Kawasaki KLR650

BLT are going offroad on two wheels now! I have had many bikes over the years.

Here is the craigslist photo:

It was pretty poor looking from all the oxidation, but otherwise in decent shape and not beat.

After a clean up , buf -n- heat job.

It received some electrical improvements. Power ports, headlamp upgrade, driving lights. A rock guard for the headlamp. Quite a few small things were cleaned up and fixed along the way.

I mounted a little clock above the instruments. That is the little orange thing. The PN-20 GPS sits in a RAM mount on the bars.

I added a flap on the rear inner fender to protect the shock from mud and debris. The dune flag mount is on the rear rack.

My friend John did the "doo" for me. He can do these in his sleep and has the right tools , so I asked him to help me with that.

Muffler mod:

I took the idea from the KLR650.net - Willys Method

I made the tip myself. It is just a slack adjuster shim , three SS screws and a piece of muffler pipe.

I pulled the outer resonator. Drilled with a 1 1/4" holesaw. Under the tip there is a stainless steel screen to act as a spark arrestor.

For this I picked up a Wallyworld Tea ball strainer. Each half makes one screen.

Nice thump at idle and no louder on the highway. No more VW tweety sound. Mostly it keeps the exhaust off the fender. Almost looks stock.

The cheap ebay cover arrived. Now stuffed into a tractor manual tube.

Tractor tool tubes: I have a pair on the TW200 and really like them. One holds my cover and the other has real wrenches, tire irons and repair kit.

I trimmed the mounting tabs down to line up with the bars on my Cyclerack. The forward tab I used a heat gun to form to the bar. Three 30# nyla-ties (zip ties) attach each tube.

The back end was mushy so I added a Topgun 7.4kg spring to the rear. The front shocks got new oil and 5lbs of air. These were a significant improvement for the suspension.

The brakes receiver Galfer stainless steel lines to firm up the application. Not a huge improvement, but every bit helps.

Scored a used Corbin seat for a bill:

Only a few miles on it so far, but I think I am going to like it. I feel better sitting a little lower on the bike and can comfortably flat foot it at stops.

"L" can fit it too now. All part of my long term plan.

I also added a pad to enlarge the foot print of the side stand.

Drilled a couple small holes to retain it. I have plenty of replacement material on hand. It seems to be holding up pretty well so far (excuse the pun)

A little work to modify the bar end weights and the Moose handguards are in place

Those will protect the levers, my hands and keep the chill off a little better as fall approaches.

I also picked up a used radiator guard...

and a waterpump bar.

Both were a little rough, but cleaned them up smoothed them up. Modified to work with the road bars and then black baked enameled. They offer a little more protection for those vulnerable areas.

I installed the DDM 35W Single Hi/Lo Motorcycle 6000k HID Kit. This replaced the 100/90w halogen bulb that I had been running. The kits is designed for two headlamp automotive applications since it has a second set of wiring to go to the "other" headlamp. I cut that set off and heat shrunk the wires to protect them. That lessened the arms on that octopus a little.

The install took , probably a couple hours. Most of the time spent figuring out how I wanted to stash everything. There is a compact ballast, what I assume is a relay controller and a fuse. All these are stowed around the rest of the electrical stuff above the coolant expansion tank. I used some heavy duty velcro to mount the ballast and controller.

I removed the tank, seat and I had to remove the headlamp reflector so that , once split, I could reinstall the rubber boot around the headlamp bulb housing. Not a fast process with all the dis-assembly required.

Pretty cool gizmo. The high / low change is made by moving the bulb. A small solenoid is enclosed in the back of the housing. The bulb shield extends into the housing nearly, if not actually touching the front glass of the reflector. I was a bit skeptical and thought it would offer a huge dead spot. that was not the case.

I like the light color better. The cut-off is pretty good. There is a little light scatter low to the side and a bit of a hole up close. It is definitely better than the halogen bulb that I had been using and I see nothing that will blind or distract oncoming traffic. The cutoff is rather rounded to the sides. Probably less glare than a halogen with a flatter or less crisp cut-off.

The CEC XenonBlue XB H4 130/90W bulb in the TW200 is as good, or slightly better. It has a very crisp cut-off.

The advantage to the HID will be the low power consumption. Maybe durability and lifespan, although those are yet to be determined.

Prior to that install I did the LED Taillight Conversion Kit. This was very straight forward. It probably took fifteen minutes tops.

Bright! What can I say. It blows away the stock "dim bulb". View from the sides is better and the light behind is very good. The blink-blink-blink-flashety-flash-flash before going solid should really get some attention. I like it. I can already see an improvement in the distance following vehicle give me.

During all this, I finally found my popping problem. A cracked vacuum line cap. This tee in the line led to the intake side of the carburetor. Obviously leaning things out on deceleration. Now replaced with a vinyl cap I have no more popping. All that talk of loose head pipes, lean jetting, idle speeds and the rest of the "voodoo mechanics" was wrong. Lesson learned. Popping = look for intake side leaks.

