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2021 KTM 690 Smc R Owner Complaints

Reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers, shown in full

Data refreshed

Complaints on fileComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
3
+1 complaint in 30 days
Crash or fire reportedComplaints whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. These are the reporter's own answers on the NHTSA form, not verified findings.
0
Filed in the last 12 monthsReports filed with NHTSA in the trailing 365 days. Recent volume reflects attention and vehicle age as much as anything else.
1
Reports on file since May 28, 2025

What this page shows

Our database holds 3 NHTSA owner-reported complaints for the 2021 KTM 690 Smc R. Each one is a report filed by an owner or driver and published by NHTSA without most of them being verified. A complaint is not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. Narratives are shown exactly as filed.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Complaints, most recent first

Showing 1–3 of 3

Body & structureFuel system
Filed Aug 11, 2026

The fuel tank has been expanding consistently now for the past few years. It has began to crack the attachment points for the body plastics. I sent pictures and reported this years ago to KTM and they told me it would have to be inspected which they may not cover and even still wouldn’t guarantee it would be replaced/fixed. This puts my safety at risk if I experience a crash or collision since the integrity of the tank is in question and it puts others safety at risk because it could rupture from a fall and cause a fire. There are no warning lamps on, the only symptom has been the swelling worsening over time and stress cracking the plastic fairings surrounding it. It could possibly be putting stress under the back part of the seat also.I have not had it inspected yet by the manufacturer or the police. The problem hasn’t been reproduced to my knowledge at any dealership but I’ve seen that others have had this same issue with the same model of motorcycle.

NHTSA ID
11756361
Incident
Aug 11, 2024
Fuel system
Filed Jul 19, 2025

The fuel tank is expanding, leading to the fairings cracking, especially the right hand side (rear). Two fairings have been cracked and it’s impossible to refit them. The tank vent is working and on multiple occasions has vented fuel out in the garage. Multiple people reported ethanol to play a role in the expansion of the tank, however this bike has never seen anything below 91 octane. The risk of the tank bursting or nearing the exhaust is given and poses a safety risk. I have not presented it to a dealer yet, however did my own research and found out that multiple owners have this issue and also filed complaints about the exact same fuel tank situation. This should be a recall and the tank should be replaced by Ktm to prevent a potential fire hazard and or injuring the operator severely.

NHTSA ID
11674726
Incident
Jul 19, 2025
Fuel system
Filed May 28, 2025

The fuel tank is swelling so much that all the Plastics are breaking and the tank itself is just about touching the exhaust header clamp. im getting worried it may explode if it touches the exhaust clamp.

NHTSA ID
11663548
Incident
May 20, 2025

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .