My 890 R is an untrustworthy bike with lots of qc issues and a poor dealer assistance. It is a Chinese bike with lots of substandard parts with a short life span. Even the wheels spokes are cheap, a tiny loosening and your tyre pressure goes. Crap TFT, bolts loosening constantly, coolant leaks, poor starts. My engine vibrates excessively, making the bike totally unsuitable for long trips. My previous bike was a 1090R which was a solid, honest high performance machine. But I’m now done with ktm.
My last bike was a KTM 690 Enduro R from 2017. Great bike, but needed lots of fixes, tweaks and mods to make it reliable... and as you pull it apart to mod it you do notice all the QC shortcuts that were taken -- badly routed or exposed wiring, bearings loose and not greased, valves out of spec, cheap fuel pump (which inevitably fails). Add to that a network of really arrogant dealers. Now looking for a midsize -- it won't be a KTM.
@@ssmith954 well said. I’m ok with a bit less horsepower and a lot more reliability. After almost 3 years of having to constantly deal with issues with ktm im absolutely done with them. These guys don’t realise the damage done with long term customers .
@@trroland1248 most parts are china made. They say the engine is Austrian made but that does not explain why 6 months waiting time for cams. Anyway, there are serious issues with the parallel engine design, both 790 and 890, with so many engines having cams issues at low mileage
Brother, great video. You probably have one of the most inclined mechanical insights on the KTM 890 ADV R. Looking forward to more videos coming from your channel.
Nice looking bike! My 2022 890r had loose head bearings from new. I tightened them one time and so far so good at 3100 miles, including a lot of rocky off road riding. If they start to get loose again I will do what you did. Stock suspension was good on mine from new but I still replaced it with WP Pro suspension and now it is incredible. No issues with starting on my bike. Luck of the draw I guess. Only problems so far were quick shifter was not working right so the shop reprogrammed it and now it works great. Recently my cruise control started to be very intermittent which was due to a failing brake sensor switch on the ABS module. Replacing that fixed the cruise control. I also went with the PP tall seat and lower foot pegs and bike is super comfy for all day rides. Hope your bike is good to go now and you have a lot of good times on it!
I've had the KTM for 17,000 KMs. Serviced every 6000 and the hard surfaces are worn off the cams already.. only found it because I was checking valve clearance. Thinking about getting the Aprilia
I want one bike to replace both my 701 and R1250GS. I keep thinking about either an 890 R or a Norden Expedition. Then I watch a video like this, and I have second thoughts.
those very much look like angular contact bearings in good condition with the right preload and greased I would have thought they would have worked fine.
You need to get to a factory KTM dealer to do a software update (there have been a couple) and it will sort the starting issue. I did mine at the 1st service and it was fixed. A few other occasional gremlins were sorted too.
About a year. I've sold the ktm and bought another Aprilia Tuareg 660. The ktm had catastrophic engine failure soon after I sold it. I'm done with ktm.
@@customjrod sounds like I need a tuareg. I hate how intentionally cheap Japanese makers seem to be in the segment, but ktm is a reliability nightmare. Here's hoping that aprilia is getting sorted. Thanks for the head to head owner review
I have 7000 miles on my 2021 now. Steering head bearings were a little loose after initial breaking. They just need a little pre-load and that fuel will go away. The bike is amazing.
For the cold start issue I found if you turn the key on and let the fuel pump run until it quits and then give it 5 more seconds it will start and run as it should. Give it a try.
May work for some people, but I have tried all the ignition and fuel pump tricks suggested and never got great results. As soon as I dropped to a mid grade fuel, it starts every time perfectly, for more than a year now. You don't have to drop to a regular fuel. Just a mid is enough.
Interesting about the bearings. Thanks. KTM switched to Alpina tubeless wheels on the 1290 SAR last year - I think they've given up on their own belt system. Have you tried spraying soapy water around the wheel to get an idea of where the air is leaking?
I think the tire issue has resolved itself. I was running about 28psi in the tires for better traction and comfort when they were calling for 44psi (I think). After putting the correct amount of air they haven't lost any in about a month.
Hello, thanks a lot for the info. Do you have the Timken part numbers. I'm from Europe and find difficult to get the part from Rottweiler. Cheers thanks!
