Sanjohsaki the Build

As of 9-6-11


As of 10-20-10 Headed north on 129


As of 8-20-10

As of 7-28-10 nearly 8k miles since I "finished" the build.

As of 4-19-10


It began with a search for MY perfect dualsport bike. Having bought and sold 10 or so bikes in the last year, none of them fit my idea of the perfect dualsport.

My goals for this project:
<350lbs wet
fuel injected
6 speed
Reliable
Plenty of travel
200mi range
Slanted toward dirt
Minimum of 2 cylinders
<$3000

Several others have used the Ninja 650r as a basis for their dualsport creations. After a bit of research I figured it may just fit my needs. And so it began.

Thanks to the folks that have provided information and motivation to get this going.

A different kind of Versys - tonymorr
Kawasaki ER-6C, that's C as in Custom - jdrocks
The KaTaMaki 650 ADV project (KTM LC4 gets a twin engine swap) - LukasM

As of 3-21-10

I looked at several bikes including Ducati 695, SV650 and Ninja 650r. Found a good deal on a crashed 650r. The bike came in many boxes and after a bit of assembly, cleaning, hammering and such it was on the road sans fr. brakes.



Prior to investing my sweat equity in a crashed bike, I figured a few hundred miles would verify (or not) function.

Look the wife can touch the ground! This bike started as a build for her. Her GS1150 is great on the road but off road is a handful.

Oh the sweet motor

The 650r is marketed as a beginners bike WTF! No wonder you see do many crashed. It is not a first bike IMO.

It makes good torque with nice linear power. Third gear WFO sees you approaching 100mph rather quickly.

The stock suspension is bottom of the line, no adjustments front, rear has pre-load adjustment.

Weight = 375lbs dry

Frame seems very rigid, a few wheelies and stoppies without a problem.

Function verified. Time to look for some suspension.

Web searches lead me to a crashed 01 KTM 640e. Heard it run but the front disk was bent so no riding. 13XX miles, the frame backbone was bent pretty good.

This was my first experience with a KTM, seems the parts used on the 640 from this era can vary based on date of mfg.

How lucky can you get. The 650r and 640 use the same size axles this was going to be easy (not).

KTM front end on the 650r

The 650r shock is a bit odd. A friend had a Showa off a CBR that was 12" eye to eye. I pressed out the bearings/bushings from the stock shock, and put em in the Showa shock. I hacked off near 3/8" of the eye width so the shock would mount in the frame.





Yes it is mounted inverted.

It rolls!



Rake measured at 25deg. Damn that Droid comes in handy.

Weight 350 lbs dry -muffler -fr brake.

sanjoh - this is just badass looking, mate. I am right there with you
regarding the 650R's multi-functional potential. I would love to find
a converted unit for sale.


Keep us posted!

Where is the rear wheel taken from? Did you need to make spacers?

sanjoh, how are weighing that beast? 350# is considered unobtainium weight for this bike with that heavy motor.

keep the photos coming. i'd like to see how this thing was put together.

The triple turned out to be a bit of a challenge.

The KTM stem was too short.

Ended up using a stem from a 05 Yamaha R6. Pressed it into the KTM lower triple.

Next up was the bearings. The headstock on the 650r is 55mm id and the stem was now 30mm. Ordered the tapered roller bearing kit for the 650r from all balls but the id was much to large. Made a couple of spacers, pressed em on with the bearings.

Ended up using a Universal brand topclamp for a KTM. The stock KTM top clamp has the pinch bolts on the rear and they would hit the gas tank at full lock. The Universal has the pinch bolts at the front. The triple now clears the tank at full lock.

Same scales I weigh my airplane with.

With the front end mounted, the rear wheel was next. This was an easy one.

Flip the disk on the KTM wheel, use the 650r brake caliper.

Bought a set of wheel spacers for the 650r to fill the gap left by using the spoked wheel vs the 17" stock.

Machined one of the spacers to achieve proper distance for brake caliper to disc.

Drilled and taped the stock caliper anti-rotation mount and insert a 10mm bolt. Caliper bracket slides on the bolt head.

Machined the spacer a bit to small so I ground a bit off the disk bolts.

I LIKE IT!

+1 like it alot.! crashbars,sump guard,barkbusters and rear tank....lets go!

Update

Added some EE handguards, mounted the GPS, rear blinkers. Changed the rear sprocket from 42t to 46t, stock ratio on the ninja.

Rode about 200miles this weekend in and near the Uwharrie National Forest, in North Carolina.

The bike is quickly becoming my favorite, it really does well in the twisties, paved and not paved. Little to no vibration, even with the Pirelli MT21s, great fuel mileage.


Thanks for all the comments.

thanks dude ...it's nice

I like it... and thanks for all the great information.

Another couple hundred miles on the bike today with a mix of single track, dirt, gravel and paved roads.

It can do it all pretty well. Thought the reduced steering (lock to lock) would be a problem in the tight stuff it isn't.



I do need a mud flap though and maybe some type of fender. Had some serious rooster tails of mud goin.

First 350 mile day on secondary roads. The bike loves to cruise 75mph, very little vibes from the the engine/drive train. With the stock gearing and the larger wheel the speedometer is reading 1-2mph higher than actual according to gps. No speedo healer needed.

Rode out to the Wright Memorial on the Outer Banks.



The headlight doesn't work well when the sun goes down, the 7" round headlight should correct that.

Oh me knobs:eek1

you need an airhawk with that seat.

where are you located, i thought you were in florida. you home based in NC?

when's the new headlight getting installed? i'd like to see how it looks.

The seat will be sent to Spencers to work on. Figure if he can make a XR650R seat comfortable then the Ninja should be a cakewalk.

NC on vacation

New headlight when we return home next week. Hopefully it will balance the look of the bike, it looks a little rear heavy with the small headlight/cowling. I've got a gs dakar windshield that will be grafted on after the headlight install.

Have near 1000 miles on the bike since conversion, no disappointments so far.