Super Sherpa thread

I was wondering what you all have been using for hand guards, Bark-Buster type that aside from having good coverage for wind, wet and cold by a plastic spoiler, also will provide lever protection in a fall and keep me from breaking knuckles!

I have Acerbis Rallye Pro on the KLR, and they're great when I fall, but minimal element protection, plus, spendy and tough to put on.

Any help/advice with brands ease of fitment descriptions would be very much appreciated! Photos showing final install would be a ginormous plus!

Thanks and best regards!

I'm running the d flex with the turn signal cover. They make a wide range of covers for the d flex. Oh mine have took some hard hits and are holding up good
Heres a pic

I also have the Tusk D-Flex, works well for me too. Crashed em a bunch of times, still going strong!

Tusk also with the large deflectors . They are easy to install and tough . Have them on my DR 350 as well .

Just put a set of Acerbis Multi Concept X-Pro Handguards on one, no fitment issues.

Another vote for the Tusk D-Flex. I use the small guards in the summer and the large guards in the winter. The bars install easily, but do take some jimmying to get them right without pinching anything. Good stuff.

the factory service maual states:" replace air filter foam element after 5 cleanings" or something to that effect. Air filters don't last forever, but I get more than 5 service intervals out of them!

A new foam is not that expensive, and the more important factor will be your bike is tuned for the air flow that the stock factory element has. A homemade filter may cause carburation issues, too restrictive, or it may be an imperfect fit and allow dirt to enter.

Kawasaki part #11013-1265 foam filter element

Ah. Perhaps there is the reason for the difference. This being a Super Sherpa thread, I would not consider a Super Sherpa a "long rider" vehicle of choice. Even on an hour and a half Summertime trip is not long enough to notice any difference on a Sherpa with good old blue jeans. I am sorry if my 41 years of riding off road and dual sport conflicted with yours. Either way. I don't recommend riding with polyester against your skin (that is from 20 years of being in the garment industry selling to offshore riggers). The EMS would agree, too.

Now underwear is a different issue... ... except for the cotton part.

Many Thunders.

Off topic, but I have taken some more pictures for school and used the SS as my subject matter. Thought you might like them.
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I have no idea what kind of underwear I was wearing, if that's important to anyone.

McJamie, What are those tires your SS is wearing? How do they compare with the TW301/302 stock tires?

Without actually going out to the garage to look because I always get them mixed up, the front I believe is a Pirelli ScorpionMT90, the rear a Metzler Sahara of some description.
The rear I would buy again without even looking at anything else. The front, while an excellent street tire, is just that, an excellent street tire. In anything soft or loose, it just plows everywhere. Compounding that is the fact that the rear hooks up so well, you are most likely to drive yourself off into the rhubarb. The rear also works extremely well on pavement, even in the wet.
I still have the original front with lots of tread on it, and will likely put it on in the spring to see how far off road I can get.
Just as a comparison, we use a handful of Sherpas at our motorcycle training school, and all still have the stock tires on them. What I have noticed is mine is slightly heavier steering in comparison to the stock bikes, but mine will out brake them by a very large margin. The grip on the pavement is that much better.
So it depends on your priorities. I knew mine would be mostly commuting this year, so that's why I picked the front I did. It works very well in the rain.

Thanks McJamie. Atleast 95% of my riding is on pavement, so I am looking for a more street oriented tread.

For cheap street-type tires, I really like the Kenda 761's. I think they're around $50 each, and they grip pretty darned well on hard-pack gravel too. Mount the front tire backwards from the directional arrows though, otherwise it wears out unevenly and cups.

or shinko (705's?) my daughter just put a pair on her Sherpa, and they're nice on the street...

"Old-n-slow, I would try the HT rack again. It's designed to be used with their SU racks. Without the racks, spacers need to be used to fill the gaps."

Yeah, the spacers were included in the pack they sent me, but the mounting bolts themselves were all wrong (way too short) and the front gap was still too wide. Plus, the turn signal mounts, necessary for the rack to mount on the bike, also did not fit, way too tight and both front and back specs were just way off. I know several people have used the whole system, top rack with the side mounts for bags, and they say it all works. I'm happy for them but that's way more than what I'm looking for on the Sherpa. Light makes Right!

Kristan on this thread makes racks for the Sherpa. there is a pic of one @ # 2228 . Had one for 2 years now ,works great

Thanks! We have 2 racks ready to ship.
There are pics on this thread somewhere or PM me and I will email them to you.
My husband is a retired machinist and he fabricates them in our garage.
We have sold about 15 of them, no complaints.

Well, even though one of the bikes in my stable is a KLR, I'm not cheap, BUT...

I went to the Bike Show in Seattle last weekend, and the CycleGear guy at the booth gave me a couple of 20.00 off cards, so on the way back home, my buddy and I stopped at CycleGear in Tacoma and I bought a pair of their Bilt Explorer h2O pants, and then went right back in and bought the coat. So both pants and coat on sale already, got 40.00 off the sale price. Not bad gear, either but it wasn't for me, it was for my buddy Ryan, and I was simply loaning him the money to get the stuff.

Anyway, they had aluminum handguards on sale for 29.00 or 24.99 of something silly cheap, and I got them and put them on... They're all good! they're drilled and tapped for putting on some sort of plastic shield, but they don't have one for them. I have some HDPE sheet left over from rally car fabrication days, and am going to cut and heat form some shields for these guards and bolt them on. For the price, I just couldn't pass them up! As soon as I get them done, I'll post some pics. The guards are made by Bike Master, I think...

http://www.cyclegear.com/eng/product/Aluminum_Handguards/web1009960 Wrong, they're made by Trackside.

Hey guys,

I just picked up a 2002 Sherpa with about 6k miles. Im a student at VT and after graduation I'm planning on completing the TAT this summer with a few friends. The bike seems sounds but what are the most common issues I should expect? Also, I want to attach some saddle bags but im worried about the exhaust burning through them, any suggestions?

My last 3 sets of K761's the front tire cups on my Sherpa and F650I will reverse the front on my next set. I'm shopping for K761 pair and the cheapest I can find is $130 free shipping for pair at Motorcycle superstore. Can you get them cheaper????