Thanks B1and everyone else. 20hrs would be two days traveling for me but for others it obviously works. I do have a trail bike too which is probably the difference too.
I knew I wasn't going to be doing too many k's with mine, and use it for easy trail/light adventure riding, so I planned on changing the oil at about 2000k's intervals. I changed the oil when I got it and I've done 500k's the oil still looks like new, so I'll continue with my plan and change it around 1500-2000k's and judge it from there.
Well I got it. Close out price of only 329. The 03-06 4.1 gal safari tank. I planned on getting a 3,3 and swamping with my 6.6 all the time for longer rides. Now I will only use the 6.6 for 2 death valley rides a year. There is one more 4.1 gal tank for sale at Dual Sport Touring in TN. well there was as of last week wen I ordered mine. Stock, 4.1, 6.6
BygDaddee, keep that air filter clean. Do it after every ride ( 500km ). I did 10,000km on my 03 450. Check valves at 8000km and still within tolerance. Use the BEST fuel you can get ( 98 or 95 RON ) and change the oil a little more regularly. I can't stress enough about cleaning the air filter. I am sure I have read somewhere that the dust in Aussie is high in silica. When viewed under a microscope the particles appear very angular. This , combined with the hardness of silica ( getting close to diamond ) will carve your motor apart. I have seen the damage silica can do to pulverised fuel systems in power stations. Nihard ( high nickel copper alloy ) cuts up in 1000 hours.
Oh yeah, air filter clean and oil chain after every ride goes without saying for me, I've done it ever since my first dirt bike. I use 95+ Ron, unless I can't get it and then I don't mind mixing in a bit of lower octane into half a tank of 95. I'll keep an eye on my oil, do it somewhere between 1 and 2 thousand. I did over 300k's of adventure riding yesterday with some 20+ km 100km/h black top links, the WR450F handles that type of riding like a dream.
The straps are Tuggers. http://www.thetugger.com/ Thank you on the shop. Wish I could say it is mine. It is where I work though
In case you're looking for a street legal WR450 I just posted mine in the "flea market". http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=912216
just bought myself a new WR450 what are people doing about carrying luggage etc in the way of racks & frames for soft panniers any photos or comments on home made solutions would be great also cheers
Please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe I must float the ground for DC conversion or get an aftermarket stator such as TrailTech to run a LED headlight such as the Baja Designs Squadron right? Must I also float the ground to run an auxiliary LED light such as the ADVmonster M60 or Cyclops Motorsports light canon if it's wired to the battery? I have an 06 WR (250f everything should be the same as the 450). I'm looking at options for more light. LED is the future imho. Thanks!
Welcome to the world of blue bikes! Great choice. I have a modified Whipps that came of a DR250. with a bit of stainless flat bar and a tig welder it came up ok. I will dust it off tomorrow and take a few pics. I bolted it through the seat bolts, made spacers and used side plate bolts and also put a bolt through rear guard. It is the perfect size for a 4 litre Rotapax jerry can.
yeah cheers for that, thanks looking forward to the WR, cant wait to get it home, plan is to sell both the DR & XR and set the WR up as a light adventure bike / bush bike
Farmer Roy, check this one. Looks better than my home made. http://www.promotobillet.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=24_81&products_id=291
Forgot to mention I had decided to give the 450 a run. It has been sitting for a couple of months. Fuel tap on, pull the choke, hit the button,,,,, nothing. Flat battery. Time to swing the leg. Bike fires up but won't idle. Bugger, time to pull the carby apart. 5 hours later after much cursing it is back together and fires up first kick. The carby was full of green gunk. The brass jets were covered in green to the point where iven the main jet was blocked. I had to use an oxy tip cleaner to get rid of the crap. Moral; don't leave stale fuel in the carby. I was a little surprised at the green corrosion. Have I managed to put some of that shitty E10 in the tank without realising or is it just our top class premium ( 98RON) fuel here in Oz.
Take a 3/4" length of PVC pipe----heat it across the middle with a heat gun until it is soft and pliable-----bend it across the back fender just behind the seat. Let it hang off on either side to the desired length. Zip tie it in place at the back and on each side. Glue a PVC T on the bottom and a reducer---run a piece of 1/2 inch PVC forward---using the heat gun to form it and bolt that to the frame/subframe junction. Now, what you have is a carrier to which you can affix some soft bags or duffles. The advantage of this home made system is that you can carry the load below seat level--- Those nice racks that carry the load high---above seat level are a problem for short legged guys like myself-----My system works---allows me to swing my leg up over the saddle and ---it didn't cost anything since I had the PVC scraps lying around anyway. Pictures at 11:00
I may need a short course on how to imbed photos's here---lacking that I could PM them to anyone who wants them and whose email address I can find. I'll shot the photo's in the morning and try to have them ready to send mid morning. I'm not sure I know how to get them to show here though? I am pleased with this setup----right now I have saddle bags on them---but I also have some weather proof duffles which I use when I need larger capacity than the Saddle bags.
You need to host the images somewhere, like Photo Bucket. Then get the link from Photo Bucket and paste that link directly on the page you're typing onto. No need to use the buttons & tabs above the page, they aren't needed anymore. It's very simple, "after" you've figured it out.
http://s586.photobucket.com/user/Deseretrider/media/IMG_0422.jpg.html?filters[user]=91423359&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=0 http://s586.photobucket.com/user/Deseretrider/media/IMG_0415.jpg.html?filters[user]=91423359&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1 If you look closely at the photo taken from behind and up under the fender you can see the PVC pipe hanging down on either side and tie wrapped to the plastic panel--- You will have to use imagination to see how the pipe was formed into a U shape with the closed end resting on the fender just aft of the seat and touching the seat. You can then imagine that the inverted "U" will focus the weight of whatever you attach to it on the subframe. The "T" on the bottom provides a tie point for the bottom on the bags (or duffles or whatever you are using). Notice also that there is an 'extension' from the T which extends forward and is formed and attaches to the frame---on both sides. This PVC simple 'frame' provides a very simple but strong and stable base. You can expand a little on this design if you desire--maybe provide a double bar on the bottom to act as a sort of floorboard---and then attach a set of Wolfman or Ortleib type duffle bags. Walmart also has a waterproof folding duffle similar in design to the Wolfman style. In my case I use a set of saddlebags (as pictured) for day trips---and switch to the duffle style bags for multi day rides. my whole plan for using this style of a carrier is simply to keep the load low and off the top of the bike. This allows me to get my leg up and over the saddle which is hard to do if there is anything tied higher than the saddle.