Stuarts KLR650

OK I have been a little slack with keeping this blog up to date lately so a quick update;

I have since my last post fitted the stainless steel braided brake lines. There is a hugh difference and I am very happy with the change.
I have installed the SW-Motech quicklock carriers and Traxx panniers.  These look really cool, but I just need to get use to them as the bike feels really wide, however the panniers are no wider then the handle bars.

I have ordered the JNS Skid Plate to replace the small one I currently have as I feel a little too exposed with it. With any luck this will arrive this week.

I have ordered the parts to do the ‘doohickey’. I have read a lot of write ups on how to do it and watched a number of youtube videos so I fell pretty confident. However I will find a suitable mechanic to ensure I am doing the right thing when the time comes – thanks Terry

I did my first ‘big’ ride, 700km round trip, to Khancoban and back for the 2010 KLRRR with the bike fully loaded up and apart from the constant rain the suspension was woeful. The bike looked like a chopper and the front end was very light and twitchy as the rear shock did not allow for the weight I had over back. To over come this I have ordered the IAS rear shock and front Intiminator’s from Ricor. These I hope will arrive soon.

I will post more soon.

Thanks to SamMule for the photo.  This is me at the front of the photo and it was taken down near Brindabella Station.

After reading some scary stories on http://www.klrworld.com/forums about the linkages not being greased and/or the poor state of them coming straight out of the factory, I thought it wise to double check all the bolts.  The bolts are extremely tight so be careful undoing them if you do not have good quality sockets.  The main bolts need to be tightened back up to 98nm.

This is the state of my 2010 KLR which is 4 weeks old and only has 1080km on the clock!  I strongly recommend that anyone with a KLR check their linkages, clean the bolts up and reassemble with good quality water proof grease.

With a claimed 139dB it seemed the way to go. After install and testing- wow is this thing loud. I have no way of measuring just how loud, but rest assured you will get noticed on the road when using it. Here is the link to the product; http://www.twistedthrottle.com/trade/productview/2137/653/

Installing on the KLR using the Twisted Throttle mount kit made it exceptionally easy. There was a slight issue at first with the holes for the horn mount and the Twisted Throttle bracket did not line up, however with a little adjustment this was quickly overcome.

The only part requiring any real thought was the wiring. I wired the existing horn into the relay and made up the following leads; to go from the battery to the relay with using the existing fuse box, to go from the relay to the horn and horn to earth/frame. The original horn is no longer connected and could be removed if I wish to do so.

Overall, I am very impressed with this little mod.

The stock screen on the KLR does not give much protection on the highways so I ordered the MRA touring screen from Twisted Throttle. The new screen is 40mm higher than the stock and kicks up slightly at the very top to deflect wind away from the rider. It was very simple to install with only four screws needing to be undone to remove the old and install the new. Here is the final result;

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.