My new (to me) 950 SE

[brents347]

Hello all,

So as some of you may have seen here in the past, last summer we had a house fire (caused by my 950 adv), and as well as everything else I lost a couple of my motorcycles.

Well, shortly after the fire, and well before I recieved any insurance money, I went straight out and bought a used 950 SE. The seller was a member on here (not that I can remember his name!), and everything just kind of set-up right for me. He was local to Nor-Cal, the price was decent ($9,000 which I thought was a lot at the time but seems to be a better and better deal the more I think about it), and the mileage and extras were good. It had maybe 15k miles and came with a top clamp and steering dampener, a 2-1 exhaust with Remus can, peg extenders, an 8" Baja Designs Sol light on the front and HDB handguards and mirrors. Good enough. Most importantly, it was just ready to ride. This was important because I needed to ride for my sanity and also becuase I had no home or garage or tools to do any work on the bike. I just wanted a bike I could ride.

And so I did. I rode it around town alot last summer, did some local dirt rides, and then took it to Bend for last years KTM Rally. It did everything great. And it was well set-up. But it still wasn't really MINE. I was riding someone elses mods, and that just isn't my style. I like to personalize.

So finally around Thanksgiving, we got back into our now rebuilt house and I started to resupply my garage. I also started to stock pile the new stuff for the SE! Around Christmas the snows came, and I tore into the bike.

Here's what I did. Nothing earth shattering, but I made it mine.

First off, riding it to Bend I realized two things. The wind protection was (literally) non-existant, and the suspension kinda sucked. Keep in mind that to this point I hadn't done anything to the bike. Not even checked a pre-load setting or moved a clicker. I had just been riding it. So I pulled it all down and di the normal maintenance (valves, brake fluids, oil, etc.) and then I sent my suspension off to James at SPS for the treatment. While that was gone I also sent in a KTM Talon hub from my now burned up 660 Rally bike to Woodys to have it laced to a new 1.6" Excel and I also pulled the swingarm and sub-frame and sent them to powder coat. And I bought a Rally Raid Marathon kit for the wind protection.

The suspension and wheel came back first, but the swingarm was last because I had to wait for new bearings and seals and to have them installed. So I set about installing the forks and all the Rally Raid fairing and nav stuff. The Rally Raid product is really nice and fits the bike well, but it still takes some dialing in. Once I had that I had to figure out how to mount my gauges and GPS and that type of stuff. Then I added a set of heated grips while I was there. Here's how the Nav stuff looks now. Pretty cool I think.

[IMG][/IMG]


Then I mounted up the front wheel and figured out how to make it work with a 320mm front disc, so the wheel and brakes were done. Latly, I got the swingarm back and put the rest of the pieces back together. I haven't ridden it yet, and I still have some minor tweaks to do, but there it is. I am quite pleased with the result and will be happy to now be riding around on MY bike.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

The very last thing is the Rally Raid set came with a full graphics kit. I suck at graphics. I always end up with crooked shit and bubbles everywhere. So what is the secret? A slight soap and water pre-spray? Do the graphics still stick well after that? Any suggestions welcome.

Brent

[wpbarlow]

Originally Posted by brents347

...The very last thing is the Rally Raid set came with a full graphics kit. I suck at graphics. I always end up with crooked shit and bubbles everywhere. So what is the secret? A slight soap and water pre-spray? Do the graphics still stick well after that? Any suggestions welcome.
Brent

Looking good!

Windex, applied liberally, works for me.

[Katoom119]

Nice!

How'd you wire the heated grips? I'm assuming the rocker switch on the HDB top clamp is for the grips. I was looking to do the same thing but didn't know how to waterproof the connections other than heat shrink.

Graphics? Easy. Windex. I know, I know, all you super high end graphics installers will say dish soap and water (which works well too) but I've put on so many flippin' sets of graphics on my bikes over the years and Windex has always worked well.

