The “I can't sell her so I'll build her” thread.

This winter I took a ride down south with the goal of reaching Panama and the Darien Gap before turning around and heading home. I only made it as far as Guatemala as there was lots to see and do along the way (and Mexico is HUGE!), plus I really like Xela and stayed a long time. After I got back from Guatemala, I had a really hard time deciding if I wanted to get a smaller, lighter bike, or if I wanted to keep the KLR as it performed flawlessly during the trip and now had some sentimental value. To solve my dilemma I put the Killer up for sale. If she sold, I'd get another bike. If not, I would build this one into something even more to my liking. I listed it at a pretty high price and had no takers so my decision was made for me.

So the bike: I bought the 2002 KLR, green, in Phoenix from an inmate who, along with the previous owner, spared no expense in farkles and maintenance. When I bought her she was equipped with the following aftermarket parts and upgrades:

-Eagle Mike “Doohickey" kit installed w/ tools
-Staintune slip-on pipe
-Twin Air air filter
-Stainless reusable oil filter
-$.22 jetting mod
-16t counter-shaft sprocket

-Corbin flat seat
-Taller windscreen
-Pro Grip 737 grips
-Pro Taper ATV High bars
-IMS super-stock foot pegs
-Dual Star short center stand
-Side stand weld on bigfoot

-Progressive "Larry Roesseler" short shock
-Progressive Fork Springs
-10 wt fork oil
-Happy Trail K-9 Fork Brace
-Russell Speed Bleeders

-Happy Trails skid plate
-Happy Trails PD Nerf bars
-Dual Star shift lever
-Dual Star low profile drain plug
-Dual Star rear master cylinder guard
-Acerbis Rally Pro hand guards
-Dual Star billet mirror mount
-Fuji axle adjuster locknuts
-Stainless bolt kit

-Headlight on/off switch
-Brake! LED brake light
-Battery tender lead
-Side Stand switch removed
-Custom jumper cables and harness

-Dual Star Racks
-Dual Star Carrier Deck
-Givi top mount
-Lisence plate stash box
-Givi luggage

Before the trip south I added a few things that were missing:

-Dual Star sub-frame drill-through upgrade and bolts
-T-mod
-Thermo-bob
-4” Tool-tube
-Anakee 2 tires

You would think that was enough for a KLR. But I wasn't quite happy with her and thought of a few things I wanted to add and change while on my journey. The short list looked something like this:

Better lights
Better front brake
Different luggage
Instrument cluster
Less weight (unlikely)
Carb mods
685 Kit
IMS tank
Narrow(er) handlebars
Acerbis Front fender
Other stuff?

So here are some “before” pictures to get things started:











P.S. Everything (almost?) I pull off the bike will be for sale. I'll post it in the flea market eventually, but feel free to make an offer if there's something you want.

The Uni filter.


Hauling the new tank home.


I started off with some maintenance which I didn't really photo document. I installed new brake pads in the rear, a new Uni air filter, and did some general clean up. Took a ride up to Seattle and picked up an IMS tank from an inmate and ordered some parts. Since the tank and fender were black, I decided to paint the rest of plastics to match. I used Krylon Fusion “for plastic” (satin black). Not sure how durable it is.

Pulling plastics and rear rack.










Slowly she gets undressed...






Rear fender goes black.


Since I had the plastics off anyway, I decided I would mod the rear fender by cutting off the lower lip and moving the “stash box” and license plate to the upper fender. While I was at it, I pulled the “Custom jumper cable” harness as I didn't use it on the trip nor did I foresee using it in the future. The cables just take up too much space (even though the harness is unobtrusive as is).

Rear fender internals.


The jumper cable is the fat set of wires with the red connector on the end.


Had to mess with the battery to get at the wiring.


That might save a few ounces...


You can see the line where I'm cutting.


I'm keeping the half on the right. Hope the tail light is enough for the license plate. And no more reflectors...


(now on the left)


Rear fender reassembly.


Drilled a couple of holes below the taillight for the stash box.


Added some cushion using an old camping sleep mat to help prevent paint scratching (hopefully).


Assembled.


And mounted.




