V649HP-Kawasaki's new gravel runner

[SamM]

i don't need a dirtbike subframe, it's a gravel runner and that frame will work just fine. the ninja and versys subframes are slightly different, and i wanted the versys for this build.

the 649HP is what i call the cop motor. it doesn't need anything for this build although it can be run up to 80hp pretty easy. the bike with this engine already has a "go directly to jail" cruise speed and is white knuckle fast on the gravel. the 649HP makes more HP and torque than the versys engine and the curves are about perfect for a combination of gravel and street with stock gearing. impressive throttle response, and depending on your riding style, this alone can save your ass as it did on the Trans Taiga.

i don't see a need to lighten the frame, there's hardly anything there to start with and the bike can be subjected to a real beating on the gravel. the engine will stay in it's ultra reliable stock configuration. i don't need more HP, but i don't want less either.

I don't need Ninja power in my KLR. It already does pretty good with 33hp. My reasoning for the KLE engine swap is touring and fuel economy. It won't change my riding style. Getting the weight down is very important though. I like light bikes.

I guess it all depends on where you live and ride. We have to many curves and switchbacks to ride fast on gravelroads here. Come around a curve at 50 and you'll be a permanent hood ornament on some good ole boy's F-150. Most of our gravelroads are really dirtroads, as nobody has put gravel on them in years. Too many cars, trucks and atvs.

Same with streetriding. Too many curves, cows and deer for 9/10ths riding. Besides, I'm getting too old for that. I've survived 40+ years of riding by been conservative. Not going to stop now. You young guys can do all the racing on your Ninjas.

Good luck with the build.

SamM

[badguy]

This should be interesting

Originally Posted by jdrocks

do you happen to have a second generation SV650, 2003 and up? need a favor.


or anyone else that that has this model bike. PM me please.

I have a few buddies with 2nd gen SV650s...what do you need to know?

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by SamM

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You young guys can do all the racing on your Ninjas.

my preference for the 649HP is nothing about a specific speed on a specific road, it's about having something big happen, like right freakin' now, when you crack those throttle bodies open. horsepower is like a $100 bill in your pocket...ya don't have to spend it, but when the chips are down and ya might need it, man, it's in there.

damn, i get the senior citizen discount everywhere and now i find out i'm young. must be those big horsepower pills i wash down with all that bourbon.

ninjas? those were the old ones...got the V with a cop motor now.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by badguy

This should be interesting

I have a few buddies with 2nd gen SV650s...what do you need to know?

thanks. PM on the way.

[jdrocks]

been collecting a few parts for this build and still need a few things. sometimes it takes a little while to complete the inventory if you're going to stick with the budget, ya can't just go out and buy the first thing you see. it needs to be cheap. sometimes a budget build is as much about shopping as it is about building.

got enough to get started anyway.

[devo2002]

I was going to comment on your last monstrosity lastnight but now I find you are doing it all over again?? Bravo!!!

You've inspired me to try and make my girls Ninja 250 some kind of DS, it's quite fugly but can only get better!

[A_Vasiliev]

IDK about "dual sport", but you can take off the fairing, put some more comfortable bars on it, some slightly more dirt-friendly tires, and you should be good to go.

[devo2002]

Yeah, I guess by DS I mean the hour I would have to ride to get to a trail

And JD, I forgot to ask, I looked through your threads and couldn't find a pic of a skid plate, did you ever get that sorted out?

[markbvt]

Huh. I wonder how hard it would be to shoehorn the EX250 motor into, say, a KLX250 frame...

--mark

[BikePilot]

Before you go to all that trouble weight it, you might find that its power/weight isn't so hot. In any event, an XR650R is almost certainly lighter, better handling and more tractable than an EX250S powered KLX250 would be.

[devo2002]

The Ninja dry weight is 302lbs. After picking it up once or twice it is like a feather compared to the Strom.

Considering I mangled my foot due to inexperience offroad the XR650 is just too much for me. A DS of some kind in the 650 range is my goal, but I ain't there yet

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by devo2002

I was going to comment on your last monstrosity...

yeah, if you like monstrosities, you came to the right place.

funny you mention the 250. i came very close to buying a near new ninja 250 parts bike. that little 250 FI twin is a neat engine...then i thought about all the junk scattered all over the shop and restrained myself. the engine is very compact, should fit in something.

i met a guy riding coast-to-coast in canada on his new 250, all loaded down with gear. said he loved it.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by devo2002

And JD, I forgot to ask, I looked through your threads and couldn't find a pic of a skid plate, did you ever get that sorted out?

here ya go...



same gravel guard i had on the bike that went up the dalton, but i changed the mounts for the 2010 trip. works well, and comes back from the trips with a bunch of dings and missing paint, so it's protecting the engine as designed. although it's very sturdy, i still don't call it a skid plate. i might change it again for this build.

[jdrocks]

the frame paint should show up friday, so it's time to prep the frame. clip off any brackets not needed, and generally clean it all up. anyone who thinks you can get a lighter bike by lopping off pieces of this frame, think again. sure, a few brackets, but ounces, not pounds. the rest of the frame is structural.





a couple interesting things as i was looking the frame over. at the frame stem was a big glob of weld that did not contact the rest of the assembly. looked like the robot was not quite programmed correctly. WTF?



so i looked at the ninja frame and it was fabbed the same way. that joint was not welded on either frame. hmmm, might clean it up and run a bead across there.

secondly, the ninja and versys subframes are not the same as previously mentioned, mainly to allow a different riding position on the versys. the ninja frame has a crossbrace tube on the main subframe support that the supposedly rough and tumble versys doesn't have, kinda peculiar. i couldn't get a good photo of it, but will later. the construction of the versys subframe makes me wonder whether the tubular passenger peg mounts are more than just decoration.

[SamM]

Yep, they said the same thing about my KLR frame.

SamM