Category: preparation

The KTM 640 Adventure has a 625 cc single cylinder engine, what this means in the real world is that it has huge amounts of low down torque and it vibrates everything to bits. No wonder these bikes area called big thumpers! The bike is really capable off road and on the dirt tracks that we will be facing in Africa, however the vibrations have a few disadvantages!

Last Saturday I went down to Bristol and back on the bike to see friends and get some stuff, on the way back I noticed that when the engine was at a certain amount of revs there was an almighty rattle and vibration in the whole bike coming from the bottom of the engine.

When I stopped to take a look I noticed that my rally bash plate was really loose and on closer inspection it seemed that the four screws that hold it in place under the engine had all come loose and fallen out! There were only two bolts on the front holding it on and the vibes had actually broken the bracket that these bolts were attached to!

The bracket that was broken.

Thankfully it held together the last few miles back, I just made sure I didn’t site anywhere near 3000 RPM!

For those of you that don’t know, the bash plate is there to protect the bike and engine from any bangs from underneath, mine is a rally bash plate which means it has two built in tool boxes on either side for handy access and to keep weight low down. I don’t think mine will be doing much protecting till I get it all fixed up though!

The pictures below show the bike with the bash plate on and then the engine without the bash plate as it is now while I wait for a new bracket from Germany!

I’ve had my KTM 640 Adventure for a couple months now and despite not having a huge amount of opportunities to shake it down properly I have been able to do a few trips on it.

In a terrible first trip up North soon after I got the bike the rekluse auto clutch I have fitted from the previous owner managed to break down just outside of Leeds on the M62 to Manchester! Not a happy ending and not the first time I’ve had to make my way back down to London on the train leaving my bike behind.

Thankfully my brother Josh was able to sort it out for me in Leeds and then ride it down to London for me and it’s been trouble free since then.

I’ve also done a trip to Paris and back via the Eurotunnel which was great fun, especially riding around Paris with my mate Rohan on the back. We shot a shaky but funny video of us tearing down the Champs Elysee!

The trip was trouble free and in fact the bike was great, the only thing that I really needed was some heated grips as it is now absolutely freezing and after 30 minutes riding your hands turn to ice blocks.

The picture below is of the bike on the Eurotunne somewhere between England and France.

This last weekend I also did a trip up north from London to Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds before heading back down to London on Sunday night.

I had a wicked time in all three places seeing family and friends, though again it was my hands that suffered the most! I really must get some heated grips for both bikes or it is going to be a very painful journey through Europe in January!

The picture below is of a friend Naomi trying the bike out for size. I don’t think many people can really get their feet down on the ground as it is such a big bike!

The only minor failure on the bike on this trip was that one of the bolts on the hard panniers vibrated out and was lost somewhere on a motorway in England! It is the bolt that attaches the rack to the footpeg hanger and the frame just above Naomi’s heel in the picture above.

Lesson learnt – always loctite everything and check the bolts on the KTM regularly as it is such a vibby bike that stuff just vibrates off over time!

Still the bike is going strong though there are just so many things to be done to it to get it finally ready for Africa and the big trip.

Watch this space for further updates as we are now entering the critical last few weeks before departure and the list of things to do doesn’t seem to be getting smaller!