When examining the bike sans plastics, I noticed the snorkel was still in so I tentatively pulled that too. I'll have to ride this way for a bit to see if I like what how she feels without. On a side note, that plastic snorkel cover stays on. I originally pulled it but immediately dropped the seat screw down the hole when reassembling. Pulled two out while fishing in there. I guess the previous owner learned that lesson as well :)

Snorkel


Next I swapped out the front fender. I went with the acerbis KTM fender, the full sized one as I heard the super-moto one doesn't stop much spray. I left the two pegs on top on for now to see if I could use it to mount the new front fairing and lights. The acerbis fender bolt holes are slightly farther apart than stock, so I just put them all in a few threads and slowly alternated screwing them down so that they spread out evenly. In the end the fender sat centered.

Fender comparison.


Installed.








Next it was time to pull the armor (Happy Trails PD Nerf bars) and the tank. Looks like there's minor seepage from the valve cover. I'll have to re-torque the bolts and see if that helps (but I'll be breaking it all down later for the 685 kit anyway). Removal of the armor required putting on the original front engine mounts (thank you PO for keeping EVERYTHING that went to the bike, a habit I did not emulate).

Pull the top bolts and the bars swing down.




Armor removed.


The triangle mounts are integrated into the PD nerf bars.


Installed.


And tank pulled.


Minor seepage from the valve cover.


All cleaned up.

Yo, I'm in here!

im watching too!

me three

Awesome. Welcome guys. Any tips or "you did *this* wrong..." appreciated

I test fit the IMS tank and as expected there were minor fitment issues. It wasn't quite symmetrical, but some time rigidly mounted should help stretch it out. I actually managed to get all the brackets to fit, even the side panel ones (with some modification).



Need to figure out how to easily pull this off/put it on... (and nice view of the fender bolts)


Maybe pull the screw off the tank for the top (leave bracket on bike) and the screw off the bike for the bottom (leave bracket on tank)?


Side bracket.


This is not how I ended up setting the side brackets up. The panel fit much better with the bracket disassembled and only the small piece used. (photo later)


I filed down the petcock area as recommended and installed the petcock. I had to enlarge one of the holes to get it to go in, but once installed I didn't get any leaks!





Nice and snug.


Getting some sun (to help conform the tank)...


...and leak check.


Reassembled to check fit.






The seat doesn't quite conform to the new tank...


Hope this and some sun help...


Next I pulled the front fairing, the headlight and instrument cluster. I wanted better lights and a sleeker fairing, and my speedometer broke while on the trip south, so I decided to get the PnP fairing with LED headlights (Model 44 low beam and Model 60 high beam) (see here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=766161), a Trail tech Vapor dash with indicator lights, and HDB top clamp to hold it all together. When I ordered the fairing I forgot all about the blinkers. Had to order those later and just went with some LED cheapies off ebay. Still have to buy the relay. Hope they work well...







New fairing:


Comparison of old and new.


I assembled the fairing and did a test fit. Looks like I want it to sit a bit lower. I could cut off the pegs and just use two fork mount kits, but I think the pegs would hold it better. I have to drill out some holes in the bottom of the fairing to fit the pegs (probably would have come drilled if I said I had a KTM). The fairing has divots in the bottom where the holes go. Not really sure how it's supposed to go, so I think I'll cover the pegs with some hose to “cushion” the contact area.

Mounting holes for the brackets:


Not sure what these holes are for... drainage, wiring, Hmmmm?


View of the back.




Screws for the lights with rubber hose as spacers (and for adjustment).


Putting in the light ring.


Assembled.




Test fit.












I wired the lights up to the bike and turned the key... Nothing happened. After spending the next COUPLE OF HOURS or so trying to troubleshoot the problem, I finally decided to check the fuse. Yep. Turned right on once I changed that out :huh



High beam!


Light now turns with the forks.

Excellent !!! I love the KLR build/mod threads.

Now would be a good time to eliminate the vacuum diaphram on the petcock.

I love ALL the build/mod threads, but this one is getting so amazing!!
That fairing is GREAT! :eek1

I like it. It looks like your modification thoughts are similar to what I did.

I documented it here:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=699117

In case you didn't see it, you might get some further ideas.

I haven't really done any of this before... well, I've pulled the tank and all that, but not much bike wrenching otherwise. It's really fun Have done plenty of work on old VWs though

I'll think I'll keep the diaphram for now at least. I'm lazy and forgetful so not having to turn the gas off is pretty convenient. Haven't had a problem with it yet...

