I managed to find time past weekend to look at the p38 a little more in depth. I was hoping to be able to pinpoint the exact cause of the problem head gasket or something else.
To make sure I didn't suck in air somewhere due to a faulty radiator or hose I went ahead and replaced the radiator, the bypass hose at the back of the engine and the hose between thermostat and heater core. I also replaced the thermostat o-ring and waterpump at the same time. The radiator I was going to replace anyways, I bought an aluminium one which is a bit thicker and therefore has more cooling capacity.
I ran a quick pressure test and after minutes I lose 2,5 psi starting from 15psi, which I think is still problematic.
I investigated all hoses and connection while under pressure to find leaks of coolant but I couldn't find any external leaks. I checked at the heater core as well, but since that radiator has been replaced as well and also has newisch o-ring it was unlikely to find a leak there.
So that basically means I'll have to strip the head off and replace it.
More on this soon.👊
This round trip of 2500km was uneventful apart from overheating brakes and so I got over the p38 paranoia and thought I could just take off anywhere.
That was until I wanted to go to the Belgian Ardennes, mid highway all of a sudden steam in front and back. With my heart in my throat I was conveniently able to pull over at a gas station.
There I discovered the radiator top right hose came off and the coolant was gone. I re-collected myself and took my tools, bought bottles of water to fill her up and drove home at a slow pace.
When I got home I parked it and I didn't want anything to do with it , i was gutted.
About a week or so later I started to look into it. I ordered a tester and fluid to check for a head gasket failure. The fluid turned yellow although it took quite a while.
I attached a transparent hose between the top of the radiator and the expansion tank to better see the coolant. There are bubbles in there, sometimes steady sometimes none. Also the cooling hoses become a bit stiffer with a closed cooling system, that's not abnormal if they don't become to hard.
I bought an amazon pressure tester and I'm losing pressure. Just don't know where yet. So I started to look around for parts.
I ordered a new water pump, o-ring thermostat, bypass tube behind the engine and a new radiator in aluminium, head gasket and head bolts more gaskets... The problem with the diesel is that when the heads are warped they cannot be skimmed or you are at risk of getting cracks in the head where the swirl chambers are.
New heads I thought were unobtanium, but so it happens that AMC just made a new batch of heads. I went ahead and bought one straight away. Even if I don't need it I'll be happy to have one available just in case.
Hopefully I'll be able in the coming weeks to further troubleshoot the issue and if not go ahead with the cylinder head replacement.
I you read my blog you probably already noticed I actually overhauled the engine 2 years ago. I inspected the cylinder head back then and I knew it was not entirely in spec for the longitudinal measurement. On top off my head I think it cannot exceed 0.10mm. In my case it was somewhere in between 0,10 and 0.15mm. Because the heads cannot be skimmed according to Rave I decided to take my chances and install it anyway. Which worked up until now.
I almost have all the parts available and I'll try try to troubleshoot a bit more before I pull the plug on the head.
If you compare the Ktm 1090 advR with the standard Ducati DesertX you'll see they are not that far apart. I even think Ducati really looked at the KTM during the conception.
Here is the link to the website for the KTM 1090 Adventure R
Here is the link to the website for the Ducati DesertX
I wasn't sure if I was going to get another bike since I didn't drive my previous bike all that much.
Since I have the P38 range rover I didn't find the time anymore and somehow I didn't gel with the Ducati very well.
In the meantime the P38 broke down and it got me thinking that maybe I should keep a bike on the side just in case. I already postponed travelling because of issues with the p38 and I think that might be its modus operandi.
That's why eventually I started looking at bikes again,after all it was my 1st and most fierce passion. The current adventure bike market has exploded and thinks we all need screens all of the times and those farcles have somehow become more important than the actual bike and its performance. Yes I see a trend just like in the automotive industry for downsized engines with the exception of a few brands like KTM that ever increase the engine size and horsepower and stay true to their own slogan.
And so I turned to the 2nd hand market and tried an 1190 adventure. Just by chance I went to look at a KTM 1090 adventure that was not even on my radar. I bought it after driving merely 200m with it. Instantly I remembered why I like KTM's so much. There's just something about the way they deliver the power that puts an instant smile on your face.
Let me introduce you my new to me 2017 KTM 1090 adventure R
It might come as a surprise, even for myself but I sold the DesertX rally.
This little write up is to sum up why and what contributed to sell the bike.
I first start explaining why I bought the bike in the first place.
The bike was marketed as a "rally' version with upspec suspension like a closed cartridge fork and with 240mm suspension travel beavier rims and all that good stuff.
In a sense I knew Ducati was going to be expensive because the price is really upthere. On the other hand the fit and finish and the electronic package is really good as well.
After a test ride which was actually to short I decided to buy the bike because it felt lighter then my previous KTM 1290 bike. I also found that the engine is really good. The l-twin is pumping out 110 horses and is honestly a blast to ride.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024 , I went to the Alps using TET routes. I almost always travel with camping gear which means I need to be able to carry luggage.
I didn't test my setup before I left because I didn't have the time. The Alps were actually a last minute decision.
Anyways, on the road absolutely no problem to carry luggage, however in the dirt not so much. The problem was that the rear shock bounces to much up and down going to the stroke on uneven terrain. Even when changing the settings like preload and compression I could not prevent it going through the stroke and bottoming it out. But the problem was also that the feel in the front on the dirt just wasn't there, because of the weak spring in the back the front would feel light and sometimes not easy to control with confidence.
For me I found this unacceptable at this price point to still have to change the suspension configuration. The consequence of that was in part at least, that I did not drive the bike nearly as much as I should. It stood for months on end in the garage. Until I decided to participate in an amature rally in Belgium in 2025.
During that rally I bent the front rim...
Ooh well that was kind of the proverbial straw that broke the camel's bag for me. I never ever bent a rim on any other bike which was far more abused than this Ducati.
And with all that I decide to sell it. I didn't want to invest more money in it. Don't get me wrong it was still one off the prettiest and capable bikes I ever owned but you need deep pockets.
This brings me to my next point, If you fancy not working on your bike yourself than this bike is for you. If you are a bit of a greasemonkey like myself not so much. We all know that offroad riding includes the occasional wrenching, not being able to do that to not void the warranty just didn't work for me.
It has been a while already that I bought the so called faskit from a spanisch company.
This system allows to continue to use the air suspension in case of a failure with some of the EAS components such as:
