2013 Husqvarna 650 Terra

The X-Challenge did not have a tail rack stock.
The BMW accessory one was tubular steel with an aluminum plate as I recall (I had an SW Motech)

Its not the same rear fender as the X-Challenge either if that's what you meant.
They look similar, but are different.
It also had a similar but different honking/heavy plate holder.
My X-Challenge ate its rear fender into the rear wheel on day one, it was floppy as hell, but it never broke.

Thank you for putting this thing through the tests and sharing the results. Look forward to seeing the luggage rack.

Mine snapped off after several thousand miles of washboards with about 10lbs on the back. Vibrations are what kills it.

Same thing happened to me. The whole rear end broke off and was dangling by the tail light wires. After I got the replacement parts the fix was really simple. Take the mufflers and rack off and wrap about a dozen or so wraps of a good quality duct tape around the rear fender to support it. That's what I did and since then I've put about 3000 miles of washboard FSR and 4WD track on it. I frequently bottom the suspension but the duct tape fix has held up perfectly and the rear end is rock solid. The good news is that you can barely see it and unless you point it out to people they never even notice it. The simplest fixes are always the best and this one is about a simple as it gets. This fix is for the rear fender and tail light assembly only, it does not affect the rack. My rack broke off too. I had a Pelican case mounted on it and it was cantilevered out over the rear of the bike. The position and weight of the case put too much stress on the rack and it broke. I've replaced the Pelican case with a soft rack bag for a mountain bike. I bungee cord it to the rack as far forward as I can get it and so far (3000 miles of rough road) I've had no problems with it.

John

No no, I cut my tail off when the bike was new:


I'm talking about the actual rear rack:

Hey dr _Rock ... just a NOOB tip on ADV forum procedure regards quoting pics ... DON'T do it.

It's massive waste of bandwidth and serves no purpose in this case. Also slows down a thread for other readers. If you want to comment on something specific about one or two pics ... then no prob, but don't just randomly quote back 10 pics. Just make your comment. We all already saw the pics. I would go back and delete them from your post. Clean up your trash.

??? bandwidth police?

lol

Hey, thanks dr rock. I like seeing pics quoted like that. Sometimes I haven't seen the original post.

If there's ever a bandwidth or speed problem with the forum, I expect the administrator will change the nomenclature to prevent picture quoting.

Keep on keeping on.

Duly note and you are right.

No it's cool. My quoted post added very little but consumed mucho space.
Keep on keeping on!

Tr650 owners, do you think build quality wise that this model might be a little soft? Pretty good sized plastic tail section that so far seems susceptible to cracking with load under vibration.

So far, the fender and the tail rack or the only soft sections I have found. If anything, the rest of the bike is solid to a fault. They could have saved a lot of weight by using aluminum, but the steel made it stronger and cheaper.

Sent from the voices in my head and transcribed by their drinking buddy...

I am wondering, wether the RG Racing plate holder would be an adequate substitute. Instructions: http://www.eiweiss-raceparts.de/anleitungen/LP0129BK.pdf?

Edit: Product Page: http://www.rg-racing.com/browseBike/Husqvarna/TR650_Strada/2012/LP0129BK.aspx

At least it's claimed to be made of 2.5mm steel. So anyone here who has experience with this? As we are damned to have really large license plates over here, I am a bit worried about the plate hitting the tire when the shock gets occasionally bottomed out. After all there is a warning about this down in the paper.

And, off course, your back will get even more muddy. Fine with me.

Further, I am looking into a replacement for the plastic rack with the Hepco & Becker Aluminum Rack. However, albeit listed, this is not available yet and if, for what reason ever, doing one your own or ordering one from Rugged Exposure will not be an option, maybe a couple of more inquiries will help getting it delivered finally.

http://neu.hepco-becker.de/Montageanleitungen/6507521.0101.pdf. Scroll down for english, if interested.

For my part I am hoping, this combination should be able replace the fragile plastic rear in a proper way.

