Author Topic: 2022 Kawasaki KLR 650 (Read 8511 times)

Bigdave_185 · « **Reply #50 on:** May 18, 2022, 09:50:48 PM »

Not trying to get into a pissin match about years riding

But this is what’s wrong

There is zero abrasion on this part that mates with your stock clamp surface. It will slip at some point. You have now added more leverage on the part by raising the bars taller which will add to the slipping.

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #51 on:** May 19, 2022, 10:19:42 PM »

Well, we will see.
It is a popular mod for the KLR community
So if it's happening, no one is writing about it that Have seen so far.
But like you pointed out, I can always add a piece of screen as you so or #220 grit sandpaper..Old school stuff I used to do.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #52 on:** June 01, 2022, 07:52:28 PM »

So far those ROX bar risers are holding fast, no movement yet. I did some hefting on those bars while trail riding on the farm. Tried to fall over a few times but managed to dab just enough to stay upright
I'll need crash bars, but almost none available at the moment for this new Gen 3 bike

Anyway, today i added a throttle friction lock, a poor man's cruise control from Atlas

Flyin6 · « **Reply #53 on:** June 01, 2022, 07:54:34 PM »

It went on PDQ, but I had to trim a wee little bit of rubber from the grip to get everything to fit with the factory handlebar end weights

Flyin6 · « **Reply #54 on:** June 01, 2022, 07:56:11 PM »

You push on the lower button and the throttle locks. Get done, then push the opposite button and it releases.

The throttle isn't actually locked and can be rotated easily with or without the lock being applied. Pretty cool!

Flyin6 · « **Reply #55 on:** June 01, 2022, 07:57:18 PM »

Oh and Dave, I upgraded the phone mount to that quad lock thing you recommended

I like it. Phone stayed on there during the pounding

Nate · « **Reply #56 on:** June 01, 2022, 09:12:21 PM »

Did you just drop the "dab" bomb?

KensAuto · « **Reply #57 on:** June 02, 2022, 09:36:05 AM »

Dave Atta boy?

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #58 on:** June 02, 2022, 09:46:21 AM »

Quote from: KensAuto on June 02, 2022, 09:36:05 AM

Dave Atta boy?

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I know, I know...

Flyin6 · « **Reply #59 on:** June 02, 2022, 09:50:04 AM »

Quote from: Nate on June 01, 2022, 09:12:21 PM

Did you just drop the "dab" bomb?

Not Cannabis!

dab
To touch one's foot to the ground while bicycling. Considered to be a lost style point among trail riders, mountain bikers, bike polo players, among others. Since a lot of technical tricks can be avoided by simply walking the bike over a log or a stream, refraining from dabbing a foot encourages pure cycling and the attempt to negotiate obstacles by technical feats such as hopping or holding a track stand. Sometimes called a "foot down."

Flyin6 · « **Reply #60 on:** June 03, 2022, 03:50:31 PM »

Took a 1.5-hour long test drive of mostly country roads, all paved. The Atlas throttle lock works great. It allowed me to give my hand a rest several times during the ride. Speaking of the ride, I bugged an Army buddy to ride along on his bike. He is quite renowned, currently a Captain at a major airline he was a part of the BlackHawk down thing and a Night Stalker Flight Lead. If anyone saw the history channel show about the event, he was the narrator.
No, not name dropping or anything like that, just giving him a "sort-of" honorable mention (Since I did not mention his name)

Flyin6 · « **Reply #61 on:** June 03, 2022, 04:05:42 PM »

Ah, screw it:

https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?t=869138

Just one of the best friends I have ever had.