Earlier. Last week. I had some starting problems. The battery was weak. It was an Interstate AGM. My luck with Interstate has never been good. They always seem to resist a charge. Not knowing the history I replaced it with a Powersports AGM from NAPA.

With 16k on the odometer I decided to check the starters brushes for wear. I managed to break one of the head pipe studs, but a little heat and double nuts I was able to remove the broken stud and install a new one. Stainless steel acorn nuts are on it now. The brushes look good. Bearings in good shape. I cleaned it all up and put it back together. During this time I noticed that the cable from the starter to the solenoid was "crunchy". Rather rigid. Time to build a new one. I already had all I needed and bumped the cable size slightly , I think. That did seem to help the engine cranking, although the new battery didn't hurt either. Check your cables. From the feel of mine it had internal breaks and may have welded itself together internally at some point.

The HID headlamp works pretty well. I like it

The light is a better color and the spread pretty good. Not as much as the euro-pattern offroad lights on my truck , but much better than halogen.

I have been trying to come up with some tank panniers. I stitched together some fit formed from marine vinyl, but was not happy with the lid. I came across a pair of surplus military bags. Buckles , straps and hooks added to them attach the bags to the tank. The bottom has two wide plastic clips that attach them much like the tank bag. The two upper straps are adjustable to tighten them up. I added a drawstring top to the inside and a couple snaps to better secure the flap.

Those should offer some wind protection for the legs as the fall weather approaches.

the seat received a sheepskin cover. That Corbin seat is better than stock for sure, but it needed a little "sum'thn" to feel good. This seems to work.

Installed the Moose +1 shifter a couple days ago.

After adding the "grippier" and wider pegs , I needed a little more room for my boots. I tried moving up one tooth and that just didn't work for me. The longer moose shifter gets it out there to where it matches the TW200 and my V65 Sabre. It feels "right" now.

The pegs help too. Much more stable and spread the load on the boot better too. I was worried about them transferring vibration, but I actually think they feel better in that regard.

I REALLY like the newer front fender that I saw installed on another KLR. I have been watching every now and then for a good buy on one. I passed over a burgundy metallic one a couple times before I noticed that the underside was black. It had been painted. At $10 it was worth a shot.

Sure enough the paint was easy to remove and underneath a shiny black fender emerged.

It does have one scuff. A little rubbing with some 2000 grit. Heat it up to a shine and all but a few of the deep scratches are left. It turned out pretty good.

The aerodynamics do look better. I like the way the black fender tends to hide itself better than the big green sail. The taper on the back really looks like it opens the airflow to the radiator. That was a pleasant surprise.

I like it

I made a change in the tank panniers. Originally I lusted for the Dual-Star tank panniers. They are no longer available. In the mean time I put together the "army" bags. They do work just fine, but I have to admit they are a little off theme. Function over form.

I found an article on someone using the "Classic Quad Gear Extreme" ATV Tank Cargo Bags on a KLR. It looked pretty good. I found a set for under $40 shipped.

With a little stitching and trimming, I made them fit the KLR tank pretty well.

Narrow at the front and wide at the back the shape is much better. The color and texture a better match for sure.

The bags come with a bright orange shock cord. That was not my taste and I just happened to have some black shock cord on hand, so I added the hooks to my cord. I did lengthen them a little too for a better fit.

The Velcro strip was not in the right place for me so I added them to the underside across the tank bag. Not really "needed" , but they do keep the opening for the fuel cap from moving around.

After a few days of riding with them on, I like them. They fill the void in front of me better. The low pressure pocket in front of me is larger. Filling that gap below the hand-guards helped quite a bit. They are padded and that helps them retain their shape. My knees to sit against them while riding, but that does not bother me. Three big pockets in each. They have lots of room. On the top there are two puckets that I may use for receipts and things like that. These look to offer pretty decent water resistance. At least better than my "Army" bags. I think they are an improvement.

I did neglect to mention a sub-$1 modification. I think they call it the "T-Mod". I added a nylon thumb screw to the throttle. Drilled and tapped into the throttle housing.

A simple cruise control. Works great!

February 15th 2013 - Installed the warranty replacement Shinko 700 rear tire. Ready for spring!

Looking all this over and getting ready to let it go May 2019. Nine years and over 10k miles.

Many of the modifications did not make it here.

A close call with a truck that pulled out in front of me meant brake upgrades. Galfer stainless steel lines. EBC oversize front rotor and all new EBC pads. Braking is much improved.

New clutch cable. New sprockets and x-ring chain.

HID bulb fell apart and the warranty replacement is in for the new owner.

Tool tubes were a nice idea, but caps fell off one time too many. They are off and shelved.

Oil changed with Rotella -T 15/40w every 1000

Still a great bike! Downsizing the fleet and the cash needs to go to the Vega to get the paint finished.

SOLD May 5, 2019 Headed to new home in Baker City, OR