Edit: I've also asked for the weight carrying capacity of that H&B rack, but haven't gotten any figures as of yet. Still waiting for another reply after reenquiry.

Since I have only had a few minutes here and there, I decided to put the valves off until Monday, Tues, or Weds.
In the mean time I've been figuring out the mounts for the new rack:




Here is what I have in mind for the 1st model:


This is not to scale, but only a rough sketch. The cross straps in the back will be spaced for mounting a rotopax.


I will draw up a 2nd model with more of a square rack, better suited for mounting a top box or just more cargo space.

I also will be welding on smaller loops of tubing, probably two on each side, for ties downs and bungees. These will be MIG welded, and the tubing is 7/8" OD thick wall tubing, bent with a hydraulic tubing bender and notched ends.


How many people will be interested in the model for the rotopax?
How many interested in the square shaped model for a top box?

My mate has a 650 Terra and last week we decided to service (clean) the air cleaner as we had been riding on some dusty roads. We were appalled to discover dust on the WRONG side of the air cleaner! The slide in filter is poorly designed, the filter mates to a flat sealing "flange" on 3 sides, the top lacks a sealing "flange" and instead rely's on the good fit of the element against the roof of the airbox. In our case the element simply didn't seal and a tell tale strip of orange dust about 1 1/4" wide fanned away on the interior surface of the airbox from the leaking seal. Owners of Terra's should check their own bikes to see whether their bikes are ingesting dust! A liberal amount of grease on the top sealing area of the filter element should be an effective fix, fingers crossed. I should add, the bike is new and hasn't been fiddled with, the dealer is the only person to put a spanner on this bike (up until now)

Hit the dirt today for a squirt out to Howard River Rockbar. Good fun, had a couple of hairy moments in the sandy patches with the stock rubber and my lack of experience! I'll have to take the fishing rod next time and lure up a Barramundi or two!

Nice looking job on the rack Rugged. I will be fabricating something up soon.
Looks like ya got a nice places to ride over there in Austraila.
What better then a Husky on a rough trail ?



Two Huskys on a rough trail

Just in case anyone should be interested, the Hepco Becker Rack replacement is in production and will be available withing 2-3 weeks.

No news on the weight figures, though.

I spent the majority of the day messing with this damn rack. It is a pain in the ass.

Finished the main hoop this morning:

The tubing notcher is working OK, but stills needs some shimming:

UPS came and dropped off a package from MotorcycleSuperstore... This giant box contained a chain rivet link. That's it.
If they didn't have free shipping I would be pissed.

I unhooked the battery and removed the computer from the bike before I began tack welding. Even though its only about 14-16volts, I don't want to take any chances. I started off covering the bike with this towel, and cutting holes for the mounts to go through, then it began catching fire in spots and I called off the towel.

Got the main hoop welded to the front mounts:

Shimmed the hole notcher a little more, now its cutting the pipe evenly:

This step was the most time consuming. Since the small sections of pipe are too small to be cut in the notcher, I had to do some saddles by hand with a small cutting wheel:

Back mounts welded to the hoop:

Showing the clearance above the tail:

This is what it will look like with the Rotopax 1gal on there:



I welded some strap across the back for the Rotopax mount. Drilled it and went to put the rack back on the bike. Somehow the straps pulled the hoop ends close together and now the front mounts don't line up.

Great.




So tomorrow I am going to have to cut some wedges out of the hoop, open it up a tad and weld them back together.
Luckily this rack is just to be used a template for dimensions. What a pain in the ass.

Edit:
You'll also noticed I had to stray away from the design of my rough sketch. There just wasn't enough room for two more pieces of pipe to run the length of the hoop and I don't think it would have made that much of a difference strength wise. This hoop is already stout, and I don't want the extra weight.

You were on track with the towel. You just lacked water. Yes I'm serious. It's and old hot rodder trick to use damp rags around areas in which you are welding especially anything you don't want to warp. Not dripping wet, well maybe a little but not too much.