KTM 530 EXC adventure build for TAT

So it begins.. added to the fleet, a 2008 KTM 530 EXC-R plated California dirtbike. Taken delivery with relatively low hours & miles (180 hours; 3850 miles | 6200km) on the XC4 motor, she appears to have solid potential from the initial baseline of mechanicals and fluids, and enough initial issues to facilitate getting rapidly acquainted with this machine.

2008 is the debut year of the new generation XC4 motor. It’s a 510cc (31.1cid) 4-stroke thumper with 95mm (3.74in) bore x 72mm (2.83in) stroke at 11.9:1 compression ratio, with a 4-valve overhead camshaft. KTM decided to split the crankcase lubrication into 2 separate oiling compartments, one for motor oil and another for gear oil. Both are specified to use 10w-50 4T motor oil, so there are 2 filler caps and 2 side by side drain plugs with respective screens. Both engine and gear oil are checked with the motor cold, where the engine oil @0.6L (0.6 qt) is sighted through the glass and gear oil @0.9L (1 qt) is checked by removing a plug to ensure oil has reached its proper fill level. Am running a K&N oil filter in the engine’s pressure lubrication system with 2 rotor pumps.

The 530 is another carbureted bike for analog fuel delivery (my prior bike was a 2006 KTM 450 EXC with RFS motor), because i’m just not interested in relying on an electric fuel pump. To tune the carb, Death Valley’s elevation ranging from below sea level to over 9000′ and up will be proving grounds for jetting feasibility and AFR mixture screw range with all the ambient heat. Home base tune elevation is at 100′.

First is an explanation of the build logic and intended use. This bike is a pilot build for ultralight adventure travel on a dual sport, and my eyes are on the western half of the trans-American trail : northern Utah, central Idaho, and the western spur through Oregon to the Pacific Coast. It’s also called the trans-Am trail, or TAT for short.

For the pavement and twisties (not letting these roads pass me up on this travel project), adding a set of supermoto 17″ wheels and street tires to transform the 530 chassis into an entirely separate bike with just a wheelset and fuel tank swap. Read about its ongoing build here.

The adventure build style will be a ‘nothing fancy’ fitout, yet the bike will certainly not be babied. Determination at DIY goes as far as reasonably possible with this Austrian machine, mainly familiarizing myself through maintenance, functional modifications, and replacement of wear & tear items, yet do recognize the safeguard of utilizing a KTM or general motorcycle shop for major work (or more likely, when i screw up a DIY project). Parts will also not necessarily be strict OEM or splurges as the mantra is to ‘run what ya brung’ and most importantly to get out there even on a budget. Much of what gets purchased and utilized on the bike is being documented, reviewed, and linked in some form.

Recovery gear and toolkit strategy is to wrench on the bike and fitout the contents based on actual tools used. For example, KTM uses an M17 (KTM p/n 78038018000) and M16 (KTM p/n 77038017000) bolt for the engine and gear oil drain plugs on the XC4; both have 13mm hex heads where a box end wrench works best, because the bolts are practically coincident with an adjacent frame cross-member and can’t be reached straight-on with a socket and extension. It’s a royal PITA if one of these heads rounds off after the last person to have performed the oil change has gorilla strength.. let me tell ya all about it below.

But first, a shout-out to KTM dealer and parts retailer The Motor Cafe in Sunnyvale, CA for having exactly what I needed in stock, and great service for putting the new drain plugs out for me as I rang them 10 minutes before closing, purchased over the phone, and wouldn’t arrive until after close.

Baseline the bike:

Starting with a tear-down, then assessing the aftermarket bits and addressing issues inherited from the previous owner.

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Drivetrain

When I briefly test rode the bike before purchasing from the previous owner (a self proclaimed non-mechanic; totally appreciate his honesty!), the KTM sprocket guard (machined aluminum, orange anodized) had a visibly wonky runout. First noticed it looking down as I got on the throttle out of the first turn, feeling the back tire flex (it was practically flat) I could see the sprocket guard wobbling wildly like an eccentric.

Luckily, as I suspected after pointing it out and checking the countershaft for end-play in the seller’s driveway (it had none), turns out during my tear down I find the dome compression washer is on backwards (it was mistakenly facing the guard) which caused the guard to sit off center as seen in the score marks on the guard. It was so FUBAR the guard was rubbing its way through the master link and threatened to foul it into a chain whip. Was also an opportunity to note the previous owner ran a 13T front sprocket with the 49T rear, where the front is 2T smaller than factory and probably how he liked it set up for tight, narrow PNW trails, as a big 6’4″ rider.

