lend me your ears please - KTM adventure 950s

[edpryce]

Hello all.

I'm new to the biking section of the forum (and bikes properly...)

I am looking at buying my first bike - a 2003 KTM 950s.

I have been and test ridden one that I like locally. The test ride went fine and rode smoothly. It has the service book showing stamps at 5k, 10k and 30k miles. But nothing for between 10-30k to indicate servicing. It does have a load of MOTs to verify the mileage. Not knowing (or earning!) much am bit cautious about spending my hard earned on a lemon.

I have attached two short videos. Does this sound healthy to you? It seems quite rattly to me, but a friend has told me thats quite normal. There was no smoke on start up.

I would really appreciate the ears of seasoned riders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr_YdI55OHs&fe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX2U_PIKhE

Its probably worth saying I have experience of days out on GS 800 & 1200s and acquired a bandit a few years ago from a friend who moved to Australia - just never had to privately buy my own. (Theres no good way to write that without it sounding like they were stolen!) but want to avoid this thread getting sidelined about first bike choices

Looking forward to getting into this side of the forum

Thanks in advance

[TooLateForAName]

both those vids come up as not available for me.

[Unbusy]

You checked the service history to help you be confident that it has been looked after.
Isn’t it time to walk away and look elsewhere? Unless the price is low enough to allow for the missing services. Plenty of bikes around, take more time in choosing is my $.02. Good luck

[TT1138]

edpryce said:

Hello all.

I'm new to the biking section of the forum (and bikes properly...)

I am looking at buying my first bike - a 2003 KTM 950s.

I have been and test ridden one that I like locally. The test ride went fine and rode smoothly. It has the service book showing stamps at 5k, 10k and 30k miles. But nothing for between 10-30k to indicate servicing. It does have a load of MOTs to verify the mileage. Not knowing (or earning!) much am bit cautious about spending my hard earned on a lemon.

I have attached two short videos. Does this sound healthy to you? It seems quite rattly to me, but a friend has told me thats quite normal. There was no smoke on start up.

I would really appreciate the ears of seasoned riders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr_YdI55OHs&fe...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQX2U_PIKhE

Its probably worth saying I have experience of days out on GS 800 & 1200s and acquired a bandit a few years ago from a friend who moved to Australia - just never had to privately buy my own. (Theres no good way to write that without it sounding like they were stolen!) but want to avoid this thread getting sidelined about first bike choices

Looking forward to getting into this side of the forum

Thanks in advance

Personally I’d be very careful about buying a 2003 KTM 950 at all, let alone one with 20k of service history missing.

However as with all older machines, buy on condition having looked at it in person. It could just be the previous owner home-serviced etc.

[edpryce]

thanks for the replies.

could anyone else see the videos?

[fastasflip]

edpryce said:

thanks for the replies.

could anyone else see the videos?

Nope

[edpryce]

ok thanks.

Ive updated the privacy settings. should be visible now?

[moto_traxport]

edpryce said:

ok thanks.

Ive updated the privacy settings. should be visible now?

Can see them now.

Not sure what you can tell from them, other than a slightly agricultural KTM twin running up close.

Buy it and take the risk. If you start thinking too hard you’ll not buy it and buy something Japanese instead.

[OldGermanHeaps]

ktms frequently go pop expensively for no good reason, even if its ok now, if budget is a consraint and you cant self-spanner turning japanese would be wise.
KTMs are exciting before they ste themselves though.

[edpryce]

moto_traxport said:

Can see them now.

Not sure what you can tell from them, other than a slightly agricultural KTM twin running up close.

Buy it and take the risk. If you start thinking too hard you’ll not buy it and buy something Japanese instead.

Ha, yes if they all sound like a tractor, thats fine, its just if this one sounds particularly rattly i'd be a bit wary.

[edpryce]

Unbusy said:

You checked the service history to help you be confident that it has been looked after.
Isn’t it time to walk away and look elsewhere? Unless the price is low enough to allow for the missing services. Plenty of bikes around, take more time in choosing is my $.02. Good luck

thanks for the advice - Im actually finding it really hard to find a bike! been looking for about 3 months and everytime I find the one its either in cornwall or scotland!

[anonymous-user]

I like my KTMs, and I ride a 950 SM-R, but I would warn against getting one of them now unless you are very handy with a spanner and more specifically with carbs. As they are getting older and higher mileage, the carbs become a bh at some stage. I've just had a long stint struggling with mine, and its cost a bit too.

I'd suggest looking for a 990 FI one

[Tardigrade]

That's a horrible, unnerving engine noise. Sounds like the gearbox is disintegrating or the factory left a 10mm socket inside. But people say that's what KTM's are like, so maybe it's fine.

If you are not confident of your own skills and judgement in maintaining an aging, complex and fragile KTM, then you must be planning to rely upon a dealer or specialist independent workshop near your home? If so, I suggest test-riding the bike to them and asking for a pre-purchase inspection, or asking them to visit the seller's premises to do that. You'll pay a couple of hundred quid, but get a really seasoned and wise view of the bike's condition.

And you need that - the missing service history is worrying. Maybe a skilled KTM-fettler will rub the oil between his fingers and say it hasn't been changed for 20k miles, or maybe they'll say it's pretty good. Their eye for detail will allow them to see what wear and adjustment has taken place, eg headstock bearings. They will know the key areas to focus on.

(If you don't know a local workshop that can maintain this bike, then it might not be a good idea to buy it at all. When something inevitably buggerises, you'll be up st creek.)

[7w7]

You are a brave man (or woman).

[911stu]

If you have a doubt , walk away.
I think the LC8 is a good engine from my experience with them. I have a couple of mates ( 990 and 950 adv) with 50k and 60k miles that are still strong and reliable. The only thing I recall them doing outside of servicing is changing/repairing rotten front down pipes .. expensive and awkward.
If your not sure on the mechanicals buy from a dealer. They are not always as expensive as you might think, they have to be competitive. It will make you sleep better.!! ( no, I’m not a dealer)

[fredd1e]

I owned a 950Adv for 2 years though it was back when they were new 2003 so my memory is faded and of a new bike that I put 10k miles on. The only time I recall it sounding rough was at the end of my ownership when it had water pump seal issues that causes low oil pressure at start up so the cam chain tensioner was slow to get oil and allowed the chain(s) to rattle until it took up the slack. The water pump seal was a common wear issue and allowed the oil filter to get contaminated by the leak causing oil pressure issues. if your still keen ask when the waterpump seals were last done, it also usually needs a new water pump shaft as they wear with he seals. It'lll need a full oil and filters swap to go with the pump fix If this the issue, and risk is it could have damaged other engine bits/bearings if allowed to go unfixed.

[Jakey123]

Killboy said:

I like my KTMs, and I ride a 950 SM-R, but I would warn against getting one of them now unless you are very handy with a spanner and more specifically with carbs. As they are getting older and higher mileage, the carbs become a bh at some stage. I've just had a long stint struggling with mine, and its cost a bit too.

I'd suggest looking for a 990 FI one

Wouldn't bother with a 990.
The 950s being carbed fuel so much better, the 990s are snatchy and surge with no real fix. Loadsss of fuel map changes released by KTM but nothing really worked great.

[Freakuk]

I had a KTM950SM for a few years moons ago, thrashed that thing everywhere I went and never missed a beat.

Not able to watch/comment on the videos (at work) but if your heart says no walk away.

[edpryce]

Yup, walked away.

Told the seller and he said "what do you expect for the price - these bikes can do 100k on minimal servicing"

think i've made the right choice there!