Waiting on parts in the mail and I'm going to the woods for the next eight days. To be continued...

Back to mounting the fairing. I was thinking of how to isolate the fairing from the fender pegs. First I figured I'd use some hose... then I realized they sell these things called “grommets” :huh so I picked up a pack of those (3/8 OD, ¼ ID). For now the top mounts are help with orange straps. I would like to eventually change that to some rubber lined hose clamps or something similar.

Some hose as liner?




Obviously the grommet.


I drilled the holes in the bottom of the fairing. Put in the grommets and it slid right on. Feels nice and sturdy and the fairing shouldn't crack (not sure if it would anyway).

Used packing tape as I didn't have any masking... worked fine.


Inserted grommets.


I like how it sits right on top of the fender.






The next consideration was the headlight plug. Not having a stock setup (plug and play headlight off switch, looks like) I wasn't sure how the bike was set up originally. I pulled the on/off switch as the LED lights came with a dimmer that can be turned all the way down to "off". Went out and bought a plug that looked like it would match. I figure I'd hard-wire the headlight wires to the plug. After taking a closer look, I decided to just plug them into the connector (I thought it was male originally, but it's female so the spades plug right in). I may change this later or somehow waterproof it.

Biker came with headlight off switch.


One of those should be male...


Thought this was stock (male plug)


Considered this (plug to plug) but it's just too messy.


I'll have to get back to this once I figure out the blinkers and the rest of the wiring.

At the same time, I'm prepping the wiring for the Vapor dash. Started by pulling the speedo cable and covering the hole. As mentioned elsewhere, the cover that comes with the kit is too big so I wrapped some electrical tape around it. Now the cover goes on nice and snug.

TT Vapor.




Then I put in the magnetic bolt with some loctite and stuck on the sensor.





Crappy picture.


In the mail arrived a package... The HDB top clamp and Vapor dash have arrived! I had them anodized black and this is some nice looking work. Beautifully machined and high quality. I tried some test mounts. Dash under, then dash above when the locking cylinder interfered. Ah, the key dilemma... For now I cut the key (a spare) down to where it'll fit (even with the dash above), but I think I'll fab (read: jbweld) a lever that will be “secret” and will stay in permanently. Maybe I'll wire in a secret power switch for some security...



This is with the dash under (wouldn't fit).




Pulling the bars.




Cut key.




Test fit.




I used a couple of threads from the other forum to properly wire the dash lights. However, I didn't read far enough into the thread and have to change some things. Right now the power is wired to a “key hot” which I found out will result in a dead (dash) battery shortly. I need to rewire it to the permanent hot, by swapping that wire in the stock connector. I also wired the blinker lights for individual right and left. It's fine and it works, but I may want to re-purpose that light eventually. I don't really need to see if it's the left or right that's blinking. I'm also using a common ground. When I run the permanent hot wire, I'll run a dedicated ground-to-frame wire as well.
Item:....................KLR Pin:........KLR Stock:...........Vapor Dash:
Highbeam light...........5 ..............Red/black............Dark blue +
..............................4..............Black/yellow.........Black-

Left turn light............3..............Dark green...........Light green +.
..............................................Black/yellow.........Black -

Right turn light..........2...............Grey...................Light blue +
..............................................Black/yellow.........Green -

Neutral light.............1...............Brown..................Orange +
.............................8...............Light green...........Green-

Power wire...............7..............Red......................Red (power wire)

Tach......................9...............Black....................Red (tach wire)

This leaves the yellow wire (#6 pin in stock connector) the only one open.



I just twisted the wires and heat shrunk them. No soldering iron...


But I didn't heat shrink until after I tested the connections (good thing as I got one wrong).

Notice the yellow wire is free (open)

What a mess...


Test.


All wrapped up.




Test mount sans fairing.


I still have to wire the temp sensor. Also next: LED blinkers and the 685 kit is in the mail... !

Looking good.

nice

mebby lower the fender

get some Ricor valves for the forks

I'm thinking about it. The fork brace would need to be drilled and tapped. It's not an eaglemike... Maybe just the back (would improve cooling too).

