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10/31/2017
Location
Lewiston, ID
US
blakegill57
8/27/2018 7:49pm
8/27/2018 7:49pm
Every time I go out and ride I keep ending up with a few loose spokes on my 2017 KTM. Its normally the drive side spokes on the rear wheel. I'm always sure to snug them back up before I go out and ride again but I recently had one spoke fall out. I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue with spokes and if there's anything to do to fix it besides to constantly check and tighten them. New wheelset?? Thanks for any info you may have.
I bought a set of wheels from Faster USA with A60s and bulldog spokes for both. Problem solved. They're heavier, but they're bomb proof. After the first ride, the spokes settled in and have stayed tight.
The Shop
The spokes are worth replacing as well though, because one could argue that they don't make enough thread contact within the nipple, which leads to shearing off nipples even if they haven't necessarily been overtightened (they switched to aluminum nipples back in '09 if I remember correctly, which is weaker than steel). Also, the drive side of the rear hub is extremely thin, and they only have a single bearing on that side. The Japanese bikes all come with double bearings on the drive side for strength and durability.
All three things I just listed technically contribute to KTM's weight saving attributes, but they come with downsides that basically domino one component failing into to the next, which you're unfortunately running into.
Hope that all makes sense.
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