The 390 Build Begins: [EP1] Exhaust and Fuel Tuner Install

[00:00:02][music] [music] [music] [music] >> Welcome back to the channel and welcome to episode one of the 390 Adventure build series. What we're going to be doing is removing this resonator box here. Now, the main reason for removing the resonator box is one it's heavy, but one of the main reasons why we like to remove them on these bikes is because it sits just in front here. You can see the top of it here. It sits just in front of the shock here. Now, there is some indication that the the heat from the resonator box can have adverse effects on the shock.

[00:01:10]>> [music] [music] [music] >> I'm just trying to loosen the header bolts and the the left-hand side one as you sit on the bike is fine, but the right-hand side one is really gripping and it's just I don't want to force it. It's just starting to round off. So, we've put some we've put some penetrating spray on and uh I'll I'm going to just see if I can just ease it out. It's going to be a bit of a tricky one. I've I've had plenty of these before.

[00:01:52]This sort of stuff happened before in the past with bikes, so I know what I'm doing, but you just got to be patient.

[00:01:57]So, um let's just see if I can tease this little bugger out. This is the resonator box here, guys.

[00:02:03]Um did finally manage to get it out. I had a little bit of a problem with the header pipe um and the nuts and studs were properly sort of corroded in. Now, given I've not even ridden this bike in the winter or through salt or anything, that's pretty pretty poor. But, um we did manage to get it out with one of these nut and bolt extractor socket sets.

[00:02:21]Didn't even need I didn't even know they existed, to be honest with you. I um did a little hunt around on YouTube to find a solution.

[00:02:28]And a guy on there suggested one of these. Um 16 quid from Amazon, guys. It got the It got this out straight away.

[00:02:35]As you can see, that's You might not be able to see that, but it's quite rounded. Um but, yeah, 12 mil on there.

[00:02:41]Tap it on with a hammer. Take your time.

[00:02:43]Came off in two turns.

[00:02:45]So, that is a well worth having in your toolkit if you haven't got one already.

[00:02:50]So, with regards to remounting the new link pipe, you can either use the original uh bolt and sort of sheath [snorts] that went through there and attach it that that way, or you can use a single bolt through that part there with an additional washer. And that's the route I'm going to go.

[00:03:06]So, this is the original uh bolt and sleeve that came out the bottom of the resonator box.

[00:03:13]Um but, as you can see, uh I've got two link pipes here.

[00:03:17]Shape of that is clearly quite different. And with some force, that will go through there. But, obviously, you've also got to try and get a rubber mount in there. So, once you've got the rubber mount in there, pushing this through is nigh on impossible, and all it does is it just kind of cuts up the rubber mount. I've [snorts] seen guys online who have got these and and I've got this way uh of fitting uh down to a T. So, whether or not they've got sort of a more of a rounded hole on their version of their link pipes, I don't know. But, that's not going to work for me. So, what I'm going to do is, rather than use uh that combo, I'm just going to use this one here. So, these were actually I've got two of these. These were taken out of the top of the resonator. So, it's still designed to go in that same kind of section of the bike or in the frame.

[00:04:00]But, these are nowhere near as heavy as the resonator box anyway. So, that will go through there quite nicely and then I'll probably just put as you can see that's a much better fit. I might even just put like a little washer on it, but it might not even need it to be honest, guys.

[00:04:15]But, yeah. As you can see that's going to be a much better option and I think I'll get away with that as well. But, we'll give it a go and we'll see.

[00:04:22]So, the story behind both the link pipes that this one is a 20 lb version from Temu and this one here is an 79 lb version from company called GR Moto. After I'd had They don't feel much different, guys, to be honest.

[00:04:38]But, after I'd had the issues with the header pipe quite sort of clear that that bike is quite susceptible to getting a lot of corrosion down in that section of of the motorcycle. Rather than go with a really cheap thing off of Temu, which I may come to regret, I just decided to buy another link pipe from a more sort of reputable place.

[00:05:00]Now, you know, I've I've used GR Moto before. Their exhaust pipes actually really good. Not sure about the quality of these, the welds and stuff on this, but the good thing about having something from a company such as GR Moto is that if I have a problem with it, then it can go back. If I have a problem with something from Temu, let's face it, it's going in the bin and there's no sort of comeback.

[00:05:21]So, I think we're going to go with this one.

[00:05:24]So, whilst the silencer's off, I may as well take the opportunity to give it a clean up. I'll also do the same with the header.

[00:05:30]Just makes sense whilst everything's off. Just going to give it a nice clean up. So, as you can see this is the Akrapovic um end can which is designed specifically for the 390.

[00:05:42]And then obviously you've got your carbon heat shield as well. So, we'll give all this a clean up whilst it's off the bike and we'll also do the header pipe.

[00:05:51]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> So it's actually now a few days later um and I really struggled to get that uh header pipe off. Um the nuts were so badly corroded onto the studs uh that I had to I had to actually take the studs out in the end to get the exhaust off. So what I've done is I've ordered some new studs, some new nuts, but given this bike is a is a 24 plate, but it's only got about 3 and 1/2 thousand miles on if that. Um and obviously I didn't even really run it in the winter because I was without it for 3 months um when it was having its throttle body uh replaced. It's quite disappointing to see that level of corrosion, especially on something which is is built as an adventure bike. Um but what I have done in the meantime is I've installed a Fuel X um which I got from Hitchcocks Motorcycles. So it was a really really easy install. So I'll pop some footage in of that now for you.

[00:07:28]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> So basically what you've got is you've got your lambda sensor here and you unclip the two um uh clips from in here.

[00:08:03]Um and then you replace the male [snorts] from the the bike goes into the female connector of the fuel X and then vice versa. The male uh connector from the fuel X goes into the female um connector sort of stock connector on the bike.