So while I'm waiting on the 685 kit (and some carb parts), I installed the LED blinkers. The relay is still in the mail, but I was able to wire it all up and mount the blinkers on the front of the new fairing. The rear blinkers went in the same location as the originals, which were actually moved when the rear rack was installed by the PO.

Front blinkers I got off ebay.


Rear ebay blinkers (these are crap but will have to do for now [the metal stem pulls right out of the housing. Had to use glue to secure it]).


Comparison.




I had to drill holes in the fairing.


From the inside.


I had to cut the connectors off the original blinkers.


Wired and heat-shrinked.




Mounted:






The rears.



The photo I took with both on the back came out too shitty to post

I also mounted the Vapor more permanently in the HDB bracket using some of the provided hardware.

The mounting plate it came with.


I grabbed the grommets and the anodized washers which fit perfectly in the HDB bracket.




All mounted up.




I used some zip ties to secure the orange rubber fairing mount strap.


Phase two coming up. Breaking down the engine and carb. Reassembly with new/better parts. Exciting!

great build man! Now can you or someone explain the whole Do Hockey thing to me since I am not a KLR rider? I mean what is it, why does it go out, and whats up with the mod.

The 685 kit is here! But, I need to catch up on some other things before I dig into that project, so here goes...

I wired up the temp sensor for the Vapor dash using the original location of the sender in the valve cover. Not too complicated: Pull out the wire, unscrew sender, screw in new sensor. The hardest part was screwing in the new sensor as I couldn't use a socket, and the wrench barely fit in the small recess and would only turn 1/16 of a turn at a time :huh [In hindsight, I should have done this AFTER the 685 kit, but I wanted to test ride with full functionality...]





Pulled the plug to create more space.


Looks like maybe I'm running rich? Not sure if this is a good indicator...


Sensors compared.


Applied some anti-seize to the threads made it easy to screw in. Maybe TT changed their sensor finally, but I had no trouble with the threads not matching.


I ran the wire under the valve cover, so I can remove the cover when doing valve checks. Zip tied it to the little “bridge” to keep the wires out of the way. (expect to change this to quick release soon).






On the Vapor, I set the warning (yellow light) to 110 C and the danger (red light) to 120 C. Not sure if this is correct, but the bike runs between 90 C and 105 C on my test rides. After stopping and shutting down, it'll climb up to 115 C.

Then I installed a LED blinker relay. The regular relay doesn't get enough current to trip it with the LED lights, so a more sensitive relay was needed. Ordered one from “Super Bright LEDs, Inc”. It came with a connector that didn't match so I wired up a couple of spade connectors that would plug right into the original socket. I think I need to get some of that paint-on tape to waterproof stuff. I'll be getting deeper into the electrical later on with waterproof connectors and hopefully some wiring cleanup.


Original relay on left, new one on right.


With spliced in spade connectors.


That's the relay “socket”.


For now I just tucked it up under the frame and zip tied it in place.


Next I adjusted the lights. After carefully figuring out which way to turn the screws on the lights, I proceeded to turn them the wrong way for a while...


From the inside.


To get them to the correct level I had to tilt the whole fairing out one hole on the mount. After riding, I think I'll try to move it back as I like the way it looks and how the wind feels better when it's a little closer. I can always cut those hose spacers used on the headlight screws to better position the beam. For now it's one hole out though...


The 658 Kit is here! Some teaser photos until the next entry...

The kit along with new screws for the carb, a KLX needle, some jets and a secure oil filler cap (last one bit it on the trip, but I think this is a better design).


The bored, honed cylinder from Eaglemike.


The new piston (comparison shots to come).


Next: Phase two. Engine dis-assembly. There's a first time for everything...

Great build. Since you have the HDB top clamp, I would recommend the HDB handguards. I've got them on two of my bikes. They are hell for stout. My CRF250L goes down often. I'm not that good. . They can take the abuse.

Again, nice work and attention to detail.

Thanks for the recommend G19 and the positive feedback I know I can't use the "if it ain't broke..." line considering all that I'm doing, but in this case I think I'll stick with the Acerbis for now since they're already there. I do plan on pulling them to make the handlebars more narrow (for easier doorway entry :eek1) and if I can't get them back on for some reason I'll consider the HDB.