KTM 300 Electric Starter & Bendix - The Ultimate Repair - Part 1

Tutorial on How to repair and improve KTM 300, 250, 200 Starter and Bendix. Includes shimming the bendix.
#KTM #bendix

[@DcChoc]

It’s definitely worth replacing the stock OEM bushes with bronze ones - the original bushes are a real weak point of the system. You can get them on eBay or from XRC in NZ.

[@robertlaskey8509]

I'm about to do the exact same thing on my 2009, 300. Where do I order the bushings??

[@youcandoit1828]

I can't remember if I bought from the net or direct from KTM. You can do it 👍

[@jbretel]

Search KZbin for the 24v starter conversion - just about to do it for my XC-W 2008 with a high-compression head.

[@youcandoit1828]

Sounds strong, I'll check it out. This was on 300 with high compression head. Works fine now. Keep us posted. You can do it 👍

[@enduroisland4202]

Excellent video! Just did the same job, not doing the wet mod tho. How has that worked out for you soo far? Nice content btw Subd to your channel!👍🏻

[@youcandoit1828]

Thanks. I need to up load Part 3 but the Ultimate setup worked a treat 👍 Did an extreme recce event last weekend and it started on the button everytime. First time ever it’s worked 😎 I haven’t done the wet mod. ☝️

[@rajkirannatarajan9276]

I think the Slavens racing bushings seemed like the stock bushings. The XRC Racing bushings are made of brass and are a bit better than the stock ones.

[@MudAndDustMoto]

Would you mind to post the part numbers for the upgraded parts in the comments or description of the video?

[@youcandoit1828]

I can dig them out. They are also on the video you just need to pause the video. You can do it 👍

[@MudAndDustMoto]

@@youcandoit1828 haha, already got the part numbers from a dealer. I was just trying to be lazy.

[@youcandoit1828]

@@MudAndDustMoto YOU can do it 👍

[@tribester07]

Slaven says on one of his KZbin videos, that he doesn't recommend the 'Wet Mod', he did it for one customer several years ago, and he has never done it on one of his own bikes.

[@youcandoit1828]

Interesting. I haven’t filled mine with oil yet and probably won’t. But if you ride water and river crossing etc. Blocking the lower vent and installing a upper vent tube stops all the muddy water getting in. You can do it 👍

[@sidecarbod1441]

I run a high CR head on my 2013, I've had no end of trouble with the starter system, I've done the wet mod and fitted better bushes, I run a 410w motor and an extra earth lead to it, I've gradually increased the battery size. I was running a stock is a YTZ4, I tried a YTZ5 and YTZ7 BS which has about 130 CCA and I was still having problems with the starter motor stalling. The YTZ7 battery is taller but it just fits under the seat. I've just fitted a Noco NLP5 lithium battery rates at 250 CCA!!! and guess what, the bendix gear is now slipping. The plastic battery tray has ribs that face in towards the battery, it is a good idea to use a sharp wood work chisel and plane them off, they dig into the battery and start to wear grooves into it. One problem with the 'fake' starter motors is that some of them use a steel bush at the 'gear end' of the shaft, running a steel shaft in a steel bush is not a good idea, I replaced the steel bush with a bronze bush that I machined up after the steel bush started to gall up. The KTM motor has a ball bearing but the price for that motor is sky high! I don't think the new setup gives 17% more torque, 27/18=1.5:1 and 28/16=1.75:1. The percentage difference between 1.5 and 1.75 is around 15% Anyway, a good video, very helpful.

[@youcandoit1828]

Yes I’ve done all the extra thick earth lead etc and even wired it up to a van battery. Personally I think cable and batteries are not the problem its always starter motor, gear ratio and binding from bushes or clearance. The whole design was bad from the start. I had the same issues with a v6 be Touareg. Would swear it was a duff battery as it’s sometimes only just turn over. So would replace the battery and its be the same. Turned out to be the starter motor under certain torque situations would jam up. Good luck with your challenge. You can do it 👍

[@sidecarbod1441]

@@youcandoit1828 I worked out a nice 'fix' for the spinning gear, basically by using 3mm diamond burrs you can grind a semi' circle dish or 'dip' into the shaft, you can then grinding a slot into the gear, the slot should NOT run the full width of the gear. 'Normal' grind stones like the ones that you get with a Dremel won't even mark the steel parts and neither will tungsten carbide! By using a 3mm steel ball bearing that sits in the dip and high strength locite it should be possible to lock the gear to the shaft, the ball bearing will physically stop the gear spinning on the shaft. I started to do this fix on my 28 tooth bendix but its not really worth it now as I'm changing the ratios, have said that I will fix my old bendix anyway. I guess if a laser welded bendix fails then this fix would work.

[@youcandoit1828]

@@sidecarbod1441 Great Plan. Let us know how it goes. You can do it 💪

[@sidecarbod1441]

@@youcandoit1828 Quick update, I ended up swapping the bendix for the 2016 version along with the crown wheel, the starter system was working well until the bendix shaft snapped in two a couple of mm past the point where the gear is pressed and welded on to it, the weld did not break, the shaft just snapped! In the end I decided to lower the CR of my engine from 13.2:1 down to 12.5:1, hopefully the replacement bendix can cope with this CR. KTM quote 13.2:1 CR for all the 300cc engines but this is not correct, the SX runs this CR, the EXC as standard is 11.8:1 CR (all figures are the uncorrected. or geometric ratios). I'm not sure if I would trust my ball bearing fix now that I have found out that the bendix shaft is running pretty near its torque limit.

[@youcandoit1828]

@@sidecarbod1441 wow snapping the shaft. So fixing one weak spot has just move to the next weak spot. Reducing the CR is the best short term solution. It's a lot of work to modify a bendix to run a thicker/tougher shaft and still fit into the bushings. You can do it

[@Rakell88]

Would those codes work for a husqvarna TE300 2015?

[@youcandoit1828]

Hi are you taking Bendix and crown wheel codes ? Yep they should be al the same as the same motor.

[@Rakell88]

@@youcandoit1828 Yeah i need to order both but can't locate the parts but I am thinking 🤔 the KTM parts are the same?

[@youcandoit1828]

Miss Nelson Hi yes it the same motor. I used cylinder base gaskets in my rebuild from husvarna as they seem to have more choice of thickness plus the nearest dealer to me is husqvarna. Don’t know where you live but I bought bendix and crown wheel from the internet. www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en. Hope this helps and once you get the new starter setup it starts on the button even with a modified high compression head. Keep us posted. You can do it.👍

[@rachelnelson3077]

@@youcandoit1828 Sorry, was on wrong account, Scotland...managed to locate a 1x dealer 2hrs away. Will try them for parts if not will use the link, thanks so much.

[@rachelnelson3077]

@@youcandoit1828 The Bendix I can get is a 16/28 and not 18/28....what is the difference?

[@rafaellopez1503]

Hi 👋. Könntest du das Video nochmal auf deutsch machen ?

[@youcandoit1828]

Hallo, wann mein Deutsch besser ist 👍 I can do it 😊