A not so honest tech lifted the dealer's moss pigtail when he quit or was fired, I think, since they couldn't find theirs and KTM swore they were sent one. It took 6 weeks to get it done on my bike. When it lost power below 5k rpm less than 60 miles later, they told me they no longer support this bike. Not sure that the owner of this dealership in Bend,OR,USA would agree with this policy. Bike is now in the custody of a more agreeable dealer in Salem,OR where at least they'll talk to me and keep bugging the KTM service rep 3 months after the power loss developed. Never had a moment's trouble with the bike before returning for the recall. Maybe I'm being superstitious but I would say don't return it for the recall,ha!
Had my ECU done (three week turnaround). Definitely idles smoother and less hesitant at take off which is an improvement. Only downside is a longer crank during cold starting. Anyone else experience the same issue?
For my bike it was an improvement. I think it all depends on what mods you have previously done to it. eg spoofer, firmware, plugs etc. Just for interest sake, how many cold cranks?
BOG, stock Strada here, PodMod only. ECU update done. Temps ~0 to -5C all morning today, 4 cold starts, one from stone cold after not running for 4 weeks took 4-5 cranks, the other 3 cold starts took 2 cranks each. I needed about 20 cranks myself each time :-)
4-5 cold cranks after installing the ECU which has not improved after several rides. No engine mods whatsoever. Winter/preventative maintenance while bike was waiting for ECU - * new 180cca agm battery installed. Previous one was five years old; still okay though. * new NGK MAR9A-J plugs * oil and filter change With the old calibration, cold & hot cranks = 2; 3 if bike sat around for a while.
was a proper adaption reset and rebuild performed after the firmware update? Mine requires 2-3 cranks cold and 1 warm quite consistently.
Reading the service manual, it mentions plugs with excessive gap will cause hard starting. The MAR9A-J come pre-gapped at 0.8mm not 0.6mm as factory specified. I installed them as-is as recommended by the dealer but I'll remove them & regap to see if there's an improvement as it's a simple task.
The spark plugs could be our common denominator. I had new plugs fitted at the same time the ECU was done. It was done at the dealers so I have no idea if they set the gap or not.
The plug gaps are not a factor, the TR650 has coils which will fire across 2 mm gaps which some of the Brisk plugs have, the increased gap merely raises the voltage at which the plug fires, in the case of the Brisk plugs it is around 20kv
I still have the old plugs which are fine and had no hard starting issues so I'll try them. Easier than regapping the new plugs.