Drivetrain is being replaced with 14T/49T dual sport gearing and new O-ring 520 chain with 114 links and fresh master link, and new OEM dome washer and countershaft bolt. Steel front sprocket, aluminum rear sprocket, non cushdrive hub, and re-greased chain tensioners and lock nuts with anti-seize.

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With the old chain removed to service sprockets, the back wheel can easily come off for inspection. Right away, found a bunch of loose spokes in particular on the sprocket drive side. To true on the bike, set a magnetic base dial indicator with roller tip on a plate of steel to measure lateral runout, then over the top to measure radial runout from inside diameter of the rim. Then took the 7mm wrench and smacked all the spokes for an indication of tension by frequency tone. The goal is to bring each side’s spoke tension within a close hi-lo range, to achieve evenly distributed tension and therefore the most robust equilibrium of a spoked wheel.

Subframe

Moving on to the rear fender and aluminum subframe of the bike, noticed the left rail had a significant downward kink. Took a cheater bar to straighten it out, and noted this area of the bike will certainly need reinforcement, bracing, and gusseting in order to support any sort of pannier load. Then drilled and routed wiring for enduro style flush taillights by Sicass Racing in the rear fender.

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Fluids

All brake fluid in the hydraulic clutch, and front & rear brakes got flushed and bled with fresh DOT 5.1 synthetic fluid. My preferred method is to first use a vacuum hand pump to pull and purge old fluid through the caliper nipple, top off the reservoir, then use the traditional pump-pump-hold method to finish bleeding, which provides lever feedback as hydraulic pressure builds.

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The oil drain plug was already rounded off by the previous owner, so anticipated this being a challenge. It was likely a known issue because the motor oil looked well used and dark through the sight glass, compared to the golden colored gear oil that drained out; this is actually a good sign that the lubrication circuits have not crossed over and internal seals are doing their part. First, tried hammering on a 1/2″ 6-point socket, which at 12.7mm and slightly snugger than the metric 13. However after snapping the thin wall socket even after applying heat to the aluminum case with a MAP gas torch, knew this task was going to take more heat, patience, and another cold beer.

I drained the motor oil as much as possible from the oil filter compartment and from one of the accessible oil rotor pumps, in order to reduce heat transfer to the engine oil from the aluminum case around the drain plug. Then broke out a chisel and hammer to use an impact load to break the bolt free. After many, many strikes and heat cycles with the MAP gas torch, finally saw the bolt head twist and finished persuading it out with a cylindrical flat punch. What a relief; no drilling nor elaborate extraction needed.

Ignition

Moving on to ignition, went with the KTM recommended NGK spark plug p/n 2786 with solid copper construction, with gap spec at 0.8-0.9mm (0.031″-0.035″). The bike also came with an ignition curve mapping switch, and will experiment with this device on the street to discern its functionality on a carbureted bike.

Noticed that the old spark plug was covered in oil. The 530 has a factory crankcase and rocker breather venting circuit that joins at a T, then terminates at the intake boot on the clean air side. The theory is that crankcase pressure from the engine sprays and mists engine oil up the breather lines and into the intake, thus consuming oil over time and evident on the old spark plug. Since engine oil already has such a limited capacity and short interval, am in the process of re-routing the vent line after the crankcase and rocker T joint, using 3/8″ fuel line hose to a 3/8″ double ended barb fitting (hose mender) and breather filter that fits under the seat and inside the stock air filter box. The filter is intended to keep crud from entering the motor, and is tucked up high for water crossings and away from outside elements.

Subsequent oil changes will involve measuring how much fluid gets drained and how much gets added, to determine if the breather modification effectively narrows the delta. A further modification could be an auxiliary oil cooler to the system, which increases oil capacity from the additional volume in the lines and heat exchanger.

Added an inductive digital tachometer and hour meter (coil cell battery) after completing baseline and fluids, to begin recording my service intervals and hours. It’s mean to go on the dash area but i’m really only interested in hours, so the display is routed along the above breather hose and also into the air box below the seat.

Cooling

For engine coolant, drained the radiators and noticed the previous owner was already running Engine Ice. Great stuff, all pre-mixed and ready to run; replenished and topped the radiators off with fresh blue coolant fluid.

Fan fits behind the enormous Acerbis adventure tank.

Armor

The belly of the bike came protected with a high zoot carbon fiber skid plate. Am relieving it of duty and selling, in favor of an aluminum skidplate by Enduro Engineering. Reason being is the bike is carried on my vehicles using a steel cradle that jacks it from the belly, so not ideal to unnecessarily crush and abrade the fancy composite during rough transport.

Saddlebags

When with the MoJavi saddlebag 2 x 6L side pocket capacity by Giant Loop Moto and tail rack bolted through the rear fender.