Either way, hose down the area of the bike you're working with so that by the time you get the graphic in your hands it will have dried enough to be "just right". Slap the graphic up there, move it around if you need to, then pick up one section and start working the bubbles/fluid out. You'll have a few minutes to work with them so no great rush. If you do it carefully you won't have a whole lot of bubbles to smooth out and you can just let the stuff dry on its own.

By the time it's dry you won't have to worry about them coming off. When I put the Powersports Graphix kits on my motard and dirt bikes years ago I had to break out the heat gun so I could change my race numbers. It'll stick.

[Grinderman]

Looks awesome Brent! I well be chasing you on that bike for days going to the rally. Can't wait!!!

[Nowwhat]

Graphics = your wife's blow dryer......

[Nowwhat]

Brother Bikes....320mm front rotor and all....

[DesertSurfer]

Your 950 Adventure vs. SE comparo!!!

[Sporting Wood]

According to the 3M guy, a single drop of plain Lemon Joy in a sprayer with water. Nice bike, congrats on getting back on track.

[GrenDesb]

Originally Posted by brents347

The very last thing is the Rally Raid set came with a full graphics kit. I suck at graphics. I always end up with crooked shit and bubbles everywhere. So what is the secret? A slight soap and water pre-spray? Do the graphics still stick well after that? Any suggestions welcome.

I'd bring the graphics to a vinyl shop, where they do graphics and signs for a living. They will install you that for couple bucks.

[SFKLR]

Congrats! I'll be lurking to read your review of the suspension mods.

PS - and tell us more about that funky seat, please!

[dogsslober]

Originally Posted by SFKLR

Congrats! I'll be lurking to read your review of the suspension mods.

PS - and tell us more about that funky seat, please!

Tell us how you like it!

[brents347]

It is a funky seat, isn't it?

That's one of those Saddleman Adventure seats. The center channel is supposed to take away the pressure point from your tail bone or whatever. I tried to buy one before the ride up to Bend but couldn't get it in time so I cancelled the order. One of the problems I had with the SE is it was a little too tall for me, so when I came to a stop I would do the butt check slide and put one foot down. No problem, as this was how i always rode my 950 Adv 'S' bike. But with the my recent diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, my brain and balance have kinda gone south for winter. So I'd come to a stop, slide my cheeks left to put my left foot down and then fall over on the right because I didn't realize the bike was leaning that way! I probably dropped the bike 20 times at a stop in the first 3 months of ownership. That got old. Then I realized that the Saddleman seat came in a 1" lower height and that made up my mind. Nothing against Renazco, I've had a few of his seats, but I was able to get this one on Amazon.com for about $320 or so and I had it in three days. Now I can touch both feet and haven't dropped the bike since.

For comfort and relieving the pressure point, it felt the same as a stock seat to me at first. But, after a 4 hour 250 mile slab ride I realized my ass wasn't in total pain as it had been previously. And then, 2 hours later, I turned around and rode the 250 miles home. I would have done it with the stock seat too, but I felt much better after having done it with this seat. So, is it comfortable? No, not really. Is it better for long mile days and not suffering as much? Yes, yes it is.

I don't see any on Amazon right now, but here is a link to some similar seats by Saddleman for Stroms and such.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...adventure+seat+

Here's a link direct to Saddleman. One of the cool things is that they come standard, 1" lower, and with a heated seat option if you desire. Also, they have heavy duty sewn in 'D' rings for attaching soft bags and Giant loops, etc.

http://www.saddlemen.com/Products/K2...ack-Seats.html

[brents347]

Originally Posted by Grinderman

Looks awesome Brent! I well be chasing you on that bike for days going to the rally. Can't wait!!!

Chasing, I like the sound of that! Did I tell you I have a route in mind from here to the rally?

[Afry]

How does the fairing affect the wind?

[brents347]

Haven't ridden it yet! We have cold temps abnd snow and I am still doing a coupld of little things so I will be a week or so before I ride it. I'll report back though!