Short story: When my middle son was being born, I was a part of all that. Afterward, with Kat sedated I wandered off to the waiting room. In it was her sister, my pastor, and Gerry Izzo, my friend and a couple other folks. I called my dad to tell him the good news. He, a WW2 B-17G pilot himself, asked, "Who's there with you?" I told him everyone, ending with Gerry. And that's when he said the words which made me realize just how good a friend Ger has always been.
After hearing me name the names, dad cut me off, "Did you say Gerry, did you mean Gerry Izzo?" "Yes, dad, Izzo." "Dad said, "Seems to me he has always been there."
And those words sank into my core. I realized he had been at my wedding, my first day ever flying as a commercial airline pilot. Birthdays, deaths, celebrations Holidays and everything else. I'll bet he is the one picked to speak at my funeral. He just shows up sometimes and when we were junior Army pilots a Russian helicopter crossed into Germany and I was nearby on a mission in a Huey along with Gerry. I heard the calls and immediately turned to intercept the Russian. Gerry tells the story much better than I, but it was quite the excitement for two guys still peeing flight school water flying in Germany trying to think we were somebody.
The man is a no-crap American Hero, I admire him greatly.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #62 on:** June 03, 2022, 04:09:58 PM »

So installed a new bit, a pair of 3-D Cycle windshield risers. They take the stock windscreen and move it 5" forward and tilt it aggressively forward. The net effect is a large reduction of bugs passing into one's mouth, ears, nose and everywhere else around your face.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #63 on:** June 03, 2022, 04:31:54 PM »

Couple cool concept pics for kitting out the bike

JR · « **Reply #64 on:** June 03, 2022, 05:06:58 PM »

Thats a lot of stuff on a bike. I like to move a little.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #65 on:** June 03, 2022, 05:56:59 PM »

I like the stuff on it. You can lean onto the tank bag and rest your back. Just don’t doze off…

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #66 on:** June 03, 2022, 06:23:08 PM »

Cogent makes a "Moab" shock for the bike. I need to swap out the spring anyway because of my size, so I was considering...

The shock can be "Pumped up" with a supplied handle thing while on the bike to carry an extra 100 lbs of cargo. Then when you get to camp, you bleed off the pressure and ride it lightly weighted

JR · « **Reply #67 on:** June 03, 2022, 07:20:04 PM »

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on June 03, 2022, 05:56:59 PM

I like the stuff on it. You can lean onto the tank bag and rest your back. Just don’t doze off…

Guess you've seen me. I fall asleep all the time.

TexasRedNeck · « **Reply #68 on:** June 03, 2022, 07:21:34 PM »

Quote from: JR on June 03, 2022, 07:20:04 PM

Quote from: TexasRedNeck on June 03, 2022, 05:56:59 PM
I like the stuff on it. You can lean onto the tank bag and rest your back. Just don’t doze off…

Guess you've seen me. I fall asleep all the time.

I was speaking from experience

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #69 on:** June 08, 2022, 11:48:12 AM »

Really enjoying this bike. From such humble beginnings...
I like the size and the fit and how it handles.
Dirt performance is not great, but neither are the tires. I ordered some meatier dirt grabbers which will hopefully fix that
Ordered a set of rear suspension riser links which raise the rear a bit but more importantly, stiffen the shock response a bit. The stock shock is a no go and bottoms fairly easily. It will be coming off in favor of a Cogent Moab unit in the future.
The wind now catches just the tippy top of my helmet so that's better.
Looking at Eagle manufacturing, a nice winter project will be a 700 ish cc big bore kit, better cams and a head port and polish for a 20% bump in power. That's later on, we still have the Daniel Boone National Forest to ride this summer and maybe a part of the Kentucky adventure trail.
Oh Yea, let the fun begin

JR · « **Reply #70 on:** June 08, 2022, 03:43:43 PM »

I hear the Dunlop has great all terrain tires

Flyin6 · « **Reply #71 on:** June 08, 2022, 08:57:41 PM »

Ordered Shinko 804/805 big block tires. These are a 50/50 tire. I ran a Shinko rear and a Continental TKC80 front on the Triumph. I swear that Shinko just wouldn't wear. Inexpensive and available. Bike tires have gone the way of toilet paper at the beginning of Covid. Shinko's were in stock, Continentals and some of the other favs of mine were not.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #72 on:** June 08, 2022, 09:02:22 PM »

Had my first ride in the rain today. Not a long one, just a "cool-down" ride after tossing mulch in the heat today. I'll have to do a piece on my riding clothes. All Adventure bike specific, the rain managed to get in everywhere. So much for waterproof!

Brakes faded big time until I heated them up. Stock tires worked fine, but I reduced speed significantly. Windshield does not keep rain off my face, so there's that.

Still really enjoying this bike!

