Dirtmobile - A KTM 990 Build

Willman

Active member
That rear rack plate is killer. Technology is pretty cool....

I enjoy reading your build. Killer bike BTW.
 

Mechanical

Adventurer
High Front Fender Kit

OEM KTM Parts - http://bit.ly/8c62pI
#5030801030020 - x1 - 03-08 Exc Front fender (white)
#4700109400030 - x1 - KTM Fork Protector
#59001092050 - x4 - Special Screw
#0014060203n - x4 - HH Collar Screw
#54808020000 - x4 - Spacer Bushing
#60013025100 - x2 - Front Brake Hose Guide
#60013025050 - x2 - Rubber for Brake Hose

Other Parts
#10 x 3/4" Screw - x2
#10 Nylock Nut - x2


When riding the bike in muddy conditions, it is possible for the low fender to pack full of mud and cause the front tire to lock up. This doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me, so I decided to put a high fender on the bike. You can buy assembled "kits" to do this modification but they are roughly $120.00 more than just ordering the OEM parts yourself. If you don't order a kit, you will also have to build some small brackets to adapt the fork protectors to the 990's forks. I built the brackets out of 10ga 5052-H36 aluminum. Other than these brackets, the modification is fairly straight forward.

To use the EXC fender, spacers must be inserted below the triple clamps to give the brake lines adequate space to move around. Most people use 3/4" conduit couplers as spacers. We had some aluminum spacers laying around our shop, so I just used those.

20130213165720.jpg


The stock ABS wire mount must be cut off.

20130213175956.jpg



The left hand bracket (top in picture) has an extra hole to secure the ABS wire with a zip-tie.

20130216083932.jpg


I simply bent the brackets with a vise and hammer.

20130216084134i.jpg


After ensuring that the brackets lined up with with the forks, I used them as a template to drill holes in the fork protectors.

Left side buttoned up.

img3575t.jpg


Right side buttoned up.

img3580h.jpg


I also chose to move the brake lines to the outside of the forks, this is easily done by removing the calipers and moving the lines around the forks.



Final product. Overall, I'm pretty happy how everything turned out. The brackets look only... mostly cobbled together. Some 990 guys complain about the droopy EXC fender, but I think it has grown on me.



 
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Mechanical

Adventurer
Tank Bag
Wolfman Enduro Tank Bag - http://bit.ly/hnLwd9

I needed somewhere to store my tools and an extra sweatshirt on shorter rides. This bag has been perfect. This expandable bag is not waterproof, but does come with a waterproof cover. It has a ton of attachment points, and a clear top pouch for a maps/gps.

 

Mechanical

Adventurer
Crashbar Stud Mounts

McMaster-Carr Parts - http://bit.ly/bG9cQA
2x #98863A320 Metric 316 Stainless Steel Fully Threaded Stud, M8 Size, 40MM Length, 1.25MM Pitch
4x #96621A220 Metric Bumax 88 Stainless Steel Hex Nut, M8 Size, 1.25MM Pitch, 13MM Width, 6.5MM Height (Sold in packs of 5)
2x #94205A260 Metric Type 316 Stainless Steel Nylon-Insert Hex Locknut, M8 Size, 1.25MM Pitch, 13MM Width, 8MM Height (Sold in Packs of 25)

OC HOW Instructions

It is a royal pain in the butt to align the mounting plate, aluminum guard plate, crash guard spacer, and crash guards every time you have to remove the crash bars. This modification converts the tapped hole to a stud.

Installation is pretty straight forward. You need to replicate the stock bolt/spacer combination by jamming two nuts together on the mounting studs. Test fit everything before applying RED loctight.

Two new studs on left, original bolt and spacer on right.
20130314192735.jpg


Before
20130314191947.jpg


After
 
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Frank

Explorer
Thats quite the trick there ;)

I will say for others doing this modification, ensure you do some test fitting before securing it all together. Getting the crash bar over the stud, yet not getting it hung up on the exhaust is pretty finesse.
 

Mechanical

Adventurer
Thats quite the trick there ;)

I had the parts sitting in my garage before you updated your build thread... honestly. ;)

I will say for others doing this modification, ensure you do some test fitting before securing it all together. Getting the crash bar over the stud, yet not getting it hung up on the exhaust is pretty finesse.

I think the crash bars for the 990 are slightly different than the 950. I didn't have any problems with the exhaust, however, the bent tabs at the end of the crashbar mounts made it fairly difficult to get a socket on the new locknut.