Or, get the Desert X and be happy from the start.....;-) In all seriousness, I have the 890 R Rally and it is amazing but I prefer the Desert X but the caveat is that I put a Tractive suspension on the DX which is what put it over the Rally.
Interesting! I have the 2023 Norden Expedition. It does have the same Explor suspension, the same as your bike. Do you think it has the same headstock bearings as the KTM 890 Adv R? I haven't noticed any vibration or play. I mostly ride dirt roads, county paved roads and USFS roads, all in the mountains where I live. (zero highway so far) The USFS roads are mostly dirt with a few stretches of old chipseal which is full of craters, so I slam into some pretty severe potholes at 35-50mph. I have 1,500 miles on it now.
hello friend, when i switched from 790 to 890, i had the same issue with the steering stem. i loved bike and the loose steering made the bike not fun to ride. i eventually figured it was loose steering stem and i tightened bearing. that solved problem. please share the head bearings that you used to replace the oem steering bearing. thank you for sharing! btw, i noticed similar issue on 2021 690 and tightening steering bearing solved problem.
I tightened them multiple times but after a washed out dirt road they would feel loose again. When I took them apart you could see where the balls were deformed.
How do you feel about the foot pegs brackets that can move up and down unless you get a skid plate that anchors them or the gas cap that may not vent and perhaps should be replaced? Do you run a pre filter?
Have a 22 and have none of these issues except cold start ups which with a couple easy revs fixes. Even stock seat is comfortable. Steering is also good in all terrain. Maybe he gota Chinese clone lol
I’m having some issues with mine beside the bearings. It feels extremely jerky, everytime i go on/off the throttle in street or rally mode it feels so jerky, like the chain lacked tension, even tho i checked the tension a million times and its perfectly lubed, i dont know that to do at this point, with 4500 miles, the bike doesn’t feel like it felt when i picked it up from the dealer. Do you have any idea what it could be? Also the chain makes quite a lot of noise, but as i said, i checked it a million times. Help :(
@@customjrod I’m debating a 23 890 but have heard about immobilizer issues and being stranded but am unsure if it’s an internet only thing? They are nice looking
Thanks for the honest review, I was thinking of buying ktm 890 but a lot of people complained about quality,especially cam shaft failures. 👍
Great video. Just to let everyone else know, Rottweiler Performance sells the Timken tapered bearings for the 890 and the 1290.
Thanks, rottweiler performance is who supplied the bearings, but they do not keep the new seals.
My 890 R is an untrustworthy bike with lots of qc issues and a poor dealer assistance. It is a Chinese bike with lots of substandard parts with a short life span. Even the wheels spokes are cheap, a tiny loosening and your tyre pressure goes. Crap TFT, bolts loosening constantly, coolant leaks, poor starts. My engine vibrates excessively, making the bike totally unsuitable for long trips. My previous bike was a 1090R which was a solid, honest high performance machine. But I’m now done with ktm.
My last bike was a KTM 690 Enduro R from 2017. Great bike, but needed lots of fixes, tweaks and mods to make it reliable... and as you pull it apart to mod it you do notice all the QC shortcuts that were taken -- badly routed or exposed wiring, bearings loose and not greased, valves out of spec, cheap fuel pump (which inevitably fails). Add to that a network of really arrogant dealers. Now looking for a midsize -- it won't be a KTM.
@@ssmith954 well said. I’m ok with a bit less horsepower and a lot more reliability. After almost 3 years of having to constantly deal with issues with ktm im absolutely done with them. These guys don’t realise the damage done with long term customers .
What year is your bike?
Hold on. I thought only the 790s were ever produced by CF Moto in China?
@@trroland1248 most parts are china made. They say the engine is Austrian made but that does not explain why 6 months waiting time for cams. Anyway, there are serious issues with the parallel engine design, both 790 and 890, with so many engines having cams issues at low mileage
Brother, great video. You probably have one of the most inclined mechanical insights on the KTM 890 ADV R. Looking forward to more videos coming from your channel.
Hey man, thank you for the video and thank you for being one of the only ones that upload a video with a graphic kit.
