Converted to dual-sport? POST PICS!!

[TINGLER]

Do scooters count?

Here's what I've got so far.

Before:



After:



Not much of a dual sport, but it is fun to take "off roading" down some gravel roads. The suspension could definitely use some work though.

[FatherX]

looks like a hoot

[James Adams]

OK, not really a "converted" picture (it's my DR650), but I just want to say that the Shinko 705 (shown below) has much better traction on sand, gravel, and other loose stuff than I would have ever imagined.

[lord_oblivion]

@FatherX - not much extreme offroad. Something like this :

Wet sand and clay mix, uphill and downhill, a real nightmare with Heidenau K65 road tires












No roads, not even paths, nothing except tall grass and anthills under it








Little bit of a rocky






She is too heavy 184kg dry and stock suspension is perfect for clear road rides, not for this.

[FatherX]

Originally Posted by lord_oblivion

@FatherX - not much extreme offroad. Something like this :

Wet sand and clay mix, uphill and downhill, a real nightmare with Heidenau K65 road tires


No roads, not even paths, nothing except tall grass and anthills under it








Little bit of a rocky






She is too heavy 184kg dry and stock suspension is perfect for clear road rides, not for this.

I guess you are right...I would still do it it. Of course I am a looney

HAVE FUN, Be SAfe-ish

[TerraRoot]

found this thought i'd add it, keep posting people, i don't have any dirt to play on around here but i'ma gitting ideas ...



(you just have to imagine the bash plate instead of the fairing lowers)

[theMISSIONARY]

Nice Kawasaki LTD?750 or 400?

[TerraRoot]

750 in the pics name but no more info, found it on a blog from italy.

edit:
i tell a lie it's called a z751gs
the details are in geman:
http://www.rolf-witthoeft.de/Medien/...z751gs_opt.pdf

[Schelbi]

Originally Posted by TerraRoot

750 in the pics name but no more info, found it on a blog from italy.

edit:
i tell a lie it's called a z751gs
the details are in geman:
http://www.rolf-witthoeft.de/Medien/...z751gs_opt.pdf

Thanks for these pics. But this is not the only bike that was converted by Rolf Witthoeft. He also took a a Kawa 440 engine and
a 305 engine to build his offroad bikes.

I see a some of these bikes every year on a big dual sport meeting here in Germany.
Here are some of my pics:

[TerraRoot]

think your pics might be blocked to non-registered people, schelbi. this rolf sound like a local legend.

[Schelbi]

Originally Posted by TerraRoot

think your pics might be blocked to non-registered people, schelbi. this rolf sound like a local legend.

No my mistake was using the html-link and not the jpg-link. Now you should see the pics.

[theMISSIONARY]

Originally Posted by TerraRoot

750 in the pics name but no more info, found it on a blog from italy.

edit:
i tell a lie it's called a z751gs
the details are in geman:
http://www.rolf-witthoeft.de/Medien/...z751gs_opt.pdf

cheers mate.......Germans no problem

[Bambi]

Hello mates,
Rolf Witthöft is much more than a local hero!
He won the 1979 International-Six-Days-Trial in the open class, being a member of the BMW-work's-team. Before, he snatched the European championship in this over 750-cc-class, that seemed to be dedicated to the new BMWs, with that overbored 750 Kawa-Twin. That´'s been a great time! That class had been created with BMW's 800s in mind and suddenly, there was this 750 + cc Kawasaki, a 900 cc bevel-drive Ducati called 'Martello', a home-built 751 cc Maico 2-stroke by Egbert Haas (German champion with this bike, if I remember correctly) and overbored Yamaha XS 650-Twins. May be, I even forgot one special or another in this list.
Rolf Witthöft built a 501 engine out of the soft-chopper's Z 440 Ltd.'s engine, after the big 4-strokes were reduced to the over 500 cc-class. He built a 305 GPZ engine, too. He used many parts or even nearly whole chassis of the Kawasaki KLX 250 for these bikes.
I started riding a 250 MZ in 1976 and had a very nice moto-camping-holiday during the 1979 Six-Days, watching all these gorgeous bikes just some 40 miles away from my home ...
Just a few days later I happened to meet my wife. Great september in 1979!!!
Kind regards, Bambi

[FatherX]

Originally Posted by Bambi

Hello mates,
.....
Kind regards, Bambi

cool story.

