(Ir)Regular Maintenance

BISavage

BISavage

champion rider
Joined
Oct 8, 2020
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So I wanted to find a place to talk about maintenance, and not specifically oil.

To start, I have been piping around on a Remus for a couple of weeks so far, which I found to make a noticeable improvement to the performance.
Today, I utilized a spot of 5 minutes to change out the DNA Racing air filter which had about 5000 miles on it,... and judging by the debris could use a rinse.

Then went for a second spin. 🤯

The new, stock, KTM filter I dropped-in in combination with the Remus brought the bike to another level.
Its as if it gets a second wind somewhere after 8k letting 'er pull like an '86 Laser Turbo...

I had to learn to ride it all over again.
 
aitormartin said:
The DNA filter is washable, isn't it? I recently purchased the K&N one
Click to expand...
Exactly why I took it out, to wash it.

And because it takes time to do that, properly, I put in the new stock one which I had laying around, and 🤯

To be fair, the other test would be how the fresh and clean dna does with the Remus vs. the fresh stock.

With the GP One pipe it was definately working better than stock, so...
 
How often do you wash it btw? I read the K&N one has to be washed every 80.000km, which sounds absurd
 
I treat other vehicles with k&n a bit different than bikes...same goes for oil... I would never leave oil in a bike for 2 years or 24000 km...

I had the dna inside for 8000 km and it is not discolored or caked, only some bits of sandy grit and debris are visible.
 
It said 80.000km in the box (I think), but I planned to do it way more often of course. 8.000km sounds reasonable
 
Just know that DNA and K&N filters let in more fine dust particles than the stock does, which, can lead to added piston ring and valve wear. Part of the filtration of these kind of filters is actually done by the dust it already caught, clogging the pores of the cotton a little. They filter better when they're dirty...

"Performance" airfilters do no let in more air in your engine, they are not the restrictive part in the injet trajectory. That's typically the shape of the whole airbox, the opening it has, and especially the "trumpet" on the throttle body inside the airbox.

Friend of mine is a tuner, and has dyno'd hundreds FTR1200 (he tunes Indian and Victory), which has a similar style flat filter element as the 401 and 701 have. He never moticed any difference between a paper filter, and a DNA or K&N. Not in power, not in AF ratio...
 
I actually bought the K&N because of cost. I bought it for 45€ + shipping, while the stock one costs 20€ + shipping. I wasn't looking for a performance boost, but wanted to try it for myself nevertheless. Of course I didn't notice any change.

But after what you said I'm kinda regretting it 😅
 
After what I felt yesterday, I was refreshing my reading on something about resonance charging.

I think that it is important to look that the exhaust and intake match with each other, which is probably why the LeoVince pipe worked better with the DNA and the Remus works better fully stock; the Pipes were tuned to different parameters.

This link may explain why I felt like there is "boost".

Dynamic Charging

dieselnet.com dieselnet.com
 
Here I go off on a tangent:
Even with changing the ecu (which is probably healthy for the bike), I wonder which gains would be expected through airbox modification.

Allow me to assert that gains through airbox mods to a certain Rev Range will certainly result in losses elsewhere in the Torque Curve.

When at the strip, a decat with open lid is most definately quicker off the line.
All the low end is gone and even biggest grip on the gas would leave the front end flat on the pavement until atleast halfway through the gear when it comes alive; 1320 later in easily 3 tenths less.

But how often do we take our 'pilens to Famoso?
 
I've always considered the intake more sensitive than the exhaust...
I mean, you can usually change the muffle on the exhaust without messing up the A/F ratio too much, but as soon as you start messing with the intake you really have rejet/remap. And some of these aftermarket air filters have much different flow than stock; diferent materials and different surface area, etc.
 
I am contradicting my experiences with this bike,

1. Semi-Synthetic Oil - never, in the last 20 year... I don't want to blow my motors....
2. Paper Filter - Trash Can Day 1, wheres my K&N

And now...
 
Speaking placebo, a while ago I was reading somewhere that you can get more power outta the bike with a 3.5 bar fuel pressure regulator.

I just stumble across the page in the service manual which describes how to check the fuel pump, and which pressure should read on the test guage....good thing I didnt tear it apart to put in one of those fancy 3.5 thing a ma jigs.
Max Kool said:
Placebos are real 😁

(my bike rides better after I washed/cleaned it, and even better with a full tank as well)
Click to expand...

If course it does, better aero dynamics from washing, and additional fuel pressure due to gravity pushing the fuel into the pump. Duh...
 
So, next up on the maintenance chart for 15000km:

VALVES!

Checked them, 1 Intake was towards the max tolerance, the other 3 valves were toward the min tolerance.
Next time I open it I will probably need go with new shims on those 3.

Put in an NGK Plug to test back to back vs. Brisk id been running.

Noticed alot of dirt at the seal for the valve cover around the spark plug tube, so I swapped it; reused the original valve cover gasket, which was in good shape, after cleaning it and applying black loctite to the head.

Also cleaned up the wiring and hose routing while it was apart, and hit the hard to get at spots with some MotoProtect.

Tips: Bring alot of time with you to the garage.
There isnt much room and it doesnt hurt to double/tripple check a couple times after rotating the engine (via the tire). For this step I used two different feeler guages.
Less fuel in the tank makes it lighter to take out, more fuel in the tank makes it easier to put back in, and make sure you have someplace to put it where the pump on the bottom has space, like a milk crate.
If you dont know what your doing, let someone else do it who does.

20210420_155513.jpg
 
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