The trail has gotten rough for KTM over the last year, with its most obvious bump in the road being surprisingly poor financial performance for the first half of 2024. And while that’s a bummer for shareholders, there’s an even more dangerous snake in the grass, a rapid decline in consumer confidence caused by KTM and its parent company Pierer Mobility Group’s slow response to reports of cam failures in its LC8c parallel-twin engines, used to power early 790 Adventure and Duke models. 

Owners have been complaining about excessive camshaft wear for a couple years now, with the majority of reports coming from owners of pre-2021 790 models, though there have also been unconfirmed reports of damage with later 890s, as well as the Husqvarna Norden 901. These owners have been very vocal online, especially within the Facebook group KTM Failed Camshafts – 790/890 & 901, which currently has over 10,000 members.

Finally, in midsummer 2024, KTM responded to the issue on social media by putting out a brief statement and apology that did little to quell the growing dissatisfaction among owners who felt their issues were not being properly acknowledged or addressed, while scores of would-be consumers of the brand have now been turned off, and potentially away from future ownership. 

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It’s a rough scene, and for the sake of both sides, an issue ADV Pulse wanted to get clarification on straight from KTM. Accordingly, we had a candid interview with Robert Pearce, Vice President of Operations for KTM North America, with the goal of getting to the bottom of things.

Which Models Are Affected?

According to Pearce, the now-proven cam wear issues have been specifically limited to units using the LC8c 799cc parallel twin engine with model years 2018 through mid-2020. So, this means the 790 Duke and 790 Adventure models from that period could be affected. 

But before we move on, KTM confirmed  these units, including their engines, were all built at the Mattighofen factory in Austria, not in China by their partner CFMoto, but more on those concerns later. 

How Many Units Affected?

One of the most important disclosures to come from this conversation is KTM’s statement of just how many of those 790 models sold between 2018 and mid-2020 have been affected by cam-related issues, to which the official answer is 0.5%. “That’s what we’re seeing and that is minute,” said Pearce. 

While Pearce couldn’t supply the exact number of potentially affected units sold in any one country, he said this 0.5% total applies to North America as well as every other country where 790-powered motorcycles have been sold, adding that if it does fluctuate, it’s by 0.05% percent, so max upward count would be 0.55%. 

The Problem Explained

Pearce described how the issue discovered on the 2018 to mid-2020 LC8c engine’s was not a problem with the camshaft itself, but rather with the finger followers that are activated by the camshaft lobes to open and close the valves. Pearce gets that people are talking about cams, but said with certainty: “It’s finger followers that have had a situation.”

He explained that when the potential issue was confirmed, a handful of updates were made at the production-level to improve durability, beginning with the mid-2020 model year units. First, the finger followers were increased in width by one millimeter to “reduce surface contact pressure.” Plus, a new “refined” DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coating was applied to the finger followers “for more safety margin against abnormal wear.”

The other thing that changed mid-2020 was the head. “The oil feed tube that runs up through the head that feeds the cams and the finger followers, there’s been a screen installed in that orifice to catch any type of debris. The oil passages themselves have not been changed, just the feed tube,” says Pearce. “It’s only been increased to accept the filter screen. It’s not to increase oil capacity or oil pressure.” 

According to Pearce, in some instances debris entering the oil feed tube could cause a blockage, affecting the lubrication of the cam system. He goes on to mention that the debris might have been from chips created during the machining process of engine components. 

Action For Affected Owners

Pearce wanted to make it clear that KTM is committed to curing “any of these situations that customers have and we’ve informed our dealer network to do that.” Owners of the affected model years will have the following remedies: If there is no damage to the head, dealers will simply replace the cams and  finger followers, using the wider versions that have been treated with a more robust DLC coating. However, Pearce said that in 75 to 80 percent of cases the head will also need to be replaced with the current version, which includes the larger oil feed tube with the debris-blocking filter screen. 

KTM has sent an email about the problem and solution to owners of 2018-2020 units that reads a little more generalized than what we heard straight from the horse’s mouth. And of the camshaft, KTM reminded owners that “the overall quality and integrity of the camshaft itself is not the problem.”

It goes on to say that the majority of model year 2018-2020 camshafts being inspected at dealerships are perfectly fine aside from “discoloration or running marks that have formed on the running surface of the cams or on the bearing points of the shafts and can be removed by cleaning.”

The cost of any parts that are deemed problematic by factory-authorized mechanics will be covered by KTM. When asked about the possibility of getting reimbursed for camshaft failure repairs that occurred before this was a known issue or if a dealer was unaware, Pearce elaborated, “there is reassurance we will take care of it.” 

Symptoms Will Be Obvious

While Pearce wanted to assure KTM customers that the brand will be there to help in the case of premature reliability issues, he said the dealer network can’t handle a flood of people just coming in wanting to have their cams checked without reason.  

He’d rather owners understand the warning signs, which if there’s an actual issue with the cams, will be impossible to ignore, beginning with sound: “It’s going to have severe clacking,” said Pearce, “because as the finger followers wear, the cams wear and it’s going to create more gap.” 

