Wabbit16
Race Dog
This will be my KLR thread, dedicated to all things Fugly and doohickey. I'll update here as I go along, and this is my major 40'000km serice/overhaul. I have a few issues I want to address but never get around to doing it, but now I have set aside some cash and time to actually do it with.
I am wanting to start this thread so that I can document all the changed I have went through, mods, services, problems and so forth.
Where do I start? Well, I received her back in September of 2009 for my 18th birthday (I chose a bike over a cage
), but she needed work as her battery was shot as well as her rear shock. She had around 25'000km on the odo - still a baby in my eyes :thumleft:
Some pics when I got her:
She was used quite a few times between Port Alfred, where I stay with my folks, and PE, where I used to go to school. The PE pollution and sun did not do her good as the plastics quickly faded. The gravel roads I ride also took its toll. I had a few issues with electrical connectors working themselves loose, I went through 4 numberplates and I blew a fork seal which I am addressing currently. Other than those few niggles, she is going well! Just very filthy at the moment, hehe.
MODS:
I had done a few mods so far - mostly to ease usage but also as per other KLRider's reccommendations.
1) The KLR has a sidestand switch cutout that can be very problematic. I did not cut and short out the wires as most people do, but I simply removed the link to the kickstand so that the switch thinks it is always up. Link here (https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183162)
2) The KLR also has another safety circuit, but this one is on the clutch, and prevents you from starting the bike if it is in gear and the clutch engaged. Mine was very tempermental from the start, and, like the first mod, I was not very keen on cutting wires and so, so I made my own little fix. I found a copper plate that I trimmed to size that would fit in the little housing that the switch is located in. This shorted out all the contacts, so now the bike thinks I am in neutral the whole time :biggrin:. This has the little side-effect of the neutral light burning all the time, but it is something I can live with.
3) The bike came with the Air Age pipe when I bought it, so that is not standard. The Stock pipe is somewhere in PE, but the Air Age is light and gives the bike a lekker tone, if a bit loud.
4) Snorkelectomy. I removed the KLR intake snorkel for better breathing but I can honestly say there is little to no difference, at least not to me. I chose not to cut into my airbox, so I rather just removed the rubber insert under the left-side side panel.
5) The rear shock. When I bought the bike, the rear shock was just a spring with nothing inside but air. I sent it off to LeCap and he worked his magic on it. It now rides like a dream! He also reinforced the preload adjuster, a mod I highly reccommend!
6) I fitted a topbox and it performed really well! Last year I unfortunately lost it on the Woody Cape Nature Reserve road, but it served a good 7 months. Shame on me for riding dirt roads with a box fitted! Bad doggy!
I'll add the other mods as I can think of them, but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head
Here are a few pics I took this morning. I replaced my Golden Boy front tyre that came off my XT550, and after 12'000km on the XT and 7'000km on the KLR, it still had tread left but the tyre was starting to crack so I replaced it for safety. The replacement tyre is a Kings tyyre, and on the sidewall it states 'specially made for hot weather'. It is a very hard compound tyre, and I sukkeled to get it onto the rim. At the same time I did my rear brake pads, and next up is a front fork service.
Pic 1: old on the left, new on the right
Pic 2: the tread of the new Kings tyre
Pic 3: Hang 'em high!
Pic 4: the offending fork seal
Pic 5: dirt roads...hehe :biggrin:
I am wanting to start this thread so that I can document all the changed I have went through, mods, services, problems and so forth.
Where do I start? Well, I received her back in September of 2009 for my 18th birthday (I chose a bike over a cage
), but she needed work as her battery was shot as well as her rear shock. She had around 25'000km on the odo - still a baby in my eyes :thumleft:Some pics when I got her:
She was used quite a few times between Port Alfred, where I stay with my folks, and PE, where I used to go to school. The PE pollution and sun did not do her good as the plastics quickly faded. The gravel roads I ride also took its toll. I had a few issues with electrical connectors working themselves loose, I went through 4 numberplates and I blew a fork seal which I am addressing currently. Other than those few niggles, she is going well! Just very filthy at the moment, hehe.
MODS:
I had done a few mods so far - mostly to ease usage but also as per other KLRider's reccommendations.
1) The KLR has a sidestand switch cutout that can be very problematic. I did not cut and short out the wires as most people do, but I simply removed the link to the kickstand so that the switch thinks it is always up. Link here (https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183162)
2) The KLR also has another safety circuit, but this one is on the clutch, and prevents you from starting the bike if it is in gear and the clutch engaged. Mine was very tempermental from the start, and, like the first mod, I was not very keen on cutting wires and so, so I made my own little fix. I found a copper plate that I trimmed to size that would fit in the little housing that the switch is located in. This shorted out all the contacts, so now the bike thinks I am in neutral the whole time :biggrin:. This has the little side-effect of the neutral light burning all the time, but it is something I can live with.
3) The bike came with the Air Age pipe when I bought it, so that is not standard. The Stock pipe is somewhere in PE, but the Air Age is light and gives the bike a lekker tone, if a bit loud.
4) Snorkelectomy. I removed the KLR intake snorkel for better breathing but I can honestly say there is little to no difference, at least not to me. I chose not to cut into my airbox, so I rather just removed the rubber insert under the left-side side panel.
5) The rear shock. When I bought the bike, the rear shock was just a spring with nothing inside but air. I sent it off to LeCap and he worked his magic on it. It now rides like a dream! He also reinforced the preload adjuster, a mod I highly reccommend!
6) I fitted a topbox and it performed really well! Last year I unfortunately lost it on the Woody Cape Nature Reserve road, but it served a good 7 months. Shame on me for riding dirt roads with a box fitted! Bad doggy!
I'll add the other mods as I can think of them, but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head
Here are a few pics I took this morning. I replaced my Golden Boy front tyre that came off my XT550, and after 12'000km on the XT and 7'000km on the KLR, it still had tread left but the tyre was starting to crack so I replaced it for safety. The replacement tyre is a Kings tyyre, and on the sidewall it states 'specially made for hot weather'. It is a very hard compound tyre, and I sukkeled to get it onto the rim. At the same time I did my rear brake pads, and next up is a front fork service.
Pic 1: old on the left, new on the right
Pic 2: the tread of the new Kings tyre
Pic 3: Hang 'em high!
Pic 4: the offending fork seal
Pic 5: dirt roads...hehe :biggrin:
