Just wanted to spend the holidays with some friends in EC. I´ll be heading back to COL as soon as possible. I am meeting Micha in Cartegena end of January. He found transport for his bike for $200. Proly leaves from Colon. Not sure what surcharges they will put on that when it arrives... If you are still fighting with your instuments, a friend of mine ripped out his on his 1150GS and simply mouneted his GPS in a custom dash. He kept his oil light, that is it. The rest he thought was not needed. I saw his point. You can here the engine and dont "need" a tach for touring, and who actually uses signal lights in these countries? He did mount a horn from truck (a BIG truck) though. PM sent.
Okay, moving on... [/IMG] I had to build a frame for the IMO, but without the ability to weld aluminum, steel will have to do. I found what looks like 16ga. in the rack. My trusty zip cut was up for the job! [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] There! Now i have a place for all my stuff, with easy access and protection from the elements. [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] And a little bit of paint... [/IMG] Okay, thats all for now. Time to go back to work. end of line...
$200 :eek1 ¡Tu ganas que pagas! Remember that thread from GatoGato? Oh well, if he's made it this far... Say hi for me .
Awesome work Ron! I really appreciate the workmanship, seeing you fabricate stuff like that with basic hand tools. I find that more impressive than someone doing all that with a sheet metal brake and all the other associated equipment. Good on you! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Rick . i guess you saw this photo :ddog [/IMG] ...just joking! The shock finally cleared customs and will be delivered on Monday or Tuesday, not your fault. I'm really looking forward to bolting it on and trying it out! i love shiny new suspension parts!
I hate that it took so long, we paid extra for "Express Mail" and sent it out Dec. 12. Normally we get excellent results from the US postal service when shipping up Canada way. This time, not so much...
Wow, nice job. I think you could have a nice side job making/selling custom rally fairings for DR650s.
Thanx Bucho. I have considered opening a shop sometime in the future, but for now i think i prefer to ride
Okay, i've been a busy guy! I've been working every day for 12 hours trying to get this beast on the road, as i'm just itching for another road trip :jose After reading a few threads on the Stator re-wire, it seemed pretty easy, so off to find the materials. The wire was easily found at an electronics supply store, and i tracked down the fibre glass sheathing from an electric motor re-builder. He gave me the 18" for free, as he felt that he throws more away during a project than what he gave me. Kudos for Armature Electric on 4th. . [/IMG] [/IMG] Okay, hope it works. i buttoned her up , added a new SS oil filter and some fresh oil and glued on the new case savers from AMP. For a change of pace, i decided to start on the racks. Now, i could have bought some, but for some reason i just need to build every thing! I'm kinda stubborn that way, really. So, i bent up some hoops, 12"x16". [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] And continued to build the risers [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] [/IMG] Ending with something like this: [/IMG] So i took a lunch break and checked my mail at the post office. Looky here!!! [/IMG] Nice! I bolted her up and called it a night. Today i concentrated on my new dash. Yup, i hated the old checker plate dash and threw it into the bin. The new one is much thinner, lighter and easy to work with. Painter it black and installed all my dash stuff: heat troller control, switch for the heated grips and the stock turn signal indicator. [/IMG] this job is really slow and maticulous! [/IMG] I had to make a bracket for the IMO speed sensor, so i used a piece of aluminum angel and spun up some spacers on the lathe. [/IMG] [/IMG] Okay, thats all for now. Until next time
Damn Ron.... Can I send you mine next? By the way, if you double click the address under your photobucket pics that has the
...okay, where was i?? The last few day's have been a blurr. Oh yeh, i posted a question about wiring into the coil for the tachometer. On the DR650, you want this one: Or the one in the plug beside it, i don't think it matters. It turns out that i had to calibrate the IMO with a potentiometer built into the unit. Sorry, no photo, but you guy's all use that "Other Brand" thats made in China anyways . I completed the racks, they turned out something like this: I had planned on building some sort of clever mounting system for my Pelican case top box, but wasn't sure what. Then, i remembered from previous boxes that i had built how much i liked the stainless steel quick hinges i had always used on the lids. Strong, removeable, simple and at $20 a pair, relatively cheap . While fabricating the mounting plate for the box, i painted the racks with some really hard appliance epoxy with the hope that it won't wear away onto my bags. I also had to find a home for my new horn, it's as big as it is loud! Unfortunately, this was the exact spot where one of my bag straps goes! Damn! For now i'll try to hang the rear strap over the top of the rack and see how it works. Any thoughts on this? After the paint dried, i riveted everything together with stainless steel rivets and checked the fit. ...not bad, huh? So, it turns out that the bike is quite a bit taller now, with the new stiffer shock and taller forks, along with the wider seat, i can barely tip-toe! Also, the centre stand is about 1/2" short, so i spun up a couple of stand-offs on the lathe. There, thats better. No point in having a centre stand it you can't spin the wheels when it's deployed, right? And there you have it! My 2006 Suzuki Kdr650 And just a little reminder of what she used to look like:
I would bow down now but this will have to do: I can't believe how good of a match the KTM fairing is for the Safari tank!!!! I had two of those lying in my garage in Austria and sold them before trying them out when my DR was with me in Spain.... DR650 Adventure alright!