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My Kato 2009 450 is not well. Have taken it to Frankston KTM and never want to go back there again. Some weird people there!
Tried Mornington Honda and no great success there either.
I am after a mechanic who knows his stuff and can diagnose a problem and be thorough.
Anyone know a good mechanic in the south east suburbs I can go to??  Near Frankston area would be good.

Jim s

I'd certainly recommend Dave Smith (on this forum).  He is a motor mechanic and also works on bikes.  He has done some (excellent) work for me, and I know he has also worked on other members' bikes.

Send him a PM, and he'll let you know if he can help you.

But don't expect a rapid response at the moment, he has just become a dad!

His workshop is in Dandenong.

Try Powerhouse motorcycles in Pakenham or GTS Engineering in Seville, Glen 59642580. If the bike is in real trouble i would take the trip to GTS as he does most of the difficult jobs for the bike shops in the eastern suburbs.

What's the problem?

yeah like tim said post up the symptoms the club has many mecahnical wizards as members thay may be able to give you some suggestions , you never know it may seem terminal but can be simple to resolve if your lucky - At worst you may have some ideas to take to the mechanic's.

Ask the Family  ;D

The problem. Well in summary;
Cannot start it when cold with the choke on.  It will start with choke off after a fair bit of kicking.
When motor is hot it overheats. One minute stationary and it is blowing steam, smoke?, and motor is banging.
So I stop motor and it will then not start for 10 minutes,  like it needs to cool down??? I kick it for 10 mins to start.
You may wonder why I am kicking it and not E starting. Because the new battery has gone flat in 2 weeks and even when first installed doesn't have the power to turn over the motor for more than 30 secs.
Any lclues on the diagnosis?
Jim

James,
I have owned a couple of KTM's and have taken them to a guy in Berwick Sth. He is (as I understand it) an ex race team mechanic who now works at a bike shop in Cranbourne. He does cash work at home and is/was happy to speak to people about bike issues. His name is Mark Reece 0400 777568.
If that helps.
Cheers,
Gary

A few more questions.

How long have you had the bike?

Is this a problem that just appeared or has it got worse over time.

I'm thinking ignition timing at this point, but I'd also be going through the cooling system.

U may have two probs, first of all have you blead not bless  the cooling system. On the crank, KTM switches are crap once they are old so could either be getting a voltage drop, worn relay or starter motor or dirty fuses or bad earth. Could  be a low quality or faulty battery, motobat is a great battery in a ktm. Could also b a crook thermostat causing to get hot. My 525 is a bitch to kick start hot or cold which is why I try to keep the button working.

09 KTM was still carb isn't it?

I never use a choke to start mine, just a few twists of the throttle to pump some extra fuel in before hitting the button.

Do you know the different buttons on the carb, if it's the same as mine there are two, one hot start, one choke?

You’re not using the hot start and mistaking it for the choke?
The hot start would make it lean at start; the choke would make it rich. The hot start is the red one and bigger of the two.
If the hot start is left on that would make it lean and run hot. For both choke and hot start pulled out is on.

Two shops have looked at it and it still has a problem, it just might be operator error.
 

Had a mate with a similar problem on an '08 450 turned out to be wrong spark plug good luck

Blown head gasket .Take it to ken robo he lives in Franger.

Mechanical wizards here? ::)

When are you putting on rides again dick head or are you still fanny struck ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Hahahahaha!!!! Gold!!  ;D ;D

Ken is in Alice Springs as I type, relapsing with his feet up.

Don't think you are that good for him to take to Alice ::) When you coming back so i can kick you ass with the new weapon ;D ;D ;D ;D

The Kato  is going to spend some time at Dave's house and between Dave's baby and the bike Dave is going to be busy. Will give update later in August.
Thanks everyone for their comments.

i'm thinking wrong engine oil ?

You'll have to wait till Nov 525, but don't get excited about kicking my ass, everybody is doung it now so no prizes there.

So what are you trying to fang around on now?

So any update?

Update. Dave still has bike. Will hopefully have some news this weekend.jim

Cannot disclose info on here that would vialate mechanic to bike confendenuality ..   ;D ;D ( proberly not spelt right)



Im ringing you tonight james bike is good for a ride to test it all out.

There's three words that definitely aren't spelt right!!  ;)

So still no word on what the problem was?

yup it's a KTM, ;D and that's from a KTM owner ;)

Appears Dave has fixed it. He found the same starting problems I had when bike was hot. He has pulled carby apart and found some nasties in it like dirt and  water. Has cleaned out carby  and it now appears to be starting easier.
Going to woodside on sat so we will see how it goes.
Dave is a bike whizz and I reccommend any member contact him if they need a thorough job done.
Jim

Told ya!
 ;)