Oh, ordered crash bars which were out of stock, but just got restocked. I got the first set. I probably already mentioned all this...can't remember everything I forgot! ;-)

Flyin6 · « **Reply #73 on:** June 21, 2022, 05:45:16 PM »

Getting ready for some bigger changes to the KLR

But before doing those I treated the chain to some fresh lube:

Flyin6 · « **Reply #74 on:** June 21, 2022, 05:49:05 PM »

Not sure if I ever showed the tool kit and location. I intended to use these, but they were pretty useless. So, I'll have to come up with an alternate tool kit design

Flyin6 · « **Reply #75 on:** June 21, 2022, 05:51:39 PM »

The stock tires are coming off in favor of more dirt-oriented rubber. The front wheel is a breeze. Loosen two axle pinch clamp bolts, then screw out the axle. No nuts not carter keys to concern yourself with.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #76 on:** June 21, 2022, 05:53:56 PM »

The rear wheel is a bit more challenging, but still pretty easy

I decided to get the shop to change the tires for me

Flyin6 · « **Reply #77 on:** June 21, 2022, 05:57:43 PM »

That stock 130/17 was upsized to a 140 to get a bit more meat on the ground

I liked that quad lock phone mount Dave mentioned earlier that I tossed my home-made mount in favor of a purpose-built installation

Flyin6 · « **Reply #78 on:** June 21, 2022, 06:00:16 PM »

Then I pulled off the 15-tooth factory sprocket and replaced it with a 16-tooth to lower highway cruise RPM. I don't think this is where I'll stay, just a big macro jump. Next, I'll increase RPM a little with a 1-2 tooth change on the main sprocket.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #79 on:** June 21, 2022, 06:01:18 PM »

Kind of what I'm looking at for the moment

Flyin6 · « **Reply #80 on:** June 21, 2022, 06:06:51 PM »

Next, I bumped the shock spring preload up to the max for a couple of rides. I discovered the factory spring is intended for use with a 155 lb rider and far outpaced by a 255 lb one (Me).

To remedy this, I ordered a Top-Gun 7.4 spring intended for riders from 250-300 lbs (Including riding clothes and all their kit.

Along with that, I lengthened the shock linkage pieces which will effectively raise the rear a bit, giving me more travel. I believe I had it all "Squashed out" up to this point.

The final fix will be with that Top gun spring and some heavier springs/oil in the front forks. That will be coming right up.

A quick check of the engine oil shows everything to be right in spec

JR · « **Reply #81 on:** June 21, 2022, 06:42:49 PM »

Nice mods. Like to see how you like the tires, normally for off road you want some stagger in the lugs.

Factory tool kits are a joke for sure. They can get you by, but.

Maybe a custom built rear shock when you pull the forks?

Bigdave_185 · « **Reply #82 on:** June 21, 2022, 08:41:58 PM »

Do you have brake and shift pedal options for these? Hammerhead has always been my go to for them. Just not sure if they have options for the klr

A good break away foot lever is always nice for those rocky tip overs

I have also seen some pretty decent tool storage options made from some black abs pipe and some screw on caps. Held in place with some pipe clamps.

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #83 on:** June 22, 2022, 02:03:27 PM »

Quote from: Bigdave_185 on June 21, 2022, 08:41:58 PM

Do you have brake and shift pedal options for these? Hammerhead has always been my go to for them. Just not sure if they have options for the klr

A good break away foot lever is always nice for those rocky tip overs

I have also seen some pretty decent tool storage options made from some black abs pipe and some screw on caps. Held in place with some pipe clamps.

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Tool tube: On my list
gear shift lever, Tusk makes one. Kawa already folds in a crash
I'll lower the foot pegs first, then see if I need the longer one. Just picked up some new Adventure boots...have to see how that all fits

Flyin6 · « **Reply #84 on:** June 23, 2022, 11:44:10 AM »

New tires installed

Flyin6 · « **Reply #85 on:** June 23, 2022, 11:47:10 AM »

With those shorter shock linkage links, the bike sat a bit taller

The kickstand was suddenly too short, as it was in my view, already too short, so I lengthened it, making it adjustable with a bolt/nut welded inside the tube.

Looks ugly because there are deep rose welds, but it works

Good for now, but I'll pick up an extended stand soon.

