P#*38 troubles

 It may not come as a surprise but currently the P38 is not working very well. Although I have been driving it past summer, well actually at the end of summer to the Alps. I couldn't drive it during summer because the transfer case and torque converter needed replacement...

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. 

KTM 1090 adventure R specs versus Ducati desertX

 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.

KTM specs 

Here is the link to the website for the KTM 1090 Adventure R

Ducati DesertX specs

Here is the link to the website for the Ducati DesertX

Welcome KTM :-)

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 bike market has exploded and thinks we 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. 

                            "Ready to race"

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