Ka-ma-zuki?......Ya-wa-zuki?....Su-wa-ha?....a V649HP clone!

Dennis, just saw this man. I'm bummed for you. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.

How's it going Denis?

Does the bike run excessive chain slack when at rest to get proper tension when the trans CS center, swingarm pivot center and rear axle are aligned?

My thoughts are it probably does, and I'd be looking at adding a rear chain guide like every dirt bike has, that captures and aligns the chain onto the bottom of the rear sprocket. The CS guard isn't a bad idea either, but keeping the chain on the sprockets would be better and then only a neglected chain breaking would be a threat.

I'd probably try to add a forward roller or KTM style flat guide up front too.

I blame that "free" front tire you gave me for causing the accident!

Just kiddin' bro. Bike was running like a champ before my unfortunate encounter with the slippery, frozen stuff.

Hey Jack, happy new year! Doing good. Just been enjoying the holiday. However, I've got a plan in mind. After careful scrutiny over blown-up isometrics of the engine casing, I've decided to try and repair the damage without having to replace the case. After all, the only part of the crankcase that was broken, is part of a boss with two holes; one hole is threaded but is plugged in the end (this part is used to hold on the top end of the pipe oil that was broken), and the 2nd hole is actually a channel through which the oil that is channel by the pipe oil returns into the crankcase (this part is intact). Obviously since the part where I would normally screw in a bolt is 1/2 way broken, I'm afraid that I won't be able to properly tighten the bolt to specified torque. Therefor what I'm thinking of doing is securing a stud in place of the bolt, slide the pipe oil over this stud, and then tighten to specified torque with a nut. Parts are on order, and I hope to get the replacement pipe oil in later this week. I've also got a new front windshield coming in later this week or next week. The only thing I haven't fully decided on, is what to do with the lighting. Replacing the OEM Versys headlight cost around $200. I'm entertaining other ideas that are less expensive and hopefully more crash resistant. Will update with pics once I get started on the repair work.

You know, I didn't think that there was that much slack. I think this was just an unfortunate case of bad luck. When I went down, I went down on the drive side of the bike, the bike was in gear with the engine running as I went down doing about 40mph or so, and I think that with the combination of gravity pulling on the chain, the bike being in gear, and the suspension being fully decompressed, this is what cause the chain to derail.

However, I have been thinking about a chain guide as I would not want to repeat this kind of problem. I'll be looking into it in the coming weeks. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has ever fitted a chain guide on a Versys swingarm.

Alright, I got what I need to repair the "spewing oil" part of the damage. Like I'd said earlier, in the crash I broke in half a small piece (oil pipe) that mounts to the crankcase, just above & in front of the counter shaft sprocket. I also broke about 50% of the boss which is the upper mounting point for this piece. Luckily I did not compromise any other part of the structure of the crankcase (at least from what I can tell, aside from the fin that acts like a guard around 30% of the counter shaft sprocket). So my plan was to put in a stud in place of where the upper mounting bolt usually screwed in, as long as I had a few threads left to properly locate the stud. Then JB weld the stud in place, and fasten the upper part of the pipe oil onto this stud with a nut.

First things first, the area in question.



In this picture you can see the jagged edge of the broken off fin that went around about 1/3 of the counter shaft sprocket. You can also see the two holes (top & bottom, to which the oil pipe delivers the oil). There's a spot in the middle as well that allows oil to flow out of or in (not sure which, not that it really matters). And then at the top you can see the broken mounting point, and the stud in place. We did a dry fit after properly cleaning up the area to make sure that the stud would be properly held in place. Lucky for me, there were about 3 or 4 full thread left which allowed to "secure" the stud in place. We fitted the pipe in place to make sure, and everything looked good. Having passed this test, I pulled out the stud, and then put some JB weld in the the threads and screwed the stud in place. I then added more JB weld over stop of the stud to hold it in place if a side force were to act on it. Here is the result.



Now to let it sit for 24 hours to let the JB weld cure to full strength. At that time we'll put the pipe oil on, test run the bike, and give it another once over to look for any other damage that we may not have noticed at this point (hopefully this will be none).

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

In the mean time I've been busying myself with route planning and making shipping arrangements. So far I've got a little over 200 place of interest waypoints plotted, and right at 10,000 miles of routes laid out. I still need to plot out waypoints for Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. And I need to lay out routes through all of the above, plus Italy. As far as shipping arrangements are concerned, as much as I wanted to air freight the bike over, it looks like I'll have to settle for sea freight. From what I've found so far, air freighting is just too damn expensive! If you know someone, who knows someone can help me out in that regard, let me know!

Got the bike buttoned back up today, ran it, and no oil came spewing out from anywhere!

Now to figure out what to do about this little void...



Option 1: OEM headlight assembly & trim.
Pro: No fabrication needed, plug 'N play, fills the void perfectly.
Con: $274.00! I've looked, but so far no luck finding one used or salvage.

