My experiences after 2 kids and 3 KTM 50s, glad those days are over. In all seriousness they were just fine with great maintenance.

1. The clutch is a probably the most time consuming, due to frequency, but easy thing to maintain. Change the clutch oil after every moto when racing. Change frequently during play days and practice days. I used Motorex. I did hop up the clutch and used Nihilo bolts and springs. Always keep a replacement clutch.

2. I only ran VP race fuel in the bike and never had a carb problem. I know some how used pump gas and premix and had nothing but problems with gummed up jets.

3. Clean the air filter after every ride. The bikes get finicky when you run a dirty air filter.

4. New top ends were pretty simple, I didnt do them as often as called for in the manual I usually averaged 3 top ends a year, but we didnt ride/race every weekend either. Probably averaged about every 4-5 race. My kids were not on the pipe like some kids are either.

5. Check the radiator before every ride, there were a couple times the bikes got hot and lost some fluid. These bikes are not putt around the yard type either, I had a friend that bought a bike the kid rode around the yard at slow speed for an extended period and seized it. They must have decent airflow for cooling.

6. Never had the dreaded KTM bog some talk about, and never had a stator go bad.

7. Honor the torque specs, I did strip a couple when I was in a hurry and broke one when replacing the rear brake lever.

8. If you do not mind working on and maintaining the bikes it can be enjoyable.
Thank you for all the awesome info! As well as everyone else! Just curious did you run the stock stator cover?
4csHATER
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4csHATER 4/14/2019 4:41pm
4/14/2019 4:41pm
526 wrote:
Why no Micro Bar seems like a great idea ?
they break alot!!!
1
allan350
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allan350 11/4/2019 7:16pm
11/4/2019 7:16pm Edited Date/Time 11/4/2019 7:17pm
When you ran the vp fuel, how did you have your carb. Setup,
dkurtd
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dkurtd 11/5/2019 3:47pm
11/5/2019 3:47pm Edited Date/Time 11/5/2019 3:50pm
allan350 wrote:
When you ran the vp fuel, how did you have your carb. Setup,
These bikes come plenty rich from the factory. Here's what has worked for me, I have jetted a 2015 and 2019 exactly the same and run 93 non-ethanol pump gas at 40:1. Main Jet: 85, Power Jet: 60, Idle Jet: 50, Needle Jet: 260, Needle: W7 (second from top clip). If I was going to run VP C12 I would go up to a 90 Main Jet. I realize everyone doesn't run the same oil or same altitude so my advice is to keep an eye on the plug.
allan350
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allan350 11/5/2019 4:56pm
11/5/2019 4:56pm
Ok thanks a bunch, these carbs are so picky...
dkurtd
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dkurtd 11/5/2019 4:59pm
11/5/2019 4:59pm
One other word of advice, only buy Dellorto jets. Stay away from the cheap Chinese jets on Ebay.
allan350
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allan350 11/5/2019 5:18pm
11/5/2019 5:18pm
Ok perfect

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