KTM Forums banner

690 crash bars

20K views 50 replies 17 participants last post by  wiwwee 
#1 ·
I installed the KTM crash bars on my 690 three days ago, and this morning I found my bike taking a dirt nap on the kickstand side. A branch was lying where the bike used to stand! We had a night of 30 mph winds and it finally tipped at 630 am. Thanks to the bars, the only damage is a scuff to the tip of the left crash bar. I am thoroughly relieved. Just wanted to share!

I'm now part of the "I installed bars and found my bike laying down the next day" club :smile:
 
  • Like
Reactions: cors187
#4 ·
The shipping box weight was 14.7 lbs and the box contained crash bars + hardware, a ton of bubble wrap, and four pieces of paper with instructions. I'd say the bars weigh 13.5 - 14 lbs.

They don't feel heavy compared to how solid they are, but 14 lbs isn't light either.

Anyone know the weight of the cat? I'm wondering if the bars cancel out the cat delete.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cors187
#7 ·
Maybe I'll just buy a spare radiator
I was randoming through ebay once and i found a set of duke crash bars(silver in color ). They didnt have the same design as the clamp on types most guys link . I should have kept the link somewhere as it was like 50 pages in and in another language (german/polish- something i cant remember).

Anyway they looked rather smaller and cheap looking for sure.

Wondering now if your thoughts are not pointing to a custom slide bar profile rather than full crash bars for a full race bike.

Not sure if i under stood the convo above but thought to post to see where your thoughts were goimg.
Your duke is full race?
 
#6 ·
Changing out the radiator and fairing pieces is a bigger pain than simply picking up the bike :smile:

Then again I'm just happy to have a bike under 350 lbs. Until that point I don't care about weight.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tecknojoe
#9 · (Edited)
I'm now part of the "I installed bars and found my bike laying down the next day" club :smile:
You will come to see this as the best quality of your bike, if you have not already. You come to see each mark on your engine bars as something that is NOT a damage to your tank shrouds, bar ends, bar end mirrors, control levers, radiator, and to some extent muffler

Has anyone weighed them?

The only response I've heard is "heavy"
They are heavy, though appreciably lighter than the cat. No guessing which I place more value upon.

Then again I'm just happy to have a bike under 350 lbs. Until that point I don't care about weight.
I am with you here, until you put power into consideration. This bike NEEDS to be light, because there are many occasions where it's power is disappointing. It makes up for its power issues with its cornering and braking deftness, but I care about every pound of its weight too.

I never put cheap ebay parts, especially ones from hong kong, on my bikes. It's not worth it.
This challenges me, I don't understand it. Do you have objective reasons to be so skeptical? Leaving out the concept of Chinese world domination by ruthlessly copying manufacturing techniques, why are you so anti-Chinese?

My Kato dealer (Newcastle) is no slouch, they are knee deep in awards, which only means they sell a lot of schit. But to sell a lot of schit, they have to maintain the customer's loyalty. They have at least two large competitors within an hour's ride/drive. My region of Australia is arguably the dirt capital of the Southern Hemisphere; it has produced many greats including Chad Reed, Toby Price and Casey Stoner. My point is that the market is competitive around here, lots of riders, lots of suppliers. I would think that would make them serious "pushers" of Kato bits, encourage you to be 100% KTM loyal.

I went to my dealer one arvie and said, "order me the Scotts version of this", pointing at a Chinese eBay listing of a steering dampener. I had already purchased and returned a high end dampener from KTM-Twins - they had not advertised accurately and the part did not fit the Duke. KTM Newcastle opened the page on their computer, examined it, and ADVISED ME TO PURCHASE the eBay dampener from China. A dampener kit has two components, dampener and brackets. Scott/Ohlin dampeners are all roughly the same regarding dimensions, but Scott/Ohlin do not make brackets for the Duke. The dampener would fit but you cannot purchase the brackets to mount it on a Duke. KTM Newcastle advised me to purchase the Chinese kit because the Chinese kit (containing both dampener and brackets for the Duke) was cheaper than what Ohlin quoted for any of the dirt bike mounting brackets WITHOUT THE DAMPENER. If the Chinese dampener bothered me, I could throw it out and use the Chinese brackets to mount an Ohlin dampener. But the Chinese unit arrived, we inspected it and I fitted it, and it works just fine. It's only failing is that the anodising fades quickly, so it is nothing like Orange anymore.