Nice looking bike! My 2022 890r had loose head bearings from new. I tightened them one time and so far so good at 3100 miles, including a lot of rocky off road riding. If they start to get loose again I will do what you did. Stock suspension was good on mine from new but I still replaced it with WP Pro suspension and now it is incredible. No issues with starting on my bike. Luck of the draw I guess. Only problems so far were quick shifter was not working right so the shop reprogrammed it and now it works great. Recently my cruise control started to be very intermittent which was due to a failing brake sensor switch on the ABS module. Replacing that fixed the cruise control. I also went with the PP tall seat and lower foot pegs and bike is super comfy for all day rides. Hope your bike is good to go now and you have a lot of good times on it!
So out of all the people in world that own these you’re the only one that thought it felt loose and you sorted it 👍🏻 nice one
Mine also felt loose 😢
Amazing job on the graphics kit. Great video. Havent bought the bike yet but glad I'll know what mod to do first
I've had the KTM for 17,000 KMs. Serviced every 6000 and the hard surfaces are worn off the cams already.. only found it because I was checking valve clearance.
Thinking about getting the Aprilia
I had the same issue on the 790 Adventure (10k kms) and I finally changed it to Tuareg 660 and never looked back.
Until those cheesy cams start to melt down , KTM still scamming the world .. but last a class action has woken them up
I want one bike to replace both my 701 and R1250GS. I keep thinking about either an 890 R or a Norden Expedition. Then I watch a video like this, and I have second thoughts.
It's a great bike now, But it's not perfect off the floor
those very much look like angular contact bearings in good condition with the right preload and greased I would have thought they would have worked fine.
I’ve had a number of front ends apart and most use the ball setup. I think even H-D finally changed over from rollers a few years ago.
Straight forward review ... could you please tell us the part number of the Timken bearings ?
You need to get to a factory KTM dealer to do a software update (there have been a couple) and it will sort the starting issue. I did mine at the 1st service and it was fixed. A few other occasional gremlins were sorted too.
How long did you have the aprilia? Was it reliable?
Only 3 aprilia dealers in all of Japan and only 1 seems good. Plenty of ktm dealers
About a year. I've sold the ktm and bought another Aprilia Tuareg 660. The ktm had catastrophic engine failure soon after I sold it. I'm done with ktm.
@@customjrod sounds like I need a tuareg.
I hate how intentionally cheap Japanese makers seem to be in the segment, but ktm is a reliability nightmare.
Here's hoping that aprilia is getting sorted.
Thanks for the head to head owner review
I have 7000 miles on my 2021 now. Steering head bearings were a little loose after initial breaking. They just need a little pre-load and that fuel will go away. The bike is amazing.
Hi Ron. What do you mean by a "little pre-load"? Tight the front ?
Very nice video, thanks for the info. Do you have the Timkin bearing numbers of a link?
For the cold start issue I found if you turn the key on and let the fuel pump run until it quits and then give it 5 more seconds it will start and run as it should. Give it a try.
100% - Also , switch the key off at the ignition, leave the killswitch alone.
May work for some people, but I have tried all the ignition and fuel pump tricks suggested and never got great results. As soon as I dropped to a mid grade fuel, it starts every time perfectly, for more than a year now. You don't have to drop to a regular fuel. Just a mid is enough.
I switched to 87 octane and it has started and ran better since.
Interesting about the bearings. Thanks. KTM switched to Alpina tubeless wheels on the 1290 SAR last year - I think they've given up on their own belt system. Have you tried spraying soapy water around the wheel to get an idea of where the air is leaking?
I think the tire issue has resolved itself. I was running about 28psi in the tires for better traction and comfort when they were calling for 44psi (I think). After putting the correct amount of air they haven't lost any in about a month.
Hello, thanks a lot for the info. Do you have the Timken part numbers. I'm from Europe and find difficult to get the part from Rottweiler. Cheers thanks!
That thing is dialed! Wow!
Or, get the Desert X and be happy from the start.....;-) In all seriousness, I have the 890 R Rally and it is amazing but I prefer the Desert X but the caveat is that I put a Tractive suspension on the DX which is what put it over the Rally.
Sounds like a lot of cash lol. Also sounds like a ripper
Will be interested to hear how the cams look after valve clearance check.
@justmyself1000 cams are shot the guy I sold it to is waiting on replacement engine.