The level of noise he described is not something that can be missed by the rider, as is the second most common symptom—a blatant reduction in performance. As for hard starting, which some owners have reported, Pearce said while it’s possible, that usually isn’t the case, and if it is, it’s preceded by noise and a reduction in power. 

Why Not A Recall?

The first reason is the small number of confirmed failures.  “With mechanical stuff, as you know, we have issues and we have problems, and I think all OEMs and all car manufacturers go on percentages of failures,” Pearce noted. “And with this being such a small fail rate of 0.5%, the factory felt the way of handling it was through goodwill.” 

The second reason is that it’s not considered a safety issue. Typically, camshaft failures happen gradually over time. “This doesn’t happen within two miles or three miles. It’s a wearing situation,” says Pearce.

He went on to say that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been in touch. “I’ve been asked by NHTSA, because they’ve seen some of the posts and stuff like that. Some people have contacted them.” He adds NHTSA inquired if the issue being reported was a safety concern. His answer was no. “There’s not one case of an accident, not one case of an injury,” explained Pearce. He attributed this to the very obvious symptoms laid out previously. “You don’t wake up in the morning and start your bike up and let it rattle like a pinball machine,” he says.  

The bottom line? Any engine wear problem caused by the first generation finger followers and/or possible debris moving through the head unchecked should be easily detected without the chance of it leading to something catastrophic. 

He went on to say that if a model has even one safety issue, like a brake failure for example, this could trigger an immediate recall, whereas something that’s more of a wear issue and a small number of instances will be addressed on the production line, and owners of existing machines will be taken care of through their goodwill program. 

Future Recourse

When we asked Pearce what options exist for owners who might not have an issue currently, but may hear or feel signs of it two years or 6,000 miles down the line, he assured us that those owners would be taken care of as long as the problem isn’t directly a result of irresponsible use, such as lack of maintenance or “sinking it in a river.”

Pearce acknowledged that KTM understands it’s a problem that might pop up with accumulated mileage, and is not likely something an owner will encounter during the first couple thousand miles.

“But if a guy’s got 50,000 miles on it? First of all, we’re going to congratulate him and thank him for owning a KTM, and then we’ll take a look at it.” In most cases they will do whatever is possible to help that customer out. 

He also went on to remind customers they need to do their due diligence, such as changing the oil and filter in accordance not only to schedules but usage, say if you encounter huge amounts of dust, change the air filter more often. 

To address additional complaints heard by owners who have gone into their dealership only to be told the dealer has no idea there’s a potential issue, Pearce says this should no longer be the case, as all dealers have recently received detailed instructions on how to deal with the topic. 

If for some reason the owner doesn’t get the help they need from a dealer, KTM invites them to contact customer service via the methods listed at the bottom of this story.

China Syndrome

Another issue that has reached a fevered pitch relates to KTM and its partnership with China’s CFMoto. As mentioned earlier, KTM wants to set the record straight on which of its models are built in China. Firstly, none of the affected models from the years identified or their engines were built in China. Zero. 

Furthermore, reported Pearce, before model year 2023, no KTM machines of any designation were built in China, nor were engines made there and shipped to Austria for assembly. This is pure myth. The 2023 790 Duke and current model year 790 Adventure began being built at CFMoto facilities for the first time and under the “same or higher standards” than what’s implemented in Austria. That’s two models made in China out of some 300 produced by parent company Pierer Group. 

“With the 790s, that was an existing platform, and we discontinued it, but we wanted to bring it back to basically have something that hit the right cost perspective in the market, and we shared that technology with CF moto for that platform only,” said Pearce.

Some of the smaller budget-oriented KTMs, including the 390 Duke, Adventure and Enduro, as well as overseas-only models like the 200cc and 250cc Duke or Pierer derivatives like the Husqvarna 401 are built in India by Bajaj Auto, a strategic partner since 2014. Pearce says this business model, as well as the movement of 790 production to China, is all about “getting butts into seats.” 

Other than that, all other bikes and their engines are made in Austria. That includes the 690 Enduro R, all 890/1290/1390 models, all the motocross, enduro and performance dual sport models like the KTM 500 EXC-F or 300 XC-W. 

As far as moving more production to China in the future, Robert explained “As it is today, as plans that we see for the future, there’s no other models that are going to be moved to China. This is not our decision but I can’t see any more of the production going over there. I’ve been here 19 years and sometimes it’s amazing what decisions are made but I just don’t see it.”

The Bottom Line

We hope this information has answered some of your questions and helped weed out certain misconceptions. It appears to us that KTM is doing the best it can to make amends for an issue it probably should have addressed more aggressively from the start. And although it seems the issue was being dealt with behind the scenes and on the production line, arguably part of the failure was in KTM’s slow communication with owners and dealers. 

There’s no doubt that the groundswell of concerns and complaints that have taken shape on the Internet, and especially via the Facebook page: KTM Failed Camshafts – 790/890 & 901, have helped bring this problem to light, not only for other owners, but also for KTM, which acknowledged it’s following the posts.

For anyone who doesn’t feel their issue is being properly addressed at the dealer level KTM invites you to use its customer service number: (855) 215-6360. You can also submit a complaint or request through the KTM website at support.ktm.com/hc/en-us/requests/new.