[mad_mardigen]

Warped rotors, yep. I noticed that when braking lightly, like coming up to a gentle stop the brakes felt grabby (for lack of a better word) . It made it difficult to judge when the bike was actually going to stop.


I brought the bike in for the first service and mentioned this issue to the service personnel, They tried the bike and noticed it as well, so they contacted KTM for guidance.
KTM response was for them to remove the rotors and clean the rotors with scotch bright and if that did not fix the issue to replace the rotors.


The service dept did the scotch bright cleaning and it seemed to work at first but now with 1500 km on the bike the grabbing issue is as pronounced as ever.
I will be calling the service department tomorrow to schedule an appointment to have the rotors replaced.


All in all I'm disappointed, this is the first time I have Brembo brakes and also the first time I ever had an issue with braking on any bike I have ever owned. That is, apart from changing pads.

 

[mad_mardigen]

Update, I called my dealers service department on Monday July 30th and told them the issue with the rotors has not gone away. They told me OK well order the rotors and let you know when they arrive.

So the following week I called back to get an update, they have no information on file about ordering new rotors and say they have to contact KTM for authorization. I said WTF? What about the call last week? And why do you now need to contact KTM? on my first service invoice it’s clearly printed “From KTM: scotch bright rotors if that does not work replace rotors” but the guy held firm that he has to contact KTM before ordering the rotors and he will get back to me when he hears back from them, the call ends.


Not satisfied with were this was going I called KTM to lodge a formal complaint against my dealer.
I informed them about all the issues I have had with this dealer,
Closed fuel petcock that left me on the side of the road, initially refusing to pay towing.
After scheduling a first service apt, when I showed up they had no record of the apt
And finally the rotor issue.

KTM service was excellent; they got the ball rolling immediately. An hour passes the dealer calls and tell me rotors and pads have been ordered and they will contact me as soon as they arrive for the swap.

Fast forward to today, I received a voice mail from my dealer “your pads are in but the rotors are back ordered till Sept 24th!”

I did not even bother wasting my time calling the dealer, I called KTM directly, their response “well get you the rotors by the end of next week even if we have to pull them off another bike”

So my evaluation of the situation so far KTM +10 Dealer 0

 

[mad_mardigen]

and yet again another update.



Rotors were replace along with pads with 3200km on the OD. The Bike ran fine for a while then around 4000km the lever started pulsating again and the low speed braking precision slowly got worse.
at 5000 KM I brought it back to the dealer and they confirmed that both rotors are out. They have contacted KTM and are waiting for a reply.


So far I'm not impressed, if you read on ADV forum you will find over six pages of my KTM adventure rotors are warped since feb. 2018 and the only real solution go after market seriously?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/front-disc-warping.1281146/


Also I noted another disquieting trait related to the front brake, If your traveling at about 40 to 50km with the clutch engaged and you rapidly tap on the from brake lever three or four times you will feel the fever fight back and very little breaking power will be available on the third or forth go, this is not a one time occurrence I can reproduce this effect at will.
I am interested to find out if any of you experience this as well.

 

[Konnor]

Really disappointing to hear that your dealer has been so unreliable. If you hadn't reached out to KTM directly, I'd bet that you'd still be waiting on them to get around to having your issue addressed. Have you considered maybe taking the bike elsewhere moving forward? Or is that the only location in your immediate area?

 

[mad_mardigen]

Really disappointing to hear that your dealer has been so unreliable. If you hadn't reached out to KTM directly, I'd bet that you'd still be waiting on them to get around to having your issue addressed. Have you considered maybe taking the bike elsewhere moving forward? Or is that the only location in your immediate area?

unfortunately they are the only dealer around, same co. has three dealerships in the area so unless I want to go out over 100 km i'm out of luck

 

[mad_mardigen]

Picked up my bike from the dealer this evening, they are waiting on KTM for next steps.
I'm going to call KTM tomorrow.


So far the dealer confirmed the rotors are warped and that the front brake master cylinder reacts strangely when you tap it three or four times in a row,


So to recap before 600 km I had an issue with the brakes , KTM authorized the replacement of the those rotors at 3200 km and the issue came back at 4000km. Now at 5000km on the OD and waiting.

 

[mad_mardigen]

I called KTM Canada today and they said they were waiting to hear from the head office for guidance.


I also did some surfing and found this post interesting on the KTM Super Twins Forum

Front brake issue - KTM Super Twins Forum
I am waiting on new front wheel as we speak. I had my discs replaced under warranty; things improved slightly for a while but the problem was still there.
I purchased a set of upgraded Brembo discs that float more easily because I was tired of it.
The bolt holes on those discs were indented and had tighter tolerances revealing the problem to be the disc carrier holes in the front wheel being drilled off centre.
This was causing the disc to warp when it was tightened onto the wheel.

 

[mad_mardigen]

Thursday October10
Called KTM still no update on a possible solution

Called Dealer spoke to sales manager and explained to him how pissed I was
He said to give him a chance and he would get back to me beginning of next week.

