Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

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adventure steele
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Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by adventure steele »

Hey everyone hope we are all keeping well so everything went a bit sideways for this summer and for our planned Iceland trip ended up selling my vstrom 650xt big mistake and dad sold his gsxr for a pair of 390 ktms which in the short of it, they didn't make it past 270 miles an the issues were starting pretty much right away which kept growing in the list of problems.

Ktm wernt much help so that lead to the dealer doing the right thing and taking them back under rejection so kudos to them.

As few of the issues had no superseeded part yet to fix. One being the displays on both bikes filling full of condensation and on dad's it constantly stalling where mine wasn't also one bike had a high frequency vibration compared to the other.

My display was alot worse than dads which lead to me being unable to read the display across all of it. The biggest worry being if that happened in Iceland would they freeze and crack which I'd read about happening so after the dealer doing the right thing as there was lots of other issues on them to.

That lead me onto trying to decide what next.

In the middle of all this I'm in the process of looking at moving to Scotland so that lead me to ruling the mighty himalayan out as I'm back an forward on the Motorway while looking at houses over winter so fancied a 6th gear.

The vstrom 650xt weirdly had shot up to near 500-700 on the insurance an the new 800 comes out.

The Guzzi v85tt was another contender but was 1k on the insurance ouch!! That ruled that out.

Which lead me back to a Gs which I didn't expect I'd say 250 fully comp on the insurance protected no claims etc.
I had a 2014 gsa 1200 a few years back and an f800gs.

Which I'd had a few issues with but the difference in how BMW handled it swung it for me. I guess we were unlucky with the ktms as some have good experiences but having issues on both at once was a problem.

After a bit of hunting and expecting to travel about a bit I wound up finding one local at Williams in Manchester which certainly saved having to trek about for one.

So heres my new to me 2018 R1200GS TE Rallye with 20k on the clock an looking pretty mint really an luckily all the toys :) I made sure to check the warranty history n all it had was a rubber Grommet on the screen so that was good.

Currently just fitted a TFT anti Theft device from Cymarc the screen support brackets and a Puig Touring screen going to do a video on that next week.

Hope you all enjoy the pics n video an ill bring some more mods as I prep the bike an dad decides if he wants one to.

In a way I think it compliments my Vintage Nortons having something tech laden. Was actually hard to do the video as there's not much that hasn't been said about the GS over the years. N in the end at the moment I'm glad to be back on one :)

The plan now is a bit of an easier route in Iceland and mainly touring Norway which should be lots of fun.

Here's a clip bimbling roud the Peak District and generally relaxing on the GS :) I'll be posting in the thread about the trips to Scotland exploring areas and getting ready for our Europe trip.

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Richard Simpson Mark II
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by Richard Simpson Mark II »

KTM in the UK need to take a long, hard, look at themselves...in the enduro world people are increasingly turning to Beta and others because of KTM 'quality'. If KTM is having quality problems, then they need to put them right. Well done to the dealer for doing the right thing.
KTM's flirtation with India and China reminds me of the days of Daimler-Chrysler...Chrysler was going to teach Mercedes how to build cars cheaply and Daimler was going to teach Chrysler how to build cars well. It didn't turn out like that, and the three-pointed star tuned to sh1T
I hear in the trials world that the new GasGases built under Pierer Mobility ownership are not as good quality as the ones built under cash-strapped Spanish ownership. Which should be a worry!
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by Magnusson »

Weird issues with the KTM's. A stalling issue in older ECU firmware is known, but should have been easily fixed with a dealer upgrade. Maybe that upgrade hadn't been done on your father's bike. Or it could have been "tuned" by someone who had more ambition than knowledge. Or it's something else. The dash should not have suffered from freezing issue in Iceland, it's not that cold in the summer, but the British winter could have been a different story. At least it's not your worry anymore.

What bike is your dad taking to Iceland now? Another 1200GS?
Last edited by Magnusson on Thu Oct 27, 2022 11:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by adventure steele »

Hi Richard totally agree lots of people reached out via Instagram and were having clutches letting go at under 5k one guy was on his 7th screen o.o they really need to get a grip of it.

