Weight

The energy a rider spends on a difficult trail is directly proportional to the weight of the bike. The weight of the bike similarly affects the probability of spills and the energy spent on recovering from them and continuing the journey. Picking up bikes is energy consuming.

Suspension

The 500 EXC has great suspension already in stock form. It needs very little modification to work well in adventure enduro. The PDS design is very simple and has a minimal amount of bearings down low in harms way. The bikes with linkage suspension have many more bearings prone to dirt and water, which results in more maintenance and more spare parts to carry.

I prefer to use aluminium rail hand guards, instead of the OEM ones that are mounted from a single point. It’s not only for hand protection, but the rail also does a great job of protecting the handlebar, levers and throttle tube from damage in falls. The handlebar vibrates a lot, so instead of using the supplied sheet metal screws, I prefer to drill the mounting rail and bolt the deflector right through.

Levers

On the previous build I went with Midwest Mountain Engineering’s Clever Levers to ease the strain of clutch pull on the finger joints on long expeditions. However, I decided to go back to OEM versions, due to the fact that they’re cheap and do not need any adjustment in case they need to be replaced.

Pedals

I have a pretty narrow skid plate, which doesn’t offer much protection to the pedals. To give them a better chance of surviving small tumbles, I went with Hammerhead Designs pedals with titanium tips. The shifter is mounted on the engine with a single bolt, so it’s a good idea to make sure it doesn’t loosen and rotate off. Hammerhead produces a handy lock wire bolt for the shifter pedal which works like a charm. The brake pedal has the tendency to scoop trail debris between itself and the clutch cover. At worst, the jammed debris could break off the pedal. A security wire from the pedal to the frame will significantly reduce the risk of that happening.

CLUTCH

Apparently the brake lever tip teeth have a tendency of puncturing the clutch cover in falls. The P3 carbon clutch cover protector will prevent this from happening and also protects the cover from boots scratching it. Further back, the clutch slave cylinder guard should keep the clutch in working order after a snapped chain whiplashes though the front sprocket.

THROTTLE CABLES

The throttle cables are somewhat exposed on the top of the handlebar, and the KTM metal protector will give them a better chance of surviving a beating. To make sure the cables stay where they’re supposed to while fitting the tank, a set of bungees will do the trick. I run a strip of inner tube on both sides of the frame, from the tank’s top mount to its side supports.

SKID PLATE

I went with the P3 Carbon skid plate. Not only is it light and strong, but it has to be the most beautiful skid plate I’ve ever seen.

RADIATOR

The 2016 KTM 500 EXC had a radiator fan already fitted from stock. If it hadn’t, I would definitely have installed one. I used to run the plastic OEM radiator shields, but ended up investing in Bullet Proof Designs radiator guards. They are not exactly ultralight, but I appreciate the protection and they have performed extremely well, despite several crashes.

The original build had a single 19 litre KTM Powerparts fuel tank. Although its very convenient for long stretches without needing to refuel, I find it rather detrimental to body positioning. Also, it has a tendency to slosh around when around half way, and handling the bike when getting stuck or falling is of course more energy consuming with a full 19 litre tank. This build features the 11,5 litre tank from KTM Powerparts, and I’ll make up for the extra range when necessary, with a Giant Loop Gas Bag. The bike is much more nimble with the smaller tank, and I like the look of the OEM panels, which also offer an extra layer of protection to the tank.

I didn’t bother with putting an extra fuel filter or replacing the standard micro filter with a Golan or equivalent. Instead, I’ll keep an eye on the in-tank filter and do frequent changes of the micro filter. Every time the quick release is opened, the O-ring should be lubed with silicone grease before closing. If it gets too dry, the female connector will potentially catch on the O-ring an tear it, resulting in a fuel leak. I protected the the fuel tank quick release with a section of MTB inner tube. It’s tied in at the bottom, to prevent crud flying up into it. I left a small hole for draining water though.

I’ve upgraded the standard air filter bracket stud to the factory version to avoid any malfunctions on the trail. I use the standard TwinAir pre-oiled air filters. They can be washed out with normal dish washing liquid and then re-oiled. However, I prefer to carry several filters instead of washing and oiling one or two on the trail. This is because the weight of the liquids alone will be more than three filters. The preoiled filters are light and can easily be carried compressed into small ziplock bags. I run a dust cover on top the air filter to give a little more life on expeditions.

I prefer to run the standard enduro 13:50 gearing with SuperSprox Stealth sprockets. I also experimented with 14:50, and while it tops out at 150 km/h fully open, I found the first gear too tall for technical stuff. The 13:50 is fantastic on first gear technical ground and will still roll nicely at highway speeds up to 110 km/h. I suppose for rides with long sections of tarmac, carrying a 13T and 14T front sprockets might seem appealing, but I find it a little counter-productive.

I love a clean office and modified the front brake to run rally style between the headlight mask and front fender. It does not interfere with navigation equipment and thus far has never caught on anything on the trail. The modification can be done with the OEM brake hose, and needs nothing more than patience and a few zip ties.

The rear brake is fitted with a thicker closed brake disk, to reduce wear on the rear brake pads. With the standard open brake disks, I’ve gone through brake pads in a single day of riding in wet and sandy conditions.

I replaced the standard oil plug with the factory version, for extra durability and a smaller chance of the plug loosening and falling out. Theoretically the factory oil pump cover cools the oil a little, but it’s in fact there because it looks cool. Same goes for the orange oil filter cap. Guilty as charged.

The oil volume of the 500EXC has been debated until exhaustion, with different volume expansion methods from high volume clutch covers to external oil coolers. In fact I have a Twin Air oil cooler sitting in my garage, and despite the fact that it will add oil volume and reduce temperature, I never got around to fitting it. The reason I left it out is that it adds weight and four wet connections i.e. fail points. It requires special oil filters that are hard to find even in Europe. Additionally, it adds complexity to the oil change procedure and requires verification of oil flow, which seems close to impossible to do without removing the tank. So in my view that’s a lot of extra hassle and risks for a little bit more of oil. I’d rather just do oil changes more frequently

IGNITION MAP SWITCH

The ignition map switch is there to facilitate the change between standard and soft ignition maps. Most of the time I run on standard, but the soft map may be useful in technical terrain and if fuel quality is dubious or low octane. At least that’s what I’ve heard, and to be honest, I don’t feel any difference between the maps.

MIRRORS

The 500 came with two static mirrors. I prefer a clean cockpit when riding offroad, so I replaced the mirrors with a single Acerbic left hand side folding mirror. It’s mostly tucked away behind the hand guard.

SIDE STAND

The stock side stand gave up the ghost during the Crimson Trail, and I’ve since replaced it with a Hammerhead Side Stand. Bomb proof.

NAVIGATION

The bike has a single Garmin Montana 600 navigator. It’s locked into a powered Garmin cradle, which is held on the handlebar with a RAM mount. I keep the RAM mount loose enough to easily switch back and forth between seated and attack positions without needing to adjust the tension bolt. Power is run directly from the bike’s battery with a small fuse under the seat. There’s an on/off switch for the navigator, mounted directly to a bunch of wires with zip ties; keeping it ghetto.

BOLTS

Many of the aftermarket stuff such as skid plates have different bolt head and types than the rest of the bike. I usually replace all after market bolts with high quality stainless steel hardware. I make sure the head is a Torx key size that I need to carry in my toolkit anyway.