At least they look different in this picture:
010.jpg





...and a teaser of things to come:
 
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Mechanical

Adventurer
BRP Sub-Mount kit and Scotts Steering Damper

BRP Sub-Mount kit and Scotts Steering Damper - http://bit.ly/10ibDzn
Scotts Installation Instructions - http://bit.ly/XfInOx
HOW Installation Instructions - http://bit.ly/14zHMcR

I really had a lot of reservations before buying this thing. My mental checklist was:

Am I the caliber of rider who will benefit from a stabilizer? Definitely... maybe? This is always a tough question to answer.

Will the stabilizer be a band-aid which will only allow me to continue some of my bad riding habits? Probably yes.

Has anyone who has bought the stabilizer regretted buying it? Definitely no.

Should I just buy the upper triple clamp, or buy both offset clamps? Currently, I just didn't feel that I'm the caliber of rider that would get the extra $700.00 of benefit from offset clamps. I really want to ride a bike that has them equipped. Someday I might find the need for them, but right now this just seemed like the best deal.

Some say a stabilizer can just be a band-aid for improperly tuned forks. My forks are definitely too soft (new springs are on the way), but with a 2up trip to Moab in the coming week, I wanted something that would help with sand/loose rocks and be easier to set up in a short amount of time. The damper seemed to be the ticket.

Installation of the damper is slightly complicated, however, Scotts instructions are very good. Unfortunately, during my install there was a lot of swearing and not much picture taking.

I followed the directions exactly for the removal of the stock triple clamp. I loosely secured the front tire to the center stand with a ratchet strap. This held the forks in place perfectly, and the new clamps slid on with ease. If you do secure the forks this way, I would just take care not to tighten the ratchet strap too tight.

A lousy picture of how I secured the forks.



Stock clamps removed



I did choose to drill and use an easyout to remove the security screws on the ignition switch. This worked really well, however I did break one easyout. I would just suggest using a pretty large easyout to remove the screws. It took a surprising amount of torque to get the screws out.

20130314175514.jpg


After getting the screws out the installation was really easy. The new BRP clamps slid right into place. I torqued down the bolts, installed and greased the tower pin and took the beast for a ride.



I haven't had the chance to ride the bike in any conditions where I would actually need the damper. I'm headed to Moab next week. Upon my return I'll try to give a noob's perspective on this gold piece of bike bling.
 
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Mechanical

Adventurer
Black Dog Cycleworks Skid Plate

Black Dog Cycleworks Skid Plate - http://bit.ly/YiHWBI

I wanted a little more protection for the bottom of the bike. The Black Dog unit seems to be a battle-proven skid plate. It has the added bonus of providing extra protection for the kickstand and clutch cover. Mine fit perfectly, and installation was trivial.

Old vs. New


img3655b.jpg


img3656vr.jpg


 
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Mechanical

Adventurer
I <3 slednecking

Snowmobiling? Yeah, I really miss it. Especially after watching the Jackson hill climb last weekend. The specs on some of those new sleds are insane. However, riding this thing in the sand is basically the same thing... steer with your hips and grab a lot of throttle.
 

Mechanical

Adventurer
Rotopax Pannier Rack Mounts

2x 1 Gal Rotopax cans - http://tinyurl.com/d78ujes
2x Rotopax Mounts - http://tinyurl.com/cwq6yrf

Fabricated Parts:
Mounting Plates

I needed an easy solution to haul some more fuel on the bike. I eventually want to do the 2-into-1 exhaust conversion with an extra fuel tank, but for now this should work fine. I cut some side plates out of 3/16" 5052-H36 aluminum to mount the Rotopax cans to the racks. I bobbed the corners of the plates so I can still mount wolfman soft bags over the gas cans.

Cut out on laser



The plates just cover the center line of the tubing for the pannier racks. They are held in place with the top halves of 1/2" hydraulic hose retainers. The clamps are built out of polyethylene with a stainless steel backing plate. These are much stronger than conduit clamps, and if I ever break one I can just turn the clamp 180 deg and use the other side. I'm not sure where we get these things, but I would guess your local John Deere / Case dealer may have some. I also cut out a few spacers to ensure the clamps would be properly aligned.

Clamp Assembly

img3646mt.jpg


img3639ad.jpg


Plates fit pretty well

img3645l.jpg


Bolted on the Rotopax mounts

img3648v.jpg


Should boost my range up to around 250 miles

img3650ag.jpg




I still need to find some rubber feet to protect the cans from rubbing the bolt heads/plates. But other than that, this should work pretty well.
 
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