More recently, I was interested in beefing up my brakes without investing a Prince's ransom. The standard Brembo caliper appeared to be the best part of the system, so I considered getting a Brembo or Magura radial master cylinder. Then someone here posted two examples of Chinese radial master cylinders, one Taiwanese, each of which was about a tenth of the price of the top shelf kit. Using the same rationale as I had with my steering dampener, I bought the non-Taiwanese cylinder, the CHEAPER of the two, because that model offered adjustability to the length of the lever arm. It appears to work well so far, but I am still lacking bite in the brakes.

Thankfully, I also found YOUR posts and you have given me another avenue to pursue that I had not considered, namely, bypass the next-to-fcuken-useless ABS system. I WAS like Weldertron in Quebec who has a deep respect for gravel and all things slippery. I did believe that my ABS was chock full of magical-guarantee fairies that constantly saved my arse from binning it every time my tyre had a chance to break traction. But now I am cured. I find ABS a pain in the arse, not an arse saver.

So now my STEERING and BRAKING are vulnerable to "Chinese failure", because one product is not manufactured by anyone other than the Chinese, and the other being roughly 10% of the Italian cost, yet I have no fear or signs of either product failing. And it is endorsed by KTM Newcastle, at least verbally.

Crash bars would have a significantly less vital role to play in your bike's performance.

Why do you think that is "not worth it"?
 
#14 ·
Yea, still undecided about radiator protection right now.

I don't buy no name chinese ebay parts. I've seen enough of those cheap parts fail on riders while on track to know it's not worth risking a crash. Even something as simple as a clip on can just snap. For more advanced parts like a master cylinder, I'm not going to put my life in the hands of anything but a thoroughly proven product.

Cheap copies of existing products can destroy businesses, and is the reason for patent laws. I don't believe in supporting that. Outsourcing manufacturing to other places if it's done correctly is fine.

That's just me. Everyone is different.

here is one of many examples I have seen over the years: https://www.instagram.com/p/-wV-sJLU-7/
 
#17 ·
I understand the weight issue around the bars but mine saved my race weekend late last year so I feel they are a race necessity. I lost the rear on an uphill left hander at Eastern Creek,turn 6 for those in the know, bike slid on the track with sparks flying everywhere, then I let go of the bars when it went onto the dirt. I finished about 5 metres from the bike. When I picked it up all the controls were undamaged , I lost an axle slider and bent a footpeg bolt , but was able to jump straight back on. 5 minutes to replace the peg bolt and that was it. If I didnt have the crash bars it would have probably been race meeting over or a very busy pit garage. As I said I race for fun and I weigh 100 kg so weight is already an issue....2 solutions here ...don't crash and go on a diet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tecknojoe
#19 ·
Those frame sliders ring alarm bells to me. They look like they would snap off or even worse dig in to the grass in event of a crash. I have heard many a horror story of these sliders digging in the grass and flipping the bike causing damage to both sides. To make matters worse im not thrilled about how they look for the bling brigade.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cors187
#20 ·
Thanks for that
 
#21 ·
Hello all...

I haven't posted in a while due to a number of reasons but one of which involved testing the left engine guard vs gravity while I was riding the bike. I was trying to be a good group rider and making sure the bikes behind me saw the turn. Rather than looking where I was going, I was focused on the rear view mirror. I had slowed A LOT while I waited for headlights to appear so as I rolled into the turnoff, I didn't see the 6" deep by 6' square pile of loose gravel in the middle of the intersection. The result was fractured clavicle and 6 fractured ribs. The bike, on the other hand, had a 4-5" scrape on the engine guard and the hand guard had a small rash from the gravel. The rest of the bike was unscathed!

I've since taken the left guard to the powder coater and for $40 (US) it is good as new. It didn't need to be straightened or repaired in any other way.

This piece of kit is worth it's wait in GOLD!!!

One note of caution! While removing the guard from the bike, I noticed that ALL of the mounting bolts were not fully tight! If you have not threadlocked those bolts please check them regularly! Upon reassembly they will have at least a proper coating of Blue threadlocker applied to all bolts!

Cheers!
 
#29 ·
#30 · (Edited)
They changed the design slightly to get more "knee clearance"
That's why there are different part no.
Old v.s. new
And then for the 2016 & - 17 R the frame colour is different brighter orange so the part no. for those ends in letters EB.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top