Dream Theater eh??

My friend is their guitar tech. He helped choose the new drummer. he's on tour now.

[Jason F.]

I want something for forest service roads, fire roads, gravel roads, and playing a bit on some farm land. I am poor. So lets talk reasonable goals for weight, front and rear suspension travel, and ground clearance. I am thinking of a new winter project and I have a couple options. I have a parts bike I could scrounge together with parts from the parts bin and I could sell off some parts to fund a better front suspension and rear shock.

What I have is most of an old Bandit 600
599.00 ccm (36.55 cubic inches) Inline 4cyl
74.00 HP (54.0 kW) @ 9500 RPM
99.00 Nm (10.1 kgf-m or 73.0 ft.lbs) @ 9500 RPM
6 speed and chain drive.
199.0 kg (438.7 pounds) Dry Weight
110/70x17 Front w/dual disk brake
150/70x17 Rear
41mm traditional dampener tube front forks.


Pros in terms of use off road:

• Oil/air cooled motor of simple design.
• No radiators to smash and only a small oil cooler up high.
• Simple steel traditional perimeter frame and engine cradle. Easy to fab up skid plates and engine guards.
• Fairly narrow engine (for an inline 4)
• Traditional upright riding position and I found it easy to stand up on.
• I already have it.

Cons in terms of off road use:

• She is a heavy beast.
• Factory suspension is poor and has limited travel.
• Metal tank of odd contours (not easily modified/extended) and limited capacity also frame not designed in a way that would easily allow for adaption of a readily available aftermarket tank like a Clark.
• I would have to buy a decent off road suspension and some wheels for it.
• Front triple clamp has a welded in stem so swapping steering stems for triple clamp and fork swaps becomes slightly less easy.

So I am thinking an older but decent set of big dual sport bike forks and a wire spoke wheel to match those forks. Respring them for weight and throw valves in them if they are readily available from someone like race tech. Later model KLR stuff might be an option as it is a 41mm front if I am not mistaken.

It is pretty easy to modify the rear for height and it is common to swap longer GSXR or Busa rear shocks on the Bandits but that does not actually increase travel. It just gives you more ride height and a stiffer spring. If I recall the eye to eye length of the mono shock is in the neighborhood of 12 to 12.5 inches so if I could find something with decent travel close to 13 inches in length I could make that work even if it means making some new linkage bits.

There are not a ton of extra bits and crap on the bike so I am not really sure where I can pull much weight off of it. If I were to go with a narrow spoke wheel setup and a single disk front I am sure that would drop a few pounds. Getting rid of what fairings and plastic is there and making some sort of aluminum brackets for headlight and windscreen mounting would also drop a few pounds.

Other than that I would have to get radical for weight loss:

• Cut off the steel rear sub frame and source or fabricate an aluminum replacement.
• Ditch the heavy steel tank in favor of either a custom aluminum under seat tank or a plastic tank of some sort in a more traditional location.
• Ditch the center stand (hate to do this) for weight and ground clearance.
• Dump the stock cluster in favor of a digital unit like a Vapor or similar.
• Ditch the stock 4 into 1 with a big shiny can exhaust in favor of a smaller lighter setup but I want to keep it fairly quiet.

Think is a reasonable starting point for a frankendualsport along the lines of those posted in the pages of this thread?
How light do you think I should try to get it or should I even worry about weight if it is under 500lbs?
Any good thoughts on suspension choices?
I have about a month to plan and brainstorm since I want to start in mid November when work slows down a bit for the holiday season.

Here is my parts bikes sister bike or approximately where I would be starting from, only in worse shape.