Hello,

I know in Europe KTM pre-programs a replacement speedometer with your current mileage. I called a KTM dealership here in the US and he said they would NOT do that, they would only put a sticker at the bottom of the speedo with your present mileage and give you one that starts at 0.

Is it true that if you replace the speedo in the US, your bike will have to be registered as salvage? I read this in a Craigslist or CycleTrader Ad.

I'm tempted to order a speedo from Europe and have it pre-programmed and pick it up in July in London.

Let me know if that's the way to go for you.

Happy to inform I had a loose connection inside the nose mask and now it's working great.
I took it apart a few months ago, checked for loose or broken connections and found none. I reassembled using dielectric grease and I used silicone to seal both halves together.
I went for a ride last Sunday for 6-7 hours and the speedometer did not miss one bit. (Fingers crossed and knocking on wood)

Sometimes you just have to take a risk, all brands wants these days is money and sell new parts. It's getting old

Glad to hear you resolved your problem without replacing the speedometer.

My dealer was different than yours as far as reprogramming the odometer was concerned. At about 700 miles from new I noticed the tach needle was scraping the tach face and leaving dust-size plastic fragments inside the housing. They asked me how many miles I expected the motorcycle to have on the scheduled installation date. I told them, and after one trip around the block when I arrived, my mileage was exactly what the new odometer was programmed to read. No paperwork was required regarding the odometer reading. That was back in 2009, so maybe procedures have changed. At the time my motorcycle was still under warranty, so maybe that helped expedite things. If you can find a dealer that will do the swap this way, it makes things very easy.

Before my SDR I had a Ducati Monster (also under warranty at the time) with electrical troubles that were going to require replacement of the ECU, which resides in the guage cluster on the '07 S2R 800, or at least that's what this particular very incompetent dealer said. They also said the new cluster would read zero, and I would have to tape the old reading someplace to keep track of the mileage. The ECU/guages were replaced, but that didn't fix the problem, so the original guages were reinstalled and I never had to deal with the odometer hassle. That dealer sucked and the motorcycle had too many problems, so I sold it when I got the KTM. I think the outcome of an odometer replacement is more dependent on dealer competence than the brand. At the time I lived in Reno, Nevada, and the KTM dealer there always gave excellent service.

Update:

It started again. Digits fading in and out just like before. This time, I took a more costly measure. I just ordered a new speedo from in Spring Hill, FL. I had read everywhere online that KTM was aware of the shit design and failure rate and they would cover it under warranty. Not true.
I gave them my VIN and took a picture of the mileage and they will pre-program and send it to me. No need to re-register the bike with a salvage title as I read somewhere online. (Friggin' people online should STFU if they don't know what they're talking about)

Part number for 08 SDR Speedo is 61114169200.

I also read online that some riders on 690 SM had to have their replaced up to 3 times. I don't want to have to pay $350 more than once.

Cheers,

Updated. With the low profile buttons (I think). Gave the guy the part number from the parts fiche and asked him to check if there was an update and he said that was the correct, updated part.
I’ll post pics when installed.

Damn, that's frustrating.

Sorry you gotta deal with that bud.

I am so frustrated right about now.

Saturday 6/2. I woke up at 6:00, left my house at 7:20 after loading the bike on my trailer and made it to the Spring Hill dealer at 9:20 or so, 114 miles later.

The mechanic saw me unloading the bike and said: "Oh, you are my change speedometer job this morning?" - "Yes I replied". He told me it would take approximately 1 hour and I replied I'd stick around. 30 minutes later the sales person I've been dealing with comes out and says they could not change the mileage on my new speedo because this bike is not RBW (Ride by Wire). Duh! I thought but said nothing. They claim they could've done it on a RBW bike but not on mine.
They called KTM NA in Ohio and left a voicemail. They said they would do the right thing and compensate me for my time. I spent 5 fookin' hours with this shit today.
David called me a few minutes ago after getting a call back from KTM Customer Service and he said he spoke to an employee, who's fairly new at KTM, but there is an older gentleman that has been working there for 20 or so years that can re-program the speedometer.
What David thinks they are going to do is ... wait for it .... re-program a new speedometer and send it to me, and I'll send the one with 0 miles back (What a fookin' concept!)
They say that they requested the present mileage on the bike so they would make a note in my VIN to avoid speedometer fraud. But they typically do not re-program the new units.
I'm now waiting for another phone call early next week to see what they decide to do. Like I said, frustrating.

What a load of shit.

I would demand the newer style cluster with flat buttons while they're at it.

Update:

Friday, June 8th. Another new instrument cluster came to my house from KTM NA. I installed it and it was pre-programmed with the correct mileage. Its a MIRACLE!

So finally, I'm done with that. I hope I don't EVER have to update this thread.

This is what I did. Got a dealer to order me a new style cluster and have it programmed by KTM to reflect my current mileage. Then it came and worked fine.

But it was at the end of a long experience of trying to mend units and buy second hand ones and swap bits over. Lesson I learned was that it's not worth the effort - if your clocks fail it's best to bite the bullet and get a new one straight away.

In my long term experience with KTM I believe that a lot of issues with parts and service is the relationship between the dealer and KTM. Choose to use a dealer who knows what they are doing and has a good history with KTM. It makes a massive difference.