This video will show you the steps in checking the valve clearance on a KTM 690 and changing the shims if needed. Sorry about the shotty camera work and background noise.
An alternate method which I find less intimidating to some would be to remove the rocker arm screws, insert one of the screws into the end of the rocker arm shaft, pull the shaft noting it's position, lift the rockers to get to the shims?
This is true, you can do it this way. At the time I made this movie I was not aware of this method. I have since used it to try it and yes, it does work. If you require shim changes on both rocker arms, the cam removal way seems easier. But its really 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
WOW! I never knew that you could do it this way, just sliding out the cam to get the shims off. I thought that you had to take the rollers out? This method works just as well? Getting ready to check my 2014 duke 690 valves next winter
ALWAYS replace any pre 2015 rocker arms on any 690 no matter what they look like. The pre 2015 rockers fail because the needle rollers move out of the arm because of a fault in the design which was meant to assist preening the rocker around the roller cage ends but they took away too much material. The 2015 onwards look different if you inspect them, they do not have a deep rebate around the ends of the needle cages and should be stamped 15, or 16 or 17 etc. NEVER risk blowing your engine up for the sake of putting in a £150 set of upgraded rockers. Mine went at 8000 miles on a brand new 2014 ER.
Paul.1e, yes mate check them, they will probably be OK if the bike is a genuine 2015 build.The issue is that the pre 2015 rockers did not have enough 'preening' on the rockers to secure the needle rollers. In short, they cannot be relied on to hold the needle rollers in place. If they let go it could mean a total engine rebuild. Not worth taking the risk. A short term measure for pre 2015 bike owners is to remove them and use a punch and hammer to 'preen' the area either side of the needles to hopefully make sure the rollers will not slip out but the best way is to make sure you have the stronger 2015 date stamped rockers which hopefully you as a 2015 owner will actually have.
Great video mate, thank you. I have a 690 done 11500kms, should i get the valves checked now? Also should i replace the rocker while the bikes at the shop, I'm not mechanically mined at all and need sound advice.
Thanks for the video. Do you measure the valve clearance with cam tensioner released or have to be tighten? When the cam tensioner is tight on my Duke 690 is giving me 0.02mm less reading for each valve, compared to when tensioner is loose. How much do you tighten your manual cam tensioner?
@@nonomt Thank you for the prompt reply. I sent them the same message already :) I watched a lot of videos and I have the KTM Duke 690 2014 service repair manual. Because the OEM cam tensioner is hydraulic , there is no information when you change to manual how to properly to measure the valve clearance. I think that we should measure when the tensioner is released as the hydraulic one should be loose when there is no oil pressure. Also I can't find information how much to tight the manual cam tensioner precisely when you have the valve cover open. Everyone is tighing by hand until fill slight pressure + half to one more turn. My valves are adjusted to the specs and manual tensioner is tight and still very noisy engine. czcams.com/video/qWkJZdQbodg/video.html One guy is running his KTM Duke with valve clearance within 0.04 - 0.09 and the engine is much more quiet.
RE: manual cam chain tensioner - what type spanner do you use half moon ring spanner ? due to the 2 x frame rails get in the way on my 2014 using a ring spanner , deep socket no good as can't adjust it.
I was using 8mm socket with 6" extension. If you cant take the halfmoon ring off, you can pull the rocker arm shaft out instead to remove the rocker arm. This allows you to change the shims while leaving Camshaft in place.
Hi, i am rebuilding the top end on a 690 and i cant seat the shim. Its seams like its to wide to back in. Do these shims enlarge or something because im just not why I cant put these shims back in
Michael Bowers I've never heard of that happening. It could have been forced in kitty-wompus deforming the bucket? Are you sure you are using 10mm shim? Bikes that use 10mm shims:KTM 690/950/990, Harley Vrod, Aprilia 990 vtwins
I noticed I have a rattle in the engine and bike stalls frequently while engaging the clutch and at start up could this be due to wrong valve clearance ?
Harold Psaila The rattle and the stalling is probably different issues. Without seeing/hearing it, I cant give you an opinion. Can you post a video of the problem?
Do you recommend buying one of those manual cam chain tensioners? How tight do you tighten the cam chain? The manual from RR says “until side movement of the chain on the cam sprocket is removed” which sounds VERY tight… I was thinking finger tight and then adjust it with the motor running (warm motor) by untighten it until it starts clattering and then tighten it until the clattering stops. Good/bad idea?
zip ties upper sprocket to chain en skips a tooth at the bottom. The next owner skips a tooth on the upper sprocket and never understands why it's not aligning.
Thanks for the video, very helpful for somebody doing the check/adjust for the first time.
Nice vid. I too remove the rocker, that way I don't have to mess with the cam tensioner.
Nice video
I did the oil change first guess its better to do the valve adjustment first then oil change.
Nice vid!
Waiting for next ADV update!
Your top of the motor is clean, you should see mine. Great video, cheers!
Noah, thank you for this video.
Good tips
An alternate method which I find less intimidating to some would be to remove the rocker arm screws, insert one of the screws into the end of the rocker arm shaft, pull the shaft noting it's position, lift the rockers to get to the shims?
This is true, you can do it this way. At the time I made this movie I was not aware of this method. I have since used it to try it and yes, it does work. If you require shim changes on both rocker arms, the cam removal way seems easier. But its really 6 of one, half dozen of the other.
czcams.com/video/8bwRsmGLaBI/video.html
Appreciate the info man 🤘😎🤘
Very nice Vid!
