I too have a 2019 790 Adventure that needed no adjustment of the valves when serviced a month ago at 19,000 miles. If the Internet is to be believed we probably have the only two 790/890/Norden that have not self-destructed the cams
Thanks for the explanation of the clip. Due to all the articles about premature cam wear on the 790/890 I decided to take a look at the cams, mine were fine thankfully but I have only low miles. I agree fully the radiator needs to come off to get access. I have no idea how the KTM guys can achieve an accurate measurement of the valve clearances only the parts explained in the service manual, it's almost impossible.
Yes, it was so much easier after removing the radiator. On the issue of unusual cam wear for some, my guess is poor oil quality, bad air filter, or drowning of the bike in a water crossing.
Thank you for the informative video. It was helpful while I get into this engine for the first time. They're all a bit different, of course. I'm not sure I agree with your #2 first suggestion, though. If you follow the normal procedure you aren't going to rotate the engine while the retaining clip is out. You seem to have removed it before you rotated to #2 TDC, which caused the problem. Am I wrong about something? Then, I'm having trouble getting reliable readings on the #2 cylinder exhaust valves. All others are in spec for me at 15,500 miles, but those two seem very loose. I've worked up to about .45mm so far. I wonder if I'm forcing the valve open or something. Any thoughts?
@@clintbuhs7708 Hi Clint. Whatever works. Important thing is to get TDC right when working with #2 before removing the clip. After removing the clip, I wasn’t satisfied with my attempt at TDC and went another few rounds with the crank. My opinion with the cam problems is the 790 or 890 Adventure is the most abused ADV bike. Some riders not diligent with air filter maintenance causing wear in the valves - valve clearance goes below spec and overloads the cams.
@@stant5725 It’s a fairing from Rebel X. No practical reason. Just to make it more pleasant to my eyes. Had to fabricate a wind deflector/spoiler underneath to improve wind protection. Half circle aluminium that is attached to the triple clamp and a plastic sheet attached to the Rebel X fairing with a matching half circle cutout. Wind screen is by Givi.
I have a new Svartpilen 801 with the KTM 790 engine. Is the cold start engine you reference the engine cutting out within a minute of cold start? My bike does that more than 50% of the time. The dealer just shrugs their shoulders and says nothing shows up on the ECU.
No. Sluggish to start when not used for a while and weather is cold. It would take two or three presses of the starter button before it would go. So, I also checked my battery, ignition coils, and spark plugs. All were good. That's when I noticed the standard spark plugs had an unusually large 1.0mm gap (unusual in my experience experience anyway). I thought I would try a smaller gap spark plug (irredium plugs are not meant to be adjusted). This helped with the cold starts and the colour of the plugs after use we're much better. Then after a year I changed the battery to the equivalent lithium ion. This definetly helped too.
Cams were good. The manual recommends checking clearances every 30,000 kilometers. I did mine at around 27K. Will do another check maybe at 50K. The manual also recommends that we change spark plugs every 30K kilometers. Will check the plugs maybe at 40K.
I've had the bike since 2019 and done close to 28K. I'm happy with it, know it intimately and will keep it for a bit. I'm sorry you did not have a good experience with your bike.
It could be that just by fitting a lithium battery will prevent the cold starting problem. I fitted a lithium battery early on (after around 2000 km), and have never had a cold start problem.
Good to hear that the lithium battery worked for you. On my bike, I changed the spark plugs at 18kms, in Feb2022, long before I went to lithium. At that time the original battery was still half decent. I also measured the resistance of the ignition coils just in case. Ignition coils were good. The spark plug change helped my bike. Changed the battery at 23kms, in Mar2023. Will never go back to conventional battery again on this bike!
@@RedRupert64 Both helped. Being a cheapskate, I used the original battery until it finally died. The 0.8mm plugs prevented cold start problems with the orignal battery for a little over a year. When I finally changed to lithuim, it got the added bonus of powerful cranking torque every single time.
@@RedRupert64 The plug is an NGK irridium type. The gap is preset at the factory. NGK do not recommend adjusting the gap on this spark plug. But I heard it can be done.
Hello from Mexico, would you share with me your technical manual, either in a PDF file, or something similar... checking the valves correctly, your video is very interesting, but it is also good to have that maintenance manual.
@@manuelbautista4613 while sharing the service manual is technically illegal, I understand why a person would. With all that KTM have put us through on the camshaft issue it seems like they owe us that much. Since your link is dead, please consider deleting this comment. Thank you for a very helpful video.
I too have a 2019 790 Adventure that needed no adjustment of the valves when serviced a month ago at 19,000 miles. If the Internet is to be believed we probably have the only two 790/890/Norden that have not self-destructed the cams
Very easy bike to own, work on and live with. My unicorn bike.
Thanks for the explanation of the clip. Due to all the articles about premature cam wear on the 790/890 I decided to take a look at the cams, mine were fine thankfully but I have only low miles. I agree fully the radiator needs to come off to get access. I have no idea how the KTM guys can achieve an accurate measurement of the valve clearances only the parts explained in the service manual, it's almost impossible.