Friday October 11 KTM called. I had to re-explained the whole issue from the beginning also mentioned the strange behavior with the front master cylinder.

They asked me to bring my Bike to the Dealer on Monday evening so they (KTM) could inspect the bike on Tuesday

 

[multistraddler]

That's interesting about the bolt holes being drilled off center. Thanks for sharing. I'm having similar problems with my '17. I didn't notice it until last week when I rode the bike over 2000mi down to NC and back to MI. While riding in the mountains, I was getting the pulsating sensation in the front when grabbing a handful of brake at speeds over 50mph. It was particularly unnerving on long downhill stretches, causing me to use more engine braking and rear brake than I normally would. I called my dealer this week and was told I could bring the wheel in to check the runout on a truing stand. My closest dealer is a 120 miles round trip, so I'll probably wait until the snow flies to bother with it.

Never noticed the issue with tapping the brake lever. That might be a situation to invoke the old Henny Youngman joke...Doc, it hurts when I do this...Then don't do that!

 

[mad_mardigen]

That's interesting about the bolt holes being drilled off center. Thanks for sharing. I'm having similar problems with my '17. I didn't notice it until last week when I rode the bike over 2000mi down to NC and back to MI. While riding in the mountains, I was getting the pulsating sensation in the front when grabbing a handful of brake at speeds over 50mph. It was particularly unnerving on long downhill stretches, causing me to use more engine braking and rear brake than I normally would. I called my dealer this week and was told I could bring the wheel in to check the runout on a truing stand. My closest dealer is a 120 miles round trip, so I'll probably wait until the snow flies to bother with it.

Never noticed the issue with tapping the brake lever. That might be a situation to invoke the old Henny Youngman joke...Doc, it hurts when I do this...Then don't do that!

Your issue is at high speed mine is when you crawl to a stop. When I'm at speed and apply the brakes I don't feel anything abnormal in the lever although since the dealer already found that the rotors are warped I suspect that has to affect my overall stopping distance.


The Bike is at the Dealer and KTM will be by tomorrow to try and sort this out. One can only hope:wink2:

 

[multistraddler]

Your issue is at high speed mine is when you crawl to a stop. When I'm at speed and apply the brakes I don't feel anything abnormal in the lever although since the dealer already found that the rotors are warped I suspect that has to affect my overall stopping distance.


The Bike is at the Dealer and KTM will be by tomorrow to try and sort this out. One can only hope:wink2:

Indeed sounds like a different issue. I was getting strange low speed feedback/clunking and found the steering nuts wasn't tight enough. Snugged that down an 1/16 turn and all was well again coming to stop.

 

[mad_mardigen]

KTM called and left me a voice mail this afternoon. They told me they will be replacing my wheel assembly.


I will get further details when I speak with them tomorrow.

 

[mad_mardigen]

I spoke with KTM today,


They found that the wheel disk carrier on one side was not to spec so they replaced the front wheel, rotors and pads on my motorcycle.


With regards to the other issue, (taping the brake) they stated that this was caused by the abs and that they were able to reproduce it on my bike and their test bike.
They also mentioned that if you shut the ABS off completely the issue will go away.



So I guess multistraddler's advice holds true . Doc, it hurts when I do this...Then don't do that!


Shortly after my call with KTM the dealer called and told me my bike is ready. I'll be picking up the bike tomorrow.

 

[mad_mardigen]

Picked up the bike this evening and rode it home total distance about 10 km.


Initial feeling no front brakes! I had to squeeze the shite out of the lever to get it to grab at all, felt like oil on the pads. At each stop the brakes got a little better and by the time I got home they felt usable although still not as good as I remember.


I going to take it out for a good ride tomorrow and report back.

 

[mad_mardigen]

Rode 200 km on Saturday and another 50km today. The brakes feel like they are back to normal as far as grip goes and so far so good regarding the rotors warping but I need to clock another 750km before I can say for sure that the issue is resolved.


I'll report back after I clock a few more KM's

 

[mad_mardigen]

Well, the weather has been dismal here for the last month and now the snow has arrived. I only managed 525km since the wheel replacement but so far so good.

 

[mad_mardigen]

Final update, I've managed to clock over 4k so far on the new wheel Assembly and the rotors are working as expected, problem solved.

 

[1090yoyo]

How many miles now and how are they doing?



Too weird!!!!!!! ......I typed out the question above yesterday but apparently forgot to hit "Post".

I look on here today and you answered my question!!!


Now my rotors are doing the same thing, I guess I'll be speaking to KTM....

 

[mad_mardigen]

Hey 1090yoyo.


What happened with you're brakes?

 

[1090yoyo]

I found they're overrated so i just quit using them.

Nah, as of now I've just gotten used to it, it's really not that bad, just noticeable.
I got new tires about 1000 miles ago and now have some front end shake so I ordered a truing stand yesterday to balance my wheels.
I'll take a good look at it when I get it on the stand, then maybe take it to KTM and tell them what you found out, and see what happens.


My fuel gauge started sticking last weekend, my wife and I went camping and rode around 300 miles, I had a full tank of gas the entire trip!