V649HP-Kawasaki's new gravel runner

[jdrocks]

another SW Motech style gravel guard...

it's interesting that these are fabricated as a modular assembly for the body of the guard, maybe for ease of shipping and to compensate for any minor fitment issues. buy something similar, or fabricate your own, but you do need at least something to protect the front and underside of your rat gravel runner. without some protection, at the least, the front of the bike will look like it has been sandblasted from flying gravel. the design of this guard has some nice features, i might fab up a knockoff myself, although it would fit tighter on the bottom.

[smolt]

Originally Posted by jdrocks

Another SW Motech style gravel guard ...

Who makes that one?

[OHjim]

Hepco And Becker Skid Plate For Kawasaki Versys 650 '10-'13

If you look at the link of the picture it links to pca-one.com. A quick search will find it.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by smolt

Who makes that one?

yeah, HB. maybe because the Motech gravel guard doesn't work well with the HB engine bars, so HB needed their own design.

what, nobody wanted to source that dual horn setup? should have painted them black.

[BeemerWolf]

Originally Posted by jdrocks

yeah, HB. maybe because the Motech gravel guard doesn't work well with the HB engine bars, so HB needed their own design.

what, nobody wanted to source that dual horn setup? should have painted them black.

hey jd,

is that dual horn setup "double redundancy" in case 1 takes a gravel hit?

.

[16VGTIDave]

Originally Posted by jdrocks

what, nobody wanted to source that dual horn setup? should have painted them black.

Horns? Oh, my mistake. I thought they were more lights, since you like (more) lights...

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by BeemerWolf

hey jd,

is that dual horn setup "double redundancy" in case 1 takes a gravel hit?

.

could be, but it ain't my bike.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by 16VGTIDave

...since you like (more) lights...

no doubt, i like more lights.

just out in the shop before the game and took the bikes off the maintainers, started them up for a little exercise...man, the rat looks good with those LED lights.

in my book, the idea is to ride, then make it home in one piece. if more light helps with that objective, so be it.

[rlbowers03]

I'm with you, JD. The only view I am particular about is the one from the saddle. (And I'm NOT too particular about that one.)

How the bike looks to others, well... if it attracts attention and keeps them from running me down, mission accomplished.

Being such a budget burdened rider I limited my Aux Lighting to the Clearance Isle at the Walmart and bought some cheap driving lights. When I've got 'em all ON it throws quite a bright light out in front.

[BeemerWolf]

dundance

Originally Posted by jdrocks

could be, but it ain't my bike.

dang, that is right

guess i got lost multi tasking last night.

1. chatting with my out of town wife texting on the phone.
2. playing chess with my oldest son over the internet (and yes, he was 1 move ahead of me the rest of the game after I made my one and only mistake).
3. watching my 2nd favorite team trying to catch up last night.(and if i should point out, mistakes are very hard, is not near impossible to recover from....pls see item 2 abv)
4. playing chew toy throw with my way too smart queensland heeler/border collie mix.
yes, it was too wet yesterday with the big snow melt the last week, plus the rain yesterday to take him out on his atv run
in order to "work" him. these dogs can become a handful if they DO NOT GET their required amount of work daily.
5. catching up on my reading.

sorry jd, been so long since we have had the experience of following "your latest build" that i lost track

BUT......with the extra bright marker lights, addig "redundancy" with that LOUD HORN of yours might not be a bad idea.
.........hmmmmmm now, where might be a good location for that bad boy?

.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by rlbowers03

...if it attracts attention and keeps them from running me down, mission accomplished.

i've had the bike out twice at night since i added those LED lights, and both times had a big left turning cager incident, and i mean to the point where they had started the turn into the road in front of me.

fortunately, both times the driver finally saw something and slammed the brakes. had to have been the lights...both headlights on, auxillary lights on, all the running lights and LEDs on. how could a cager not see the bike in the first place?

nothing wrong with the budget approach, heck, this whole build is nothing but budget driven. cheap, cheap.

[jdrocks]

[QUOTE=BeemerWolf;20647178

BUT......with the extra bright marker lights, adding "redundancy" with that LOUD HORN of yours might not be a bad idea.
.........hmmmmmm now, where might be a good location for that bad boy?

.[/QUOTE]

i'm just running an OEM horn from an ER6 right now, but i do have an after market car horn that might fit. have to test it first, see what it sounds like.

could sound like a Model T for all i know.

[tjinkins]

JD
I was reading your posts #151 through #171 and had some questions. I don't have any front end for my ninja mutant yet, but I can get a 2003 DRZ400 front end at a reasonable price. Will the DRZ triples fit the ninja steering head with a change to the races and bearings. If not, what front end would you recommend for an easy gravel runner conversion short of just buying the KLR forks like tonymorr did on his build.

[jdrocks]

Originally Posted by tjinkins

JD
I was reading your posts #151 through #171 and had some questions. I don't have any front end for my ninja mutant yet, but I can get a 2003 DRZ400 front end at a reasonable price. Will the DRZ triples fit the ninja steering head with a change to the races and bearings. If not, what front end would you recommend for an easy gravel runner conversion short of just buying the KLR forks like tonymorr did on his build.

as you point out, the 08+ 41mm KLR forks are the easiest of all options since they slide right into the 41mm ER6 (650R) clamps. there have been a number of knockoffs of this setup since the cost of these KLR forks has come down significantly since Tony built his bike.

the DRZ forks are also very easy when matched up with the Versys clamps, are cheap and easy to find, and avoid the interference issues found with wider clamp spacing. the DRZs are fully adjustable after 2003 and conveniently use a 20mm axle. the Versys clamps have become a little tougher to find on the used parts market recently...hmmmm, wonder why.

the DRZ clamps are just one of the many that could be modified to fit the ER6 steering head, although i have not investigated the bearing/machining issues. the procedures for doing these swaps are straight forward and well documented. if you take the trouble to do this type of swap, i recommend a fully adjustable late model fork set with a minimum 46mm inner, preferably 48mm. before buying forks, make sure your whole front end will work together...forks, axle, wheel, brakes, fender. saves time and expense.

remember, using a long travel fork, either conventional or USD, will automatically produce a tall bike.

[tjinkins]

Thanks JD,
I am not too worried about height as I am tall. I am leaning toward the DRZ front end, but I also see alot of KLX 300 forks available. I don't know if the 300 front end would be beefy enough for a 400 # bike. What do you think?