WOW! I never knew that you could do it this way, just sliding out the cam to get the shims off. I thought that you had to take the rollers out? This method works just as well? Getting ready to check my 2014 duke 690 valves next winter
ALWAYS replace any pre 2015 rocker arms on any 690 no matter what they look like. The pre 2015 rockers fail because the needle rollers move out of the arm because of a fault in the design which was meant to assist preening the rocker around the roller cage ends but they took away too much material. The 2015 onwards look different if you inspect them, they do not have a deep rebate around the ends of the needle cages and should be stamped 15, or 16 or 17 etc. NEVER risk blowing your engine up for the sake of putting in a £150 set of upgraded rockers. Mine went at 8000 miles on a brand new 2014 ER.
Britishshooter so did mine, smashed the cylinder and head, thank f*** it was under warranty.
I have 2015 690 smc-r so should i check them
Paul.1e, yes mate check them, they will probably be OK if the bike is a genuine 2015 build.The issue is that the pre 2015 rockers did not have enough 'preening' on the rockers to secure the needle rollers. In short, they cannot be relied on to hold the needle rollers in place. If they let go it could mean a total engine rebuild. Not worth taking the risk. A short term measure for pre 2015 bike owners is to remove them and use a punch and hammer to 'preen' the area either side of the needles to hopefully make sure the rollers will not slip out but the best way is to make sure you have the stronger 2015 date stamped rockers which hopefully you as a 2015 owner will actually have.
Hi do you do engine rebuilds on the smc 690, and what sort of price I'm looking at the bike still runs ok,engine is a bit noisy though.thanks
@@seanhancockphotofilm8960 happened a few weeks ago to my 2012 ktm duke 690... just put a used 2013 engine and just gonna sell the bike.
Great video mate, thank you. I have a 690 done 11500kms, should i get the valves checked now? Also should i replace the rocker while the bikes at the shop, I'm not mechanically mined at all and need sound advice.
I was checking the valves every time I changed the oil.
Did u change the rocker arms?
@@jacoberiksson6620 no mate i haven't, do i need to? (2011 - 10000kms)
@@UTPP I don't know, I just bought a ktm duke 690 2013 with 20000kms. And now iam reading all about these rocker arms that need to be replaced...
@@UTPP What did the shop say?
Thanks for the video. Do you measure the valve clearance with cam tensioner released or have to be tighten? When the cam tensioner is tight on my Duke 690 is giving me 0.02mm less reading for each valve, compared to when tensioner is loose. How much do you tighten your manual cam tensioner?
czcams.com/video/8bwRsmGLaBI/video.html
This is a better video.
@@nonomt Thank you for the prompt reply. I sent them the same message already :) I watched a lot of videos and I have the KTM Duke 690 2014 service repair manual. Because the OEM cam tensioner is hydraulic , there is no information when you change to manual how to properly to measure the valve clearance. I think that we should measure when the tensioner is released as the hydraulic one should be loose when there is no oil pressure. Also I can't find information how much to tight the manual cam tensioner precisely when you have the valve cover open. Everyone is tighing by hand until fill slight pressure + half to one more turn. My valves are adjusted to the specs and manual tensioner is tight and still very noisy engine. czcams.com/video/qWkJZdQbodg/video.html
One guy is running his KTM Duke with valve clearance within 0.04 - 0.09 and the engine is much more quiet.
RE: manual cam chain tensioner - what type spanner do you use half moon ring spanner ? due to the 2 x frame rails get in the way on my 2014 using a ring spanner , deep socket no good as can't adjust it.
I was using 8mm socket with 6" extension. If you cant take the halfmoon ring off, you can pull the rocker arm shaft out instead to remove the rocker arm. This allows you to change the shims while leaving Camshaft in place.
i was talking about your manual cam chain tensioner
Hi, i am rebuilding the top end on a 690 and i cant seat the shim. Its seams like its to wide to back in. Do these shims enlarge or something because im just not why I cant put these shims back in
Michael Bowers I've never heard of that happening. It could have been forced in kitty-wompus deforming the bucket? Are you sure you are using 10mm shim?
Bikes that use 10mm shims:KTM 690/950/990, Harley Vrod, Aprilia 990 vtwins
I noticed I have a rattle in the engine and bike stalls frequently while engaging the clutch and at start up could this be due to wrong valve clearance ?
Harold Psaila The rattle and the stalling is probably different issues. Without seeing/hearing it, I cant give you an opinion. Can you post a video of the problem?
I would assume that the RC390 engine is fairly similar...?
I do not know what the RC390 motor looks like inside. But i try not to assume anything. The 640 LC4 and 690 LC4 are not very similar...
Thanks Noah. Good information. Although I did get a bit sea sick watching. ;-) Maybe a re-do?
Do you recommend buying one of those manual cam chain tensioners? How tight do you tighten the cam chain? The manual from RR says “until side movement of the chain on the cam sprocket is removed” which sounds VERY tight… I was thinking finger tight and then adjust it with the motor running (warm motor) by untighten it until it starts clattering and then tighten it until the clattering stops. Good/bad idea?
+Erik Svensson Yes. I recommend it. But i'm a control freak and I want to limit the amount of possible failure points.
zip ties upper sprocket to chain en skips a tooth at the bottom. The next owner skips a tooth on the upper sprocket and never understands why it's not aligning.
can you help with the valve clearance for the ktm 125 duke?
Sorry, I don't have 125 duke :/
nice (Y) thanks :D
What year & how km or miles on you KTM 690?
08. 85,000 miles.
@@nonomt damn dude. how many rockers have you changed?
@@JinKazama92 a few.
@@nonomt so what is the mileage on it now?