I have a Tard question,,,,no the Re kind

I bought this 08" KTM 530 exc,street legal.5k miles,Decent shape,not beat to hell.I've put up a few pics about it.My qustion is what type of road abuse can these take? I never owned one for street use,and was concerned about popping a motor with prolonged corners,and street miles.
I primarily wanna flog it around the lake near home. Perfect road, minimal straights,just endless turns.
And one last question..Should I buy the aftermarket wheels,and whats a good setup?if so
Spank ye kindly for any advice or tips

 

I would suggest getting ahold of Dave Hopkins... he is the defacto expert on those RFS/LC4 engines.
[email protected]

My buddy had one for track duty until he popped it and it was not viable to rebuild. To his credit it probably had 500 hours of hard abuse on track & street. To get over his sorrows he purchased a Husky FS450. That thing is one of the most angry stock bikes Ive ever ridden... its impossible to not lift the front wheel at the slightest crack of the throttle.

 

They are great until they pop and are more to rebuild than the are worth

 

FWIW,
<--- My Duke ll has about 10 years of track day riding in the expert group, 20-30 events per year, coaching in beginner, intermediate and WFO in the advanced. It has NOT been ridden gently, but never been revved above 8K RPM. VIR north was 8K before the kink, Mosport the same, just hold steady throttle till the 3 brake marker. Speedo stopped working year 4 and shows 8K miles. The bike has to have about 15-20K miles on it. Oil and filter changed after every weekend. I adjusted the valves twice.
I can tell you this thing has never given me any trouble. I stopped riding in 2012 and it has sat since then. I don't know anything about the 530EXC, but if it like the 640LC4, it should hold up just fine.

 

I love KTM's, but it just got rid of my 640 for a CRF450. I really wanted a 500 EXC but my brain finally took over and I got a Honda. Not looking back at all (and I love my 1190).

 

I sorta guessed the rebuilds must be nuts on the 53o I see too many of them getting parted out, instead of rebuilt.I guess I will throw some tires and wheels on it,and check valves,and let er roll!

 

I had an OG Duke and it was awesome around DC.
Blew it up twice once outside of DC on 66 leaving me on the side of the road.

what’s that have to do with the KTM you have? Not a gawd damn thing, just laughing at myself.

 

I've all!! My Katooms,but Im also a 2 stroke fella in the past. Im just skeert about having a fat paper weight for a back yard ornament!

 

Yeah, I’m a hammer headed idiot too. I kinda miss that lump of blowed up Austrian shit.

 

I had a DJH built 525exc. 540cc, 806 cam and damn near every internal reliability mod he knew of. Loved that bike. It had so much more character than my 500exc. I didn’t ride it a lot but raced it and street rode it some. It was never ridden at less than 100% throttle or threshold braking. Damn I loved that bike. Sold it when I moved to Japan as I didn’t want it sitting. And there’s stories of parts drying up for the RFS bikes which got me worried.

 

I just scrapped out a 2008 505 engine. Was going to get it rebuilt, asked for a teardown and quote to build. Some parts were impossible to find, others way to expensive. Quote to just rebuild it at stock specs was $5200. Welding and micropolishing, better cam higher end parts would have added an additiional $4500

I decided to not go forward with it.

 

Assuming you’re using your brakes on this curvy road and not WFO for an extended period, you’ll be fine.

Motorcycle engines are made to rev

 

Wow, $5k to rebuild a thumper? Are the parts super expensive? That seems like a ripoff, unless the parts are outrageous or you sent a rod through the cases and cylinder? But I haven’t paid for a bike engine rebuild since 2013 when Ty road raced.

 

I don't recall if the 08 EXC was the last of the RFS motors but I think the 07 was and the 08 was the next generation bike (that has some issues). If it's not the RFS motor, I would be a little leery of it. I think the 08 had separate oil for tranny and motor or something that was different from the earlier RFS bikes, and was only around for a year or two (or 3). Buddy had one and blew it up at the LBL200 dual sport event (somehow ran it out of oil). Not cheap to fix and not a ton of ones running around to buy spare motors and parts from like the RFS or later models.

as for SM setups, typically they tend to be in the $600-700 range depending upon if they have sprockets/rotors, etc. Always a 3.5" front and 4-6" rear (many will rub on the chain with the wider wheels/tires). Obviously don't buy a 16.5" front (hot setup for track but no DOTs around AFAIK). My info might be dated I haven't looked at them in years.

I have thought about getting SM wheels for my 500 or 950 but given how I ride my 1290SD, i know my license would be forfeit sooner rather than later.

 

Change the fucking oil.
Religiously.
Firmly in “Change the oil” after every track event camp.
If you are riding it like you are at a track day, do it.

 

Which version of the CRF450 did you get? I may consider an RL version one day, if I quit riding enough to justify having both my FE 350s and my 701 Enduro. Seemed over imposing with the mods. needed to get it running close to as good as my 350 does now, at the time.

Right now I'm ready to sell my Yamaha Tracer 9 GT to invest in suspension and other upgrades for both of my Huskys.
I really want to install one of these, though:
https://lyndonposkittracing.com/shop/product/nova-racing-wide-ratio-gearbox/

 

Linders, the motocross parents spend way more than $5k to rebuild their kid's race bikes routinely and have been ever since they switched to four-strokes. I wouldn't want to have a kid racing these days.

 

THIS!!!!

I don't usually do it between every ride, but depending on the length and intensity, it's never more than two or three rides for my FE 350, with 1.3 qt. capacity. (I added a billet clutch cover with a bit more oil volume.) 250 to 300 miles for the 2+ qt. 701

 

I also safety wire my oil filter and drain plugs, as well as a few other important bolts loosened regularly.

 

One of the first things I did was change the oil. The transmission oil was mint,but the engine oil was brown,but not anything crazy. I knew about religious oil changes all the way back to the very first 520's. I ordered extra filters,but will freshen it up again this week. I can't keep from crashing the thing on trails,enough to over rev the damn thing any.
Been thinking too many times riding it home about tarding the thing,and buying a 2 stroke to do some enduros.
And I do silicon the shit outta any parts that may want to part ways with me, too lazy to drill/wire