Option 2: Hayabusa headlight



Pro: Haven't seen one in person, but it appears to be a similar shape. Twin bulb for low & high beam.
Con: May have to do some fab work to mount it and make it blend in.

Option 3: Buell headlight.



Pro: I like the look of twin head lights, side by side.
Con: Definite fab work require to mount and make it blend in with the lines of the bike.

Option 4: Dominator headlight.



Pros & Cons: Just about the same as the Buell headlight.

Option 5: Moose species headlight.



Pro: Cheap.
Con: Will more than likely need fab work to mount and blend. I'm concerned about the amount of light this light will put out.

Option 6: Random chopper headlight.



Pro: Cheap, and approximately the right size to fill most of the space.
Con: I'm not sure, but I think it uses a single bulb (dual filament) in order to achieve low beam & high beam.


I will also be mounting on the bike this pair of auxiliary LED lights (Cree 3 Led light, model 30 I think).

I am a fan of Buell/Dom.

Since you have the Advmonsters, I like the stacked look the best.

This guy is also working on a an aftermarket stack design for the 990 Ktm.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=933485

Denis, I have an ADVmonster faring and led headlight setup on the way to my porch for my GS front end. It looks awesome, can't wait to get it on my bike.
If you didn't know, I'm putting a complete YZ front end on my 650 with the ADVmonster faring.
The yz mod is tried and true... it bolts right up using the yamy berings and the bmw races. No fabrication needed.

a photo of the faring on a crf
I ordered a black one with turn signals.

Sounds awesome Jack! What lights are you putting in the fairing for high beam & low beam?

Quoting the entire post for the ironic irony.
I PMed 4 play (after seeing this post in your thread) cause I really liked the faring on his bike...
I am using the same setup as 4Play.
2X
Model 60 LED off road flood light
See detailed description for pictures of the light pattern.
30 degree Beam
3600 lumens
Cree XM-L U2 LEDs
2.4 amps (28 watts) @12v
aluminum housing
Length: 70mm , Diameter 55mm
Black durable coating
o-ring sealed housing
one meter wire lead
includes flat mount mounting option - (stainless)
shatter resistant lens
Sold Individually

sanjoh (ADVmonster guy) added a dimmer for the low beam that is overridden when you switch on the high beam. On high both lights are full on. Described as brighter than the sun.
even on high, it uses way less juice than my stock 55wx2

Thank you 4Play!
Mentioning your actual name saved me significant bucks.

Thanks for confirming my suspicions. I may have to PM Sanjoh just to see what a setup similar to this would cost me.

Looks nice, spring is just around the corner

Looks AWESOME~!!!!! IMO


Thanks sanjoh!!!

Looks fine. I was just hoping that you wouldn't go with the Moose unit.

UPDATE!!!

After a brief hiatus, due to work obligations, I have finally got the bike fully back together again and ready to be put on the road! I just completed the install of my new headlight. Here we go!


So we had last left off with the fix on the broken mount for one of the oil pipes near the counter shaft sprocket. What remained was taking care of the busted up headlight. I thought about putting in a new OEM light, but I figured if it broke that easily, I'd hate for it to happen again. I also figured that this would be another way for me to make the bike my own, and different from all others. So in the end here's what I ended up using.

Low Beam: Hella 90mm DE Series



High Beam: Also a Hella 90mm




From what I've read, Hella lights have a good reputation, they use an H9 bulb which will be easier for me to source in Europe if need be, and the light output ought to be better than stock. Now the only issue that remained was that I would need to fabricate a mount and headlight bucket for these babies!

So the lights came in; here they are with a typical flash drive for size comparison. High beam on the left, low beam on the right.



And I had to make them fit nicely in here...



First a couple of base plates coming off the stock mounting points for the OEM headlight assembly...



And a quick mock up of the headlight bucket, and how the lights would fit in the opening...



All of what you see above happened in December and early January. Then I got super busy at work and was not able to do a single thing on the bike until last week. With the rush of needing to get the bike buttoned up so that it can ship out to Europe end of March, I really didn't remember to take pictures as I went. But, here are the end result pictures.

Headlight bucket completed with lights mounted in place (mounting the lights was a little bit of a PITA as you have to first install some "bushings" in the bucket, then mount the set screws on the lights themselves and then press the set screws into the pre-mentioned bushings. And of course all those little parts are made of plastic! :ddog To say the least it was a bit nerve racking, being careful not to break any of the plastic bits. Luckily I had done my research ahead of time and had a good plan of attack. I'm happy to report that all went successfully.)





And now, mounted in the bike!





Two things left to do with the lights now:

1) Wait for the sun to set so that I can aim the lifts properly, and 2) fit a lexan light protector over top or purchase some of that plastic film headlight protector.

I can't wait to get this thing back out on the road!

Looks sharp. I will be following your ride report.

D