Stuarts KLR650

With the number of ‘bit and pieces’ being added to the bike I found the the area under the seat going to the battery was quickly becoming very messy. I also know that I will need a few more items added yet as the funds become available to do so, such as the a GPS and bike communication system.

I returned from the local auto store with a generic fuse box which looked like it would fit.  The obvious places to locate the box was under the seat either above the battery box or just sightly to the rear of the bike behind the air box.  I decided on the area behind the air box as there was more room and went ahead and made up a small bracket to mount the fuse box on.

I then diligently spent quite a bit of time splicing together wire which I was going to feed to the positive terminal, but did not allow for the room that the terminal spades would take up and the fuse box would no longer fit.

Back to the drawing board.

I decided on flattening the terminals on the fuse box and running two cores of wire rated at 15amp across them all and soldering them in place.  The wire was well fixed only exposed to metal.  I found a small off cut of hose which I cut in half to cover the wires with and then filled it with silicon to glue it in place and protect the exposed metal.  As a precaution I also filled the bottom of the fuse box with silicon as it will be mounted to alloy.

Once mounted to the bike I re-ran the wires the needed to be fused.

Now that everything is working I just need to finish off tidying up and cable tying the wires.

Today I have been working on the relocation of my number plate and adding a led tail light, in the process I have also been able to remove the ugly rear number plate and tail light holder supplied by kawasaki.

Basically I removed the lower number plate holder and disconnected the tail light wiring from under the seat. The lower section was then free to move away. I removed the number plate bracket and relocated to the rear mud guard. I purchased a new led tail light from Supercheap Auto and mounted it to a piece of small alloy 20×10 angle which was then fixed to the alu-rack. I wired the light back into the tail light wiring loom and relocated the rear reflector. The only thing I have not finished of yet is the two side reflectors which I will find a new location on the bike for them.

Before:

After:

Led Lighting for Number Plate:

This morning I added a 12v outlet upfront to my KLR so I can run a lead into my tank bag (which is still coming) and plug in my battery charger.  This is a video summary of the work done.

Some thoughts for a logo…..

Thanks to Tim from KLRWorld.com for designing this one for me;

When Tim has the time he has offered to print, cut and send out to me which is very generous. I can’t wait.

With the weather forecast to be 37C and sunny, we headed off at 8am this morning to try and beat the heat. After a cool ride around the out skirts of Canberra we headed down to Coppings Crossing, followed by Uriarra Crossing and the Cotter. After a small break we headed down south to Tharwa for a meat pie and cool drink then back home.

A shortish ride of about 133kms in total and all tar. Once I get the crash bars on I will get more adventurous.
Here are some pictures taken along the way.

What does every good thumper need, but a Staintune Pipe.  I ordered the pipe with the bike but did not fit it until I ran the bike in a little.  I was advised that by using the stock pipe with more back pressure may help to seat the rings better.

Anyhow it was time to fit the pipe.  The process is very straight forwars and only took about 15 mins.

Remove the right side cover.  Unbolt the clamp and two botls attaching the silencer and slide it out.  Reverse this process to install the new pipe.

The new pipe is VERY loud.  Despite assurances that it meets Australian standards (<94db), it is still very loud.
I will be arranging to take the bike to have it checked out.  The bike does go alot better though.

The stock exhaust weighs in at 4.5kg whilst the Staintune was only 2kg.

After reading this post;   http://klrworld.com/forums/index.php/topic,1813.0.html
I decided that I would order the Stainless Steel body and engine bolt kits from Desmoparts.com for $68.  This price is probably a little high, but in years to come after salt water crossing and some possible neglect I will be thankful.  Apart from looking cool they should not rust.  I fitted most bolts with either lock tight or anti sieze, depending on where they were.  If I was to start this task over again I would buff all bolt heads first to give them that nice shiny look.

These picture do not do it justice, I will need to take a photo out in the day light of these bolts.

I was very excited about getting the Coocase and as you can seen in my short video I was a little disappointed that it was damaged on arrival.  Removing the small screws supplied and fitting larger self tappers has fixed the problem and it is more secure then it would have been new anyhow.

First part to fitting the Twisted Throttle Alu-Rack was removing the stock plastic rack.  This was straight forward and pretty easy.

Next was to install the new rack.

Followed by the Coocase and its adapter plate.  The wiring was a little tricky to identify the correct colors to ‘tap into’ however this wiring diagram from klrworld.com forums was very helpful.

The Coocase has rear break lights, remote for locking, unlocking and arming the alarm.  Very Cool.
Not so sure I will want to take this when I go off road though…..

Fitting the centre stand was pretty straight forward and makes working on the bike so much easier now. Putting the bike up on the centre stand can be a little trickey at first, but once you get the technique right it is easy.

Pros: Makes the bike stable when parked and easy to work on. Will be invaluable when changing flat tyres and servicing out on the road.
Cons: Is quite heavy. Is a little tricky at first to work out how to get the bike on the stand with out a foot lever.