Loosening spokes on KTM rear wheel

If you read MXA test for the last few years they recommend regular spoke checking on KTM and Huskies. Just one of those things.

Some have had issues, like already said it is constant check thing. Others have has no problems. I didn't want the hassle, so I just relaced with better spokes/nipples.

That's no fun, definitely make sure you are tightening them incrementally/evenly and go around the wheel doing every 3rd spoke.

I stayed on top of the wheels on both of my Huskies. None of the spokes ever settled in on either bike, and they all ended up going out of round or getting wobble in them. Definitely the worst factory wheels I've ever experienced.

I bought a set of wheels from Faster USA with A60s and bulldog spokes for both. Problem solved. They're heavier, but they're bomb proof. After the first ride, the spokes settled in and have stayed tight.

The rims are what's causing that, assuming you've torqued the spokes correctly. It'll keep happening too, because the rims are soft as butter due to both cheaper and lighter alloys being used.

The spokes are worth replacing as well though, because one could argue that they don't make enough thread contact within the nipple, which leads to shearing off nipples even if they haven't necessarily been overtightened (they switched to aluminum nipples back in '09 if I remember correctly, which is weaker than steel). Also, the drive side of the rear hub is extremely thin, and they only have a single bearing on that side. The Japanese bikes all come with double bearings on the drive side for strength and durability.


All three things I just listed technically contribute to KTM's weight saving attributes, but they come with downsides that basically domino one component failing into to the next, which you're unfortunately running into.

Hope that all makes sense.

Had a 2012 model with the same problem, it's a ktm thing

FiendzCC wrote:

The rims are what's causing that, assuming you've torqued the spokes correctly. It'll keep happening too, because the rims are ...more

FiendzCC wrote:

The rims are what's causing that, assuming you've torqued the spokes correctly. It'll keep happening too, because the rims are soft as butter due to both cheaper and lighter alloys being used.

The spokes are worth replacing as well though, because one could argue that they don't make enough thread contact within the nipple, which leads to shearing off nipples even if they haven't necessarily been overtightened (they switched to aluminum nipples back in '09 if I remember correctly, which is weaker than steel). Also, the drive side of the rear hub is extremely thin, and they only have a single bearing on that side. The Japanese bikes all come with double bearings on the drive side for strength and durability.


All three things I just listed technically contribute to KTM's weight saving attributes, but they come with downsides that basically domino one component failing into to the next, which you're unfortunately running into.

Hope that all makes sense.

...more

Thanks for the help. Sounds like I should look into getting different rims and spokes.

Take off the rim strip that they use and use a double wrap of duct tape half-width. I had the spoke near the rim lock loosen up and back off and it can't do it with the tape. Mine have not loosened on my 17 450SXF and my new Husky after they took a seat. I will say the Husky has the DID Dirtstar rims which are much higher quality that the unbranded Excel rims and that is a factor.

I have the 18.5' 450 factory edition and zero spoke loosening issues. Probably due to the rim change on the new bikes.

The spokes on my ‘17 settles after about 20 hours. Have been holding strong for a while now.