Yes, it was so much easier after removing the radiator.
On the issue of unusual cam wear for some, my guess is poor oil quality, bad air filter, or drowning of the bike in a water crossing.
Thank you for the informative video. It was helpful while I get into this engine for the first time. They're all a bit different, of course.
I'm not sure I agree with your #2 first suggestion, though. If you follow the normal procedure you aren't going to rotate the engine while the retaining clip is out. You seem to have removed it before you rotated to #2 TDC, which caused the problem. Am I wrong about something?
Then, I'm having trouble getting reliable readings on the #2 cylinder exhaust valves. All others are in spec for me at 15,500 miles, but those two seem very loose. I've worked up to about .45mm so far. I wonder if I'm forcing the valve open or something. Any thoughts?
@@clintbuhs7708 Hi Clint.
Whatever works. Important thing is to get TDC right when working with #2 before removing the clip. After removing the clip, I wasn’t satisfied with my attempt at TDC and went another few rounds with the crank.
My opinion with the cam problems is the 790 or 890 Adventure is the most abused ADV bike. Some riders not diligent with air filter maintenance causing wear in the valves - valve clearance goes below spec and overloads the cams.
Hello Manuel. Great video.
Can you please tell me what plastic fairing is on your bike?
Looks great!
Thanks
@@stant5725 It’s a fairing from Rebel X. No practical reason. Just to make it more pleasant to my eyes. Had to fabricate a wind deflector/spoiler underneath to improve wind protection. Half circle aluminium that is attached to the triple clamp and a plastic sheet attached to the Rebel X fairing with a matching half circle cutout.
Wind screen is by Givi.
Thanks
I have a new Svartpilen 801 with the KTM 790 engine. Is the cold start engine you reference the engine cutting out within a minute of cold start? My bike does that more than 50% of the time. The dealer just shrugs their shoulders and says nothing shows up on the ECU.
No. Sluggish to start when not used for a while and weather is cold. It would take two or three presses of the starter button before it would go.
So, I also checked my battery, ignition coils, and spark plugs. All were good. That's when I noticed the standard spark plugs had an unusually large 1.0mm gap (unusual in my experience experience anyway). I thought I would try a smaller gap spark plug (irredium plugs are not meant to be adjusted). This helped with the cold starts and the colour of the plugs after use we're much better.
Then after a year I changed the battery to the equivalent lithium ion. This definetly helped too.
Any issues with your cams? How do they look? Do you recommend checking valve clearance more often than 18k miles?
Cams were good. The manual recommends checking clearances every 30,000 kilometers. I did mine at around 27K. Will do another check maybe at 50K.
The manual also recommends that we change spark plugs every 30K kilometers. Will check the plugs maybe at 40K.
Bonus spark plug tip. 👍🏼
I’ve been using the 0.8 mm gap plugs for almost 4 years. Starts instantly every time.
Good idea! If you have the 0.8mm plug part num that’d be super useful
@@buaan 0.8mm plug is NGK LMAR9AI-8
Stock 1.0mm plug is LMAR9AI-10
If you’re out of warranty, the best bet is to sell the KTM quickly and get yourself a new bike with a different engine.
I've had the bike since 2019 and done close to 28K. I'm happy with it, know it intimately and will keep it for a bit. I'm sorry you did not have a good experience with your bike.
It could be that just by fitting a lithium battery will prevent the cold starting problem. I fitted a lithium battery early on (after around 2000 km), and have never had a cold start problem.
Good to hear that the lithium battery worked for you. On my bike, I changed the spark plugs at 18kms, in Feb2022, long before I went to lithium. At that time the original battery was still half decent. I also measured the resistance of the ignition coils just in case. Ignition coils were good. The spark plug change helped my bike. Changed the battery at 23kms, in Mar2023. Will never go back to conventional battery again on this bike!
@@manuelbautista4613 So do you think the spark plug change cured the cold start problem, or the battery?
@@RedRupert64 Both helped. Being a cheapskate, I used the original battery until it finally died. The 0.8mm plugs prevented cold start problems with the orignal battery for a little over a year. When I finally changed to lithuim, it got the added bonus of powerful cranking torque every single time.
@@manuelbautista4613 If it's the plug gap that's causing (or influencing) the cold start problem, one could close the gap on a 1mm plug.
@@RedRupert64 The plug is an NGK irridium type. The gap is preset at the factory. NGK do not recommend adjusting the gap on this spark plug. But I heard it can be done.
Hello from Mexico, would you share with me your technical manual, either in a PDF file, or something similar... checking the valves correctly, your video is very interesting, but it is also good to have that maintenance manual.
drive.google.com/file/d/14itxBWSxk_pCTbvFsozDVYj6lNIjPO-K/view?usp=sharing
@@manuelbautista4613 while sharing the service manual is technically illegal, I understand why a person would. With all that KTM have put us through on the camshaft issue it seems like they owe us that much.
Since your link is dead, please consider deleting this comment.
Thank you for a very helpful video.