Hi, thanks so mich for this informativ video. Can you tell me what kind of hand guards you are using ?
Mind sharing the bearing and seal sizes?
Nice bike
Grate video mate.
What bearing numbers are the timken youv used? what seals did you used?
Thanks
Interesting! I have the 2023 Norden Expedition. It does have the same Explor suspension, the same as your bike. Do you think it has the same headstock bearings as the KTM 890 Adv R? I haven't noticed any vibration or play. I mostly ride dirt roads, county paved roads and USFS roads, all in the mountains where I live. (zero highway so far) The USFS roads are mostly dirt with a few stretches of old chipseal which is full of craters, so I slam into some pretty severe potholes at 35-50mph. I have 1,500 miles on it now.
Hi. Where did you get the seat.
Thank youbfor the heads up. Do you know if the S-version and the 1290 has the same issue?
I have the exact same feeling with my Husqvarna Expedition, like I have a the fork stem nut is loose.....
great video, I'm extremely happy with the Norden Expedition btw
hello friend, when i switched from 790 to 890, i had the same issue with the steering stem. i loved bike and the loose steering made the bike not fun to ride. i eventually figured it was loose steering stem and i tightened bearing. that solved problem. please share the head bearings that you used to replace the oem steering bearing. thank you for sharing! btw, i noticed similar issue on 2021 690 and tightening steering bearing solved problem.
I tightened them multiple times but after a washed out dirt road they would feel loose again. When I took them apart you could see where the balls were deformed.
Call rottweiler performance, they have the parts.
How do you feel about the foot pegs brackets that can move up and down unless you get a skid plate that anchors them or the gas cap that may not vent and perhaps should be replaced? Do you run a pre filter?
Yes I run a pre-filter, I'm not sure about what your talking about the foot pegs.
Wow nice colour how did you done that😮
Have a 22 and have none of these issues except cold start ups which with a couple easy revs fixes. Even stock seat is comfortable. Steering is also good in all terrain. Maybe he gota Chinese clone lol
Hi, how did you fix the cold start?
I've the same problem and try to solve unsuccessfully
I’m having some issues with mine beside the bearings. It feels extremely jerky, everytime i go on/off the throttle in street or rally mode it feels so jerky, like the chain lacked tension, even tho i checked the tension a million times and its perfectly lubed, i dont know that to do at this point, with 4500 miles, the bike doesn’t feel like it felt when i picked it up from the dealer. Do you have any idea what it could be? Also the chain makes quite a lot of noise, but as i said, i checked it a million times. Help :(
Without riding it, it would be impossible to say. I would let a freind or a local mechanic ride it to see what they thought.
where did you get the new bearings from? Nice looking bike.
Update if anyone is looking for the needle bearings, Rottweiler performance has them.
Did you buy the Tall Comfort style seat from Seat Concepts or the Tall Rally seat?
Comfort seat. But the power parts seat is the most comfortable
@@customjrod thanks, I got the Power Parts seat coming to me
Unplug your ECU and disconnect your battery for 30 min or so, and it will clean up your starting issues.
You shouldn’t have to spend more money on a 14 grand bike but I know how you fell I have one and I wish I hadn’t bought it.
What year is this bike?
2023 currently sitting in pieces with bad cams
So sorry to hear that. I thought about getting this bike but I’ve seen so many people have issues with it. I hope you are back on 2 wheels soon
@@customjrodwoow i think i will give up buying Norden Expedition and go for Tuareg
What part number is timken bearings
KTM are not for everyone.
What rear bag is that? Nice bike man!
Rigg gear
@@customjrod I’m debating a 23 890 but have heard about immobilizer issues and being stranded but am unsure if it’s an internet only thing? They are nice looking
@@stangindude99 haven't had that problem yet, fingers crossed.
cool!!
2021 890 adv here, cold start problem solved by running 89.
Bosley or Vanasche pegs?
Vanasche I think
Why even buy an 890 if you ride mostly street…
I have to ride a good piece on the street to get to the trail. I prefer to ride off road but where I live does not allow as much as I would like.
@@customjrodDespite the issues that you have had, would you still buy the bike if you had to do it again?
@ogregang3203 no I've sold and bought another aprilia tuareg 660
No shit..Ball Bearings😅