JR · « **Reply #86 on:** June 23, 2022, 02:01:30 PM »

Tires look good, see the front has some stagger.

Is that your shop boss? Makes mine look clean.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #87 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:55:13 AM »

Quote from: JR on June 23, 2022, 02:01:30 PM

Tires look good, see the front has some stagger.

Is that your shop boss? Makes mine look clean.

It's one of them JR.
That's my personal 3-car garage. Have a two-car garage and of course, the 30X50 down at the farm.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #88 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:48:18 PM »

Working quickly to get this bike where I want it to be.

Since I'm a heavy rider and the bike is set up for a 155 lb rider, it is all wrong in the handling department.

To that end, a couple of days, I gave Rod at "Top-Gun cycles," a call. He manufactures rider's weight-specific springs for the rear shock.

He's a great goy and has been riding these bikes nearly since their creation a century ago. He has more experience on the KLR than almost anyone and was a real joy to chat with. He is thinking of retiring soon, so if you are thinking of picking up one of his springs, I'd move quickly.

After some ciphering, he came up with the #74 spring for me which fits a guy from 270-300 lbs. The guy, includes the man's carcass, his boots/clothing/helmet/and whatever kit he normally carries like a tool kit and spare tube.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #89 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:49:18 PM »

The stock shock came out without too much fuss. Stock vs the Top gun spring

Flyin6 · « **Reply #90 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:51:16 PM »

Then on to the spring compressors to compress/remove, then compress/install.

Unfortunately the automotive type spring compressor marred up the poly coating on the spring. Couldn't be helped, but it did the job

Bigdave_185 · « **Reply #91 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:51:59 PM »

So no valve adjustment inside the shock, just a new spring??

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Flyin6 · « **Reply #92 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:52:15 PM »

I set the preload on #2 out of 5. After sitting on it, I think I'll back down off that setting some

Flyin6 · « **Reply #93 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:54:24 PM »

So the suspension barely droops at all with my buttocks seated on it. So I will back off the preload. Before I would squash the suspension almost all the way. Now the bike stands so tall I am actually on my tip toes a little. The bike feels so much different just sitting on it and bouncing up and down.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #94 on:** June 24, 2022, 09:56:28 PM »

Quote from: Bigdave_185 on June 24, 2022, 09:51:59 PM

So no valve adjustment inside the shock, just a new spring??

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No. After talking to Rod, he feels the shock is well set up from the factory and says it is as good as most KLR riders. He suggested just replacing it if I wished to finetune it a bunch. I'm not that good, so I'll keep it for now. I will get a full fork setup from Cogent and set those up for me in a week or two.

JR · « **Reply #95 on:** June 24, 2022, 10:32:03 PM »

A few rides will soften it out a touch. You may have to step up on damping.

All loaded up it may be a tad soft, a little firmer with just you on it sounds like a good balance.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #96 on:** June 25, 2022, 09:42:05 AM »

Quote from: JR on June 24, 2022, 10:32:03 PM

A few rides will soften it out a touch. You may have to step up on damping.

All loaded up it may be a tad soft, a little firmer with just you on it sounds like a good balance.

Honestly, you could write a book on how much I do not understand about setting up shock absorbers.
I knew the KLR's were severely "under sprung" so that in itself was a "Makes-sense" step I felt I could take.

Flyin6 · « **Reply #97 on:** June 28, 2022, 08:18:48 PM »

I read about this air box snorkel thing which is said to be a pretty big air restriction. The trick is to simply yank it out of thereby significantly opening up the airboix to more supply...So I did. First, the seat and side panel need to come off. The side panel was already off, so the seat came off next with just two big screws

Flyin6 · « **Reply #98 on:** June 28, 2022, 08:20:28 PM »

Then you simply wrestle the snorkel out of the airbox. It is almost completely inside the box and hogs space up that could be used for plain old air volume

Flyin6 · « **Reply #99 on:** June 28, 2022, 08:23:00 PM »

The muffler had this big old honkin' DB killer. I had noticed just how quiet the muffler was for a stocker. One little screw and the muffler got both lighter and louder. Now it booms out every cylinder pulse. There's a lot of power in that exhaust!