The 650 Dakar Thread

Those figures are probably for tubeless tires, no ?

What sizes did you go with ? And how do they ride ?

Regardless of the pressure amount, i think one thing to be stressed is to inflate slowly and not with an unregulated compressor.

I have a Kenda761 in back, this is just on my stock 21" front so not sure if that helps you. It is a 90/90 and it pulsates and feels very squirrelly while braking and in corners, but that might be somewhat related to the bead on one side being off and the tire being visibly out of round by a half inch when i spin it.

I'll give it a shot with a bike pump and some dish soap later today, and take it back to the dealer on Tuesday if that fails.

Pulsating while braking you say.... sure it's not the disc that's warped ? Mine pulsates like a son of a bitch.... pulsates from not braking to damn near locking the wheel.... it's worst at low speeds.
And I though it got worse after I did the "bounce test" and re tightened the lock screw on the forks. I lost the "fall to the right when letting go of the bars" syndrome, but the pulsating doubled....

No, the pulsation is with normal straight line riding. Braking is more of a shimmy, the forks feel like they are made of noodles. The brake drags pretty consistently when spun. (The brakes do have less power than a while ago- i think it glazed a little when my fork seals were leaking...)

I have to disagree with this...

Think about it, if there is slop in the nut on the valve stem and the tire does move, it's much more likely to yank on the stem sideways, damaging the stem or valve stem core, or ripping out the entire thing. Besides, if you run it halfway down it's gonna vibrate and move over time toward the rim or the cap anyway. You might as well not have it on there at all. Also, if it's not tightened down the valve stem can be angled from spooning on the tire prior to inflation. The purpose of the second nut is to keep the stem in it's correct position.

Also, if you have a flat you don't want that valve stem flipping and flopping around loose because that will likely rip it from the tube. On several occasions I've had punctures and was able to patch the tube to get me home and that is impossible with a tube lacking a valve stem!

All tyres

I'll have to disagree with your disagreement with GS
In my younger days I used to run them all the way down but now run them all the way up ( under the cap) if the stem can move (initial cause puncture) it is less likely to rip the stem and yes I only really need the nut for install otherwise it would be in the bin....saving weight 101

That little nut will not stop a tyre/tube from spinning .Not a right/wrong thing just from experience.

I'm thinking of adding a set of Denali DM1 LED lights from Twisted Throttle to my Dakar.
I know very little about electrical systems, So was hoping for some advice. I searched for some basic guide on motorcycle electrical systems but never found much. If someone has a good link, that would be much appreciated.

I have a Yuasa YT12CL 12v AGM Maintenance Free battery. IIRC this is a 12 amp/hr battery. My research tells me 12v at 12AH = 144 watt hours. The Denali lights draw 5 watts per lamp for a 10 watt total. So without any charge, I could run the LED lights for 14.4 hrs, all things being equal. Is that right?
My first question then is; How many watts can I run concurrently on the battery before something starts to give? How do I work that out?
Say I want to run my OEM headlight, plus my heated hand grips, plus the Denali LEDs, plus heated clothing, plus a cell phone on charge, plus a Garmin Montana GPS, etc. How do I know what is safe? I don't want to damage the battery.

The instructions say to use the posi-tap connector to connect to a switched 12v power source. Second question; How do I identify a switched 12v power source?

Third question; what should I be careful about when fitting these LEDs? It looks pretty straight forward, but the electrical part concerns me because of my limited knowledge.

I know these are totally noob questions...but this is probably the best place to ask them.
I would like to do this myself and learn something in the process, rather than take it to the shop.
Any help is highly appreciated.

I would recommend you go with the Piaa LP530s. They only draw 12 watts and put out a lot of light. $191 on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/PIAA-5372-530-Driving-Lamp/dp/B0060ZB2MY/ref=pd_sim_auto_2. Very easy to wire up using the provided harness.

I took the core out of the stem, the tyre deflated and the bead on both sides came off with a light touch of the fingers (bad sign, right?). I smeared dish soap in on the area that seemed to be riding low off the rim, then pumped the tyre up to 60 with a bike pump. Looked just the same as before so i let the air out reinstalled the core and pumped it up to normal (33) and rode 100 miles. Still looks uneven and rides like crap. I'll email Michelin about the mould markings and take the wheel back to the dealer when they open Tuesday...

The valve stem will cock sideways. but if you have the nut screwed tight then the valve stem will be ripped from the tube.

Thanks for the feedback. Do you have any pics of how you mounted those?

The light bar is homemade, using some aluminum stock, a hammer and a vice. Pretty easy to replicate looking at this pic.


I made my own because my Touratech fork guards would interfere with but that is a pretty good option as well if you don't have the TT fork guards. http://www.ezymount.com/kits/ezymount_f650gs.htm

nice lights and mounting bracket!

Do you notice much bounce with the lights and bumps in the road?

I'll try to answer a few of these questions but I too am not a genius with electricity.

Not sure but I can tell you that running that list of items together would tax any motorcycle. Especially the heated gear. Someone else will need to weigh in on that capabilities of the Dakar's charging system.

The two easiest wires to find would be in the running light (tail) or the headlight low beam. The low beam only works on bikes that the low stays on when you flip on the high beams. There are a few bikes out there that do shut off but I am uncertain about the Dakar. If you run to Harbor Freight and buy a multimeter you can locate a 12v wire definitively.

How to locate a 12v switched power source:

1. Locate a wire you think might have 12v of continuous energy.
2. Hold the red lead from the meter on the wire where you can access the metal core. I mostly use the pin connector on that wire.
3. Then with the black lead of the meter ground it to the frame of the bike or the negative terminal of the battery.
4. If you read 12v when the ignition is on then you should be good.
5. With the meter still engaged turn off the bike. If the wire goes dead then you have a switched 12v wire that you can use.

The steps listed above are the most difficult part of the install. You will find this to be true with many of the lights available on th emarket. What we have done with Deanli lighting is take the time to make it as complete and easy to install. Everything you need to install the Deali DM "Micro" is in the box except a mount. If we ever figure out a way to make one mount fit every bike out there we will include that in the box as well. One solution that could work on the Dakar is this:



The mount is simple and inexpensive. As of July 8, 2013 it is only $15: http://www.twistedthrottle.com/denali-led-lighting-fender-mount-kit-for-dm

I hope this helps a little.

Kevin

Very neat. Thanks for the pic and the link.

It certainly does Kevin. Thank you so much.

This is why I go to TT first when I'm looking for gear. You guys go out of your way to answer queries.
Your customer service experience is second to none. It's very refreshing indeed.

I've thought of doing this with fog lamps on a bike but was worried about them breaking down from the jarring of bieng connected to the lowers. It's interesting to see an actual product made for it. Are LEDs durable enough it's not an issue?