The Motion Pro Chain Breaker and Riveting Tool is a fascinating tool or I should say set of tools. It is also reasonably priced and can be found for less than $75. The master link on the other hand is not reasonably priced, $10 for one! I ground the rivet heads off and used the tool to push the link pins out. The tool is in breaker mode. I greased up the o-rings and put the new master link on. The tool is in plate press mode. The plates have been mashed on to the same thickness as the other links. Flared the ends of the master link pins. Tool in rivet flaring mode.
I asked Corbin to build up the front to reduce the usual dip. They did and in profile the shape is pretty much what I wanted, but from any other view it's a box. It is not comfortable to sit on a foam box with square corners. Going to give them a call and see how we can work this out.
I grow hot-n-cold on doing anything seat-wise. Especially dropping $300+ on the Corbin or the Renazco. Observations like yours are priceless...I've often wondered about those "sharp" edges on the Corbin seat.
I only use the clip type masterlinks. I even go so far as to drill the plate with a #7 drill (.203) to make them a slip fit, like the old days. Remember to drill the spare in your tool bag also. Occasionally you need to take the chain off the bike in the woods. Very hard with a riveted link. My .02 YMMV
No kidding. I found a large chunk of a walmart shopping bag wrapped around the countershaft. Who knows how long its been living there.
Corbin was my choice of seats because of name recognition (they have been around a long time) and I really liked the one in this picture. You don't see any corners on that baby. It looks good! For $380 I am damned well not going to modify the thing myself. Corbin has to make it right. I've called them twice and still have not spoken to my sales rep, but you can be sure I will. I anticipate at least another 6 weeks without a Corbin. With that amount of time I decided to recover the stock seat. I've driven by Rich's Custom Seats probably a thousand times and finally decided to check them out. Their web site is pretty good and if you poke around on there you'll notice they say "they will no longer work on Corbin seats" on almost every page. I brought the stock seat in and pick out a couple materials in black. $125 because they have to do some stitching. Ok, couple days! I asked Rich why they no longer work on Corbins and not only did I get the grand tour but he showed me samples of what makes it difficult to work on Corbins. Corbin does not put any backing on the custom molded covers, so when they are removed they are destroyed. The pan is shot fiberglass and the foam is injection molded together at the same time. So while the bottom of the pan looks nice and smooth, the other side that the foam molds too is lumpy and inconsistent. You really notice at thinner spots in the foam. This also makes modification difficult because if you are trying to reduce the height by shaving off some foam, you may run into a blob of fiberglass pan sticking up. If you buy a stock seat off ebay and have Rich modify that you will have a better product that costs less than having Rich modify a Corbin. Rich wasn't raving about how bad Corbin's are. He was just explaining why he and other custom seat shops won't work on them if they can help it. The grand tour was more than I expected and was fun.
I like the idea of the clip type master, but I've read several places that they shouldn't be used for bikes over 5 or 600 cc's. Or are you just using the clip type in a pinch?
DisTech, how is that carb working now? I ended up installing a Keihin FCR39 that I picked up off ebay as a winter project. works great with a Procycle jet kit, nice power wheelies now. I am still searching for a gsxr1000 exhaust like my buddy has. It sure sounds good but the prices are getting ridiculous since he found his. I may just spring for a FMF Q4.
I have never had a problem with a clip type master link. But... If someone puts the clip on in reverse it is guaranteed to pop off. I like having the option of being able to take the chain off if necessary with just a couple of simple tools. That said, my DL650 has a 525 chain and I would probably use a rivet type like you did. My other bikes are 520 and 428.
I wouldn't be so excited at the thought of twin brake-lights, either. But you get points for the safety factor. And the more i look at this pic, the better it looks. ...oh yeah, and thanks for the seat update. I think I'll drop new seat down a few notches on my wish list. If people wanna pay for that seat, and modify it, then that's there business. Me? No thanks. Besides, the suzuki gel seat that's currently on my DR is fine for sub 500 mile runs...so I'm taking my time. Again, thanks DisTech, this is good stuff!
I got the same kit from Jesse and love it. I used the old tag light cable connection to power the small LED unit and jumped over under the seat to pick up the brake light connection. The plate is in a good place to help reduce the "skunk stripe syndrome"
The idle circuit works good now, is all I know so far. I'm hoping for easy wheelies and no hesitation but haven't been able to test yet. I like the sound of the gsxr muffler too and with the work I had done to get the Two Brothers muffler and FMF header to work right, I probably should have just gone that route. I've wondered about Forest Service approval. can you just put a spark arrester in there and call it good? Rusty and Clayjars, thanks for the comments. For now I think I'll just throw a clip master link in the toolkit. Rick, yea I was thinking about the stripe too!
Picked up the recovered stock seat from Rich's today. 1.5 days, BAM! It looks soooo good and I can stand on the bike without a big foam box between my legs! Oh yes, I did speak to Corbin today and they are going to fix the boxiness. We'll see how that turns out.
The back of my DR is setup exactly the same. It took me about 5 minutes to get over the quandry of "does having two tail lights look right?" I like it now! I commute on my bike so I figure the extra light is good for safety. DisTech, I'm sure you know as well as I do just how crappy Seattle area drivers are. - Chris
The Moose Skid plate is heavy duty. Even the cheesy pipe clamps are pretty stout. That nut is welded to the clamp. The back could definitely be problematic. When installing the plate you have to work to align the bolts with that indentation in the case. If you don't the bolts press right up to the case. If they extended the plate to use the stock bolt holes they wouldn't even need the cheesy rear clamps. Does aluminum cost so much that that people won't pay that extra bit? I'll probably shorten the rear bolts and just keep an eye on it.
