Dakar Hacked

[DRONE]

Fantastic Xmas present! Better alert your moto buddies to re-arrange their January "helper" schedules.

Originally Posted by stromsurfer

Got an Email from DMC today saying my sidecar is now ready to ship. . I had requested it to be expedited due to circumstances..........they are more then 30 days ahead of what they first estimated the ETA.
Pretty Dam Awesome.

[stromsurfer]

Originally Posted by DRONE

Fantastic Xmas present! Better alert your moto buddies to re-arrange their January "helper" schedules.

Ned. Thanks for your PM. Your willingness to reach out is very much appreciated.

My sidecar was shipped today. Four weeks and four days from placing the order.......DMC under promise over deliver. Just great.


Thankfully you guys are too far away to test ride mine.[/QUOTE]

I'm not..

Got my kit last week for the KLR just need some time to get it mounted...

poacher bob
Well no excuse for not meeting up sometime if your that close.. Look forward to pics of the KLR.

Happy Holidays Men.

[DirtDabber]

I have a KLR with the Sputnik combination and an 01 Dakar unhacked. I think the Dakar will be a fine bike. As to the steering, it is heavier but not unmanageable. It is a light bike. You could swap to a regular GS front wheel which will steepen the steering angle if you wanted and make it a little easier to steer. In theory it would also handle the side forces better than a 21" wheel.

But that is all just theory. I just ride the hell out of mine and haven't done much to it. This winter I would love to respring everything so it doesn't wallow, and do the steerite (or similar) conversion.

Enjoy your rig.

[stromsurfer]

Before I get started I will warn you that this thread will be about more than how a hacked my Dakar. It will be a brief story of how I got to this point in my life. It will include a few of the people in my circle of support, and some family members and friends who help make my adventures possible. It's my thread so I guess I can write what I want and at this point, even I am not sure where I am going with this writing. Most likely the majority of it will be boring but read on if you like.......or not.....just look at the pics and you'll get the important stuff.

I bought the Dakar because I was tired of this happening. (Pics taken on way to Hudson Bay on North Road and on the Taiga Road Northern Quebec).




I am hacking the Dakar after similar incidents that resulted in a torn meniscus, broken bones in both feet, and a f&$ked up rotator cuff. I made the decision after picking up the GS all summer, and really the final straw....making a scene in upstate New York that included 13 emergency responders that happened during my last ride of the 2012 season (Puppy Dog Route). Truth is I am just not strong enough, and can no longer move my feet quick enough or for that matter, stand on the pegs very long.



And so it begins....

Busy week. Sidecar arrived on the 2nd. I have a community support team that checks in via a web site to see if we(my family) need any assistance with daily tasks.....firewood brought in, trash brought to recycle center, snow shoveling, etc. I listed on the site that i would need unloading the new sidecar, and had four friends show up to help, and two others that were driving by and saw the delivery truck, stop to join in the fun.




I had envisioned just putting the crate in the barn and quietly and with slow pleasurable precision open over a few days, but noooooo. A chorus of where is the screw gun rang out amongst my comrades.



Soon it was sitting next to the bike for us all to see and marvel over. Basic but well made with Olins strut, Brembo brakes, and 19 inch spoked wheel with a dual sport Kendra.



By the way my shop windows are blacked out so as to keep the local cops from busting my meth lab....just kidding. The PO of my house did it. My lovely wife has been asking me to put in new window sash to which I reply that I'll get right on it. Been saying that for twenty years. I guess inkind of like the commando feel to it.
It was like Christmas for everyone. Guys were ripping into it almost as soon as it was in my shop. Really a happy time with lots of razzing, jokes, and laughter. It helped to soften in to the background the visit I had earlier in the day with my quirky and likable palliative care doctor, at which we futher discussed "exit strategies" (he is a believer in physician assisted suicide and says doctors practically do it now anyway). It also gave me an excuse to set aside other new equipment that I received the day before....a bi-pap breathing apparatus cause the docs say its not a good thing to stop breathing during sleep.......well no shit but who wants to wear a contraption over their face. Certainly doesn't increase my chances of getting a little spontaneous loving from the SO which in my mind is more important then breathing. I'm sure you guys agree, right?





