I searched and found all the previous Kramer threads - they all seem to be flooded with guys doing their own Kramers or just chatter. I am hoping its OK to start a real Kramer thread to discuss learnings, best practices, mods and options. They have been out for a few years, so surely there is more real world information and learnings from racers by now. 2019 and prior Kramer 690s - Adjustable triples that come stock on the 'R' model - folks know if they make a positive difference? I spoke to one Kramer racer up in New England who said he was getting chatter without them and that they helped. The S models ship with 160 rear tire but R's ship with 180. Any noticeable difference between the two and is it worth going one way over the other? Any known wear parts or parts that failed? I know rearsets are a Kramer design - still the case, or has anyone managed to adapt/fab/fit something more readily available like Woodcrafts for instance? Though there is no need for an ECU reflash (a bike that ships from factory without cat/exup/AIS/nonsense is such a breath of fresh air no pun intended ha!) but are there any off the shelf tuner options that add any power or provide other advantages?
It’s the off season. I was hoping this would be about donuts, local chili joint, or at least vacuum cleaner options.
I was not impressed with how the Kramer crashed at NHMS, figured it'd be like a motard and shrug most dumps off but seems like the triples LOVED to get tweaked, and the rearsets were not as rugged as I'd expect. That was a first model year unit, dunno if they've gotten better since? On the tuning front, I'd assume a PowerCommander / Bazazz / Etc for a Duke 690 would be plug and play onto a Kramer?
Wow, the first real reply to this thread! I am told later model years have improvements to swingarm and rearsets to improve crash worthiness (first year models had a hollow? lighter weight peg bracket I am told but they moved to more solid ones later). I spoke with knarlydog who raced these for two seasons including over in Europe and he says they crash very well. Nothing really crashes well at Loudon, that place is a death trap. Except maybe ancient ex500s and SV650s (and you know how I feel about those Kurlon!) Rearset spares from Kramer seem not excessively priced - bracket, peg and shifter are both interchangeable left to right and are about $200 for one set of spares. Not too bad, however, I was hoping Woodcraft or something more readily available would be cheaper in the long run. Thanks for the tip on power commander. Kramer USA says they have one customer who has a PC, but with a zero map and he seems to be using it mostly for the quick shifter. Has the KTM 690 ECU been 'cracked' i.e., are there flashes available for them from aftermarket tuners? I know on modern Triumph 675s and S1000RRs, the ECU cannot really be flashed and is locked down?
The older 690’s have tunes available. Pre 2017 or so, but man at 80hp this thing should fly if it’s any comparison to what my 701SM was like.
I forgot to ask in the OP - Kramer uses translogic quick shifter if ordered at factory. Anyone figure out a compatible downshift blipper or sensors? It would also need to be enabled in ecu which is partly why I asked about ecu reflash options.