Hi Magnusson they were both brand new bikes arrived to us with 2 milss on the clock on the latest software updates. Was lots of other issues as well unfortunately. Indeed it was causing issues in the Peak District so could only imagine it in the Highlands where I'm thinking of moving in winter I dont drive a car so my bikes my main transport :) so ride all year round as you say least the dealer did the right thing

He's thinking about a 1250 but wants to see how I get on with mine on the long trips up to Scotland which I think makes sense after our recent experience.

Itl be interesting to see what the new Himalayan is like when it launches I think there's a definite gap in the market for a very high end high quality lightweight adv it's crying out for it.
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by Tonibe63 »

To my mind buying the latest model just puts you in the hands of a dealer where any issues become a paper trail of blame whilst the rider is left stranded. Last month, whilst in Ireland, I heard the tale of 4 German riders on new bikes doing the WAW. One guys bike developed a major oil leak which meant the bike had to be recovered back to Germany and the rider flown home thereby wrecking his trip ....... WTF!
For me knowing the bike and being able to solve problems yourself is key to enjoying the trip and the last thing you need is new technology, lack of knowledge and poor parts availability.
Open your eyes and you see what is in front of you, open your mind and you see a bigger picture but open your heart and you see a whole new World.
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by johnnyboxer »

Richard Simpson Mark II wrote:KTM in the UK need to take a long, hard, look at themselves...

I hear in the trials world that the new GasGases built under Pierer Mobility ownership are not as good quality as the ones built under cash-strapped Spanish ownership. Which should be a worry!
Who says that ?
We buy things we don't need



With money we don't have



To impress people we don't even like
adventure steele
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by adventure steele »

Indeed Tonibe that's why I like my Norton's very easy to work on and rebuild with just a few tools never left me where I've not been able to do something and get it home an the 650ss from 1967 has only ever needed service schedule bits nothings ever gone wrong in 12 years an lots of winter riding as a daily just goes to show really.

Was also some of the reasoning behind going for the last of the 1200LC's rather than the newest 1250. Having said that dad loves that new colourway on the 1250 Trophy so we shall see what he ends up on. An that was the thinking behind going back for a GS as my previous GSA had a bit of trouble and was sorted swiftly which was why I jumped back for a BMW It's interesting having put quite a few miles on the 2014 GSA comparing it to the normal size GS.

Ps sorry for the rubbish audio everyone figured out what was going on going to redo a new video over the weekend.
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by Richard Simpson Mark II »

johnnyboxer wrote: Fri Oct 28, 2022 8:36 am
Richard Simpson Mark II wrote:KTM in the UK need to take a long, hard, look at themselves...

I hear in the trials world that the new GasGases built under Pierer Mobility ownership are not as good quality as the ones built under cash-strapped Spanish ownership. Which should be a worry!
Who says that ?
Guy on the KTM Forum...his son has a 'new' GasGas trials bike...cheap and nasty control levers compared to the 'old' GGs for starters.
The lure of China/India allowing respected European manufacturers to sell tat at premium prices.
It will work for a while...
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by Scott_rider »

I like the colour scheme on that bike 8-) .
Suzuki GSX-S1000F...the KTM 450 EXC-R has gone
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Re: Back on a 1200GS no more Ktms! Let's get ready for Norway

Post by adventure steele »

Thanks Scott :) me to about a week before we had to shut our family company I very nearly got one on finance when they came out funny how things work out was able to get it outright this time round an I've gotta say the previous owner it's a credit to him condition wise very nice.

Just exporting a new video sussed out the stupid Gopro audio adapter must have worked loose again an it was running off the internal mic's on the other video.

Much better on this video I'm uploading now so hopefully I'll be able to share that with you all Saturday day time, tried to cover what I liked n what my other options were bike wise an why I went for the GS :) also went to a must visit place for us GS owners but I wont ruin the surprise on that one. :lol:
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