[00:08:19]>> [snorts] >> So that's quite easy to do.

[00:08:22]Um and then I'm what I'm going to do is I'm going to I will tidy all this up. I just want to make sure it's working first. So I've routed this cable all the way through here.

[00:08:33]And then >> [snorts] >> just go on up here and the actual unit is just here, look.

[00:08:38]So this got a nice little place for it to go in here just behind the air box.

[00:08:42]So when you're installing them, just make sure you've got your lights facing up so that you can keep an eye on what it's doing. But as I say on the 390, it fits quite nicely in there.

[00:08:50]>> [snorts] >> And then this end will obviously just connect uh to this end and then you've just got your negative terminal to go on the batteries. Yeah, guys, the hardest bit of that install is getting this plastic cover back on.

[00:09:03]It's quite a pain in the ass to get it to to line up. I shouldn't keep swearing, should I?

[00:09:10]It's a pain in the bottom. Sorry.

[00:09:12]Slapped wrist.

[00:09:14]It'll be interesting to see what that what that goes like. Um as I said, once I've got the exhaust back on, I'll take it for a spin and show show show how it's going. But good thing is is we've got no fault codes up on the dash. So that's a good start. No engine lights come on.

[00:09:31]>> [snorts] >> So yeah, pretty pleased with that. Easy install. Hopefully that will solve the stalling issues. And then in here, what I was going to do was re-route. I was going to buy a different pipe and I was going to re-route the silencer from this position, which is where it would normally sit, sort of up to here. I had a bit of a rethink on the the whole high-level exhaust exhaust thing. Um >> [snorts] >> it looks cool.

[00:09:57]There's no two ways about it, but when you actually look at the the the changes that you've got to make further along the exhaust system, sort of back towards the engine.

[00:10:06]Um it looks like a right pain in the backside to do, to be honest with you. And I'm, you know, it's purely for looks. I don't need the extra clearance for the trails I ride.

[00:10:17]Um so, it would be a it would be purely just to get the, you know, a high-level exhaust look. And the problem with that is it creates another issue.

[00:10:26]Um because obviously if I'm running bags, you've then got the the the added kind of headache of your bags melting.

[00:10:32]So, you've then got to find a solution for that. Um which isn't a big deal, but it's just something else, you know, you're creating a problem just because you want something aesthetically, um you know, to look to look good aesthetically. So, I've had a bit of a rethink on that. Um and the other issue is, you know, I've taken the resonator box out because I'm concerned about the heat that it's generating around the rear shock.

[00:10:58]So, to then put the the exhaust at a high level and run a hot exhaust pipe through that gap there, because it has to be routed slightly differently if you want the high level, well, all I'm doing in in that in that eventuality is introducing more heat into that area that I've just spent, you know, weeks trying to get out. So, I've replaced one hot box basically for another. Um which defeats the object of taking the resonator out in the first place. So, yeah, I think we're going to stick with low level. So, slight change of plan on that, but I think ultimately that's probably going to be the better option.

[00:11:33]So guys, hopefully you can see that. I'm under balance everything on my legs at the moment. Doing this by yourself is not easy. So in there I can't point to it, but in there just above my right knee, you'll see where the link pipe is fitted to the frame.

[00:11:47]And then the pipe comes out. Just get you back out here. Oh, I'm getting cramp in my hip, lovely. And then it comes up here.

[00:11:55]And then the silencer fits just in there. So obviously that doesn't look like it's lining up particularly well at the moment, that's because I'm under hold it by myself, but yeah, that's how the exhaust will go anyway. So I'm pretty pleased with the fitment in there.

[00:12:08]That'll be pretty good, I think.

[00:12:10]>> [laughter] >> So I've been >> [gasps] >> I've been well and truly beaten, guys.

[00:12:17]Um yeah, I I've got a yeah.

[00:12:21]What a nightmare. I've been conspired against, guys.

[00:12:25]Um Yeah, super annoying. Uh I haven't been able to get the exhaust reinstalled cuz I'm still waiting for the studs and the nuts. Um so yeah, really really frustrating. Um I I wanted to drop this video last week, but I couldn't because of that. I was hoping that I was going to get the the the new bits, you know, between now and last this time last week, but alas it's not happened. So I will do an update um on episode in episode two for you with the with the new with the new exhaust on and stuff.

[00:12:58]Yeah, super annoying, guys, but it is what it is. There's nothing I can do about it, but I will update you at the beginning of episode two.

[00:13:05]If you're new here and you're wondering why I've decided to rally a 390 Adventure uh KTM from 2024, which was essentially a street bike, let's be honest, then I'll link a video uh at the end of this one that explains kind of my thinking process my thought process behind it and my thinking behind the project. So what I'm not going to be doing in this video, guys, is doing any sort of in-depth how-tos on any of the mods that I'm doing.

[00:13:30]Um and because of that, I'm going to keep the episodes quite short, probably somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes each. I'm just doing something that's enjoyable for me to do. I I enjoy filming it. I enjoy sharing it with you guys. Um but as I say, it's not going to be a how-to series. Anyway, if you've enjoyed this video, uh leave me a like. If you want to keep up with the series, consider dropping a sub to the channel. I'm all about the motorbikes, guys.

[00:13:55]Occasionally, I'll throw a curveball in just to keep you on your toes, but ultimately, we're all bikes on this channel. So, yeah, if you're into your bikes, give me a sub. Be really really appreciate it. I bet you any money tomorrow these bloody studs all turn out, won't they? And I've dropped this video today. If they do, I'll leave a short. So, I will film the assembly and the reinstallation of the exhaust and the test ride, and I'll drop it into the beginning of episode two, which will be out in a couple of weeks.

[00:14:23]Thank you, guys, for watching, as always, and I will see you in episode two.