Anyway, the delivery was a couple hours late arriving so my good surfing friend and obsessed moto buddy the mad doctor says, we should start taking the frame section off the bike that will be replaced with the one from DMC that has the mounts points on it. I kind of like to go slow and methodical when working on the bike. The mad doctor who is an emergency room doctor and is used to a frenetic pace with body parts and blood everywhere, works on bikes the same way.....bike parts strewn about, every tool I own scattered across the floor, oil and grease stained hand prints on every surface. But within twenty minutes, he is standing there smiling with the parts removed.



He did in twenty minutes what even in my best health would have taken me a day so, I was quite happy and was able to overlook the chaos in my shop.


If the rest of the project goes like today, I could be riding sooner than I thought. This will be a community project. Offers from many in the ADV community, as well as local friends who's goodwill I am privileged to be the recipient of, and are eager to make my wish to ride at least one more season a reality. Its either that, or they are sick sadistic people who are already bored with other New England winter activities, and want to hang out with me to watch the train wreck that usually accompanies anything that I am involved with.
This week will be installing new chain and sprockets. Think I am going with a one tooth less front sproket on the advise I got here and from Jay at DMC. I also bought a stock front so if I don't like it I"ll change back. Also install the sub frame mounts, install tire on hack, and probably figure out how to change the Jesse rack so as to attach to or around the upper frame mount.
Have a good week. I know I will.

[DirtyDR]

Looks like a great start.

[boxertwin]

Thank you for sharing this thread with us.

[WU7X]

I like your style. I think we could make good partners in train wrecking stuff.

Don't get me wrong here, but wish I would have kept my '02 Dakar and worked with Jay to hack it. I really like my R100 when I'm not working on it, and it works very well with my wife as monkey in the chair. But it is strictly a street rig and I miss the gravel and dirt.

BTW, two years, 14,000 miles, and three slow/no speed drops onto my right shoulder off the Dakar, and I totally ripped the ligaments out of my rotator cuff. Microsurgery and six months of PT were not the most pleasant days of my life. So I can only imagine what your are going through.

Hang tough, ride as often as possible, and know you are making tons of new friends every day here on ADV. When my time comes I can only hope to have a doctor/friend as good as yours.

[DRONE]

I'd like to echo Boxertwin. Thank you for telling this story.

After seeing those pics of your DL1000 laying around in various poses like so many beached whales, I now understand why you call yourself StromSurfer. I can picture your Strom sliding down a dirt road on its side with you perched up top in classic surfer pose riding it to the end.

As a former DL1000 guy, yours looked like a really nicely outfitted Strom. My Strom also had a tendency to spit me out onto various dirt roads. I think I dumped it 15 times before the final break up. (Literally--it broke me up then I broke it up. ) I'll PM you a pic or two.

I think you will find yourself on three wheels fairly soon. You have all that help plus, as you will soon discover, installing the subframe then setting up the car is not really as complicated as one might think.

[madeouttaglass]

I would give some serious thought to adding a leading link front end to your bike. The main reason being:
http://www.f650gs.crossroadz.com.au/FFIntro.html

[EvilClown]

Say the word.

[BKMLWR]

nice intro there MC, thanks for sharing

[BankerGuy]

Hey, don't feel bad about dropping your '06 'strom a couple times. Geez, Ive already dropped her twice in the driveway, which in theory should be way less challenging than the roads you went horizontal on. Given our obviously exceptional riding skills, it must be the bike. So far she's been down to Sanibel Island, up to Birmingham to the Barber Vintage Festival, and round tripped up to Greensboro again. Looking forward to seeing the finished rig....stay healthy, man.

[jaydmc]

I had not heard of the fork issue, We of course do offer a leading link for the F650GS
Jay G
DMC sidecars
www.dmcsidecars.com
866-638-1793
jay@dmcsidecars.com

[ADW]

Originally Posted by DirtDabber

I have a KLR with the Sputnik combination and an 01 Dakar unhacked.

Hey, me too!

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...0#post20065320



Sorry, don't wanna hijack the thread, but seeing other KLR/Sputnik owners is cool!

To the OP, go for it! I love my KLR/Sputnik combo, so your BMW 650 oughta be a similarly just-fine-runnin' rig!

[madeouttaglass]

Originally Posted by jaydmc

I had not heard of the fork issue, We of course do offer a leading link for the F650GS
Jay G

53 pages worth:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=700385

And this makes it look like the OP's bike is right in there with the ones that failed. Again, I'd highly recommend that the added stresses of a hack NOT be put on those forks. Any failure and they'd say it was your fault and sadly, they'd be somewhat right.

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/pr...h&summary=true