Ultimate adventure thumper...

I may be going out on a limb here, but it seems that a 700cc big bore thumper with a reasonable weight of 300-350 lbs with options for soft or hard luggage attachment, a 5 gallon tank, and adjustable rear shock would make a perfect adventure touring thumper. Something that could do 500 mile days easily enough, but also handle some mild singletrack in the hands of a skilled user. It seems that this weight and engine size would be enough to handle long slab rides, but not be too heavy to handle singletrack.

I'm trying to get as close as I can with plans for a highly modified KLR705.

Wouldn't that be having your cake and eating it too ? I am planning on purchasing my first dual sport, a 2008 KLR...I spent so much time thinking it over I almost have a headache. If it came as you are describing, the ultimate adventure thumper, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about what to buy.

How're you modifications going? Pics?

T

(I am planning on purchasing my first dual sport, a 2008 KLR...I spent so much time thinking it over I almost have a headache.) Glad to know I"m not the only one with this problem!

T[/quote]

Suzuki made a DR big for a while- I'm not sure if it was a 700 or a 750 single. Heard tell it was quite a wheelie machine....
I'm working hard on making my 525 XC a stripped adventure machine. Under 300 lbs, its big disadvantage is that long days in the saddle are painful. My quads and calves are getting stronger, tho, so if I stand against the wind for 6-7 hours.....

Sounds like a....
Husky Te-610, uncorked, jetted, windscreen added and renazco comfort enabled. Add a sheep-skin for luxury, wolf-man soft panniers and tank bag, GPS, 12-v plug-ins for heated gear and accessories...IMS 5gallong tank (They are getting better from the original batches)

60 horses... 335-340 lbs.. 12inches of travel front and rear, 260 watt electrical system... to power all the goodies and the monster headlight...

ROCK solid motor that has again and again proven itself by members of ADV...The newer models (05 and up) have a counter-balancer installed that makes the motor absolutely buttery smooth... Valve checks are SUPER simple and quick... Parts are a phone-call/mouse click away from MotoXotica or Halls...
I think you should stop day-dreaming and look more seriously into it...

Check out BigDog's adventures.

....or a KTM Adventure, either the previous 640 or even closer, a 690 with a much smoother EFI motor.

The only way you're going to get a KLR into the 300-350 pound range is to take the motor out.

Keep us posted on your progress! I just found out about a 685 kit for the KLR, does someone make a kit that will go to 705? The one thing to remember when kitting and fitting is, "For every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction" Therefore, if you give her lots of top end your gonna loose on the low end. Keeping it balanced will be tough, but do able. Also reliability comes into play. KTM does make the 690 and that maybe a consideration for ya.

http://klr650.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32930&highlight=klr703

The mods are going REALLY slow. I just graduated last year, bought a house, the KLR and now I'm broke, but I'm in the process of throwing a Trailtech Vapor on it. I plan to work on the suspension first and then the engine later. I'll post pics when significant mods are made. My plan for this year is to lighten it up as much as possible by losing redundant weight up high.

The Husky is alluring, but a bit more dirt bike than I need. If KTM comes out with a 690ADV, I might need to find some good financing.

Thanks for the replies and I appreciate comments. Others here have some similar builds, but this is my attempt at it. I'm sort of aiming for a bike that can I can comfortably ride for 700 miles and then ride trails the next day. We'll see how it goes.

Actually, we've been discussing a Stroked 705 kit, for a total displacement of 733 or so. How would that be?

I think the KLR is an excellent choice for modification, I'm looking at the 733, a fork upgrade, and 18" rims on both ends for the ultimate ride.

TW

"but a bit more dirt bike than I need"

I've had the KLR and the 610, the KLR with almost any imaginable mods will never match the 610 for dirt or street. Add/subtract anything you want, fit the bikes with the same tires and the 610 will easily outclass it in just about any catagory I can imagine, (with a simple Renazco seat and a small windshield on the 610). Not trying to discourage you, (go for it!), but your planning a losing battle from the start, IMHO. My 610 was fitted for light street touring and was more than a few steps up the evolutionary ladder from the KLR on the road with street tires on 21/18". What the KLR lacks in grace and sophistication it makes up for with a low price and operating costs. It will do just about anything, that has been argued here to the extreme, but it is far from a precision instrument,,,,Holycaveman should be getting here just about now,,,,,

That sounds sweet! Do you think the standard internals will hold up to the extra displacement. There were a set of KLX forks that didn't sell on ebay that I thought about getting, but I'm planning on a set of emulators instead.

This is a pretty close discription of my 2001 KTM 640 ADV. Safe yourself a lot of trouble and get the KTM or the Husky 610. You will be money ahead not to mention the time, trying make a KLR something it was never intended to be is an expensive proposition.

I had a 640 ADV, like my moded 08 KLR better...To each his own !

Nobody keeps their bike stock...not even the most expensive bikes on the market. Plenty of folks selling the expensive and complex Euro bikes for the simple and reliable KLR. A couple of maintenance trips on those bikes would buy a KLR...lol. Not to mention the price of parts and mods.

Don't get discouraged....make the KLR yours. Almost every motorcylce mag has now done a test on the 08 KLR and the verdict has been very consistent...the bike is excellent. When tested head to head against the more expensive competition it has done very well and even won.

The KLR has been around for over 20 years. That is a long time for a bike. You don't survive twenty years in the market without doing something right. The bike is battle tested.

How about this:
With the introduction of an ATV this year powered by a modern 686cc liquid-cooled, fuel-injected single, Honda has raised the inevitable question whether a dual sport or off-road motorcycle will feature this powerplant in the near future. We are betting that an XR700, both in off-road an dual sport trim, is on its way.

from http://www.motorcycledaily.com/10january08_bigbore.htm

What about a Super Tenere?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1488

A bloke at work had one and he would disappear on holidays to ride <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on">Sydney</st1:City> to <st1:City w:st="on"><st1lace w:st="on">Perth</st1lace></st1:City> and back via the desert. I think the only trouble he had with it was a cracked frame after riding the <st1lace w:st="on">Simpson Desert</st1lace> unsupported. 1000km of sand hills and corrugations overloaded with water and fuel will do that to a bike.
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That was about the only issue he had. The motor will go forever.

freetour,
You are right on the money with your thoughts. Don't let the naysayers spoil what you have planned for your KLR. I'm coming off a 2005 KTM 950 and I'm thinking the same way you are. My plans mirror yours and I can't wait to get started on my new 2008 KLR650. What a great little bike. The KLR will easily do what you have planned. For the life of me, I can't figure out why these people feel the need to rag on the KLR. Especially the new KLR. The older version was a great bike and the new version promises more of the same with a bit more street savy thrown in the mix. The TE610, the KTM 640 ADV are high quality machines and will do everything that the others have mentioned. The price of the admission to the ride is more and so is everything else associated with them. As for myself, I'm glad to be rid of the high maintenance costs and the high cost of parts that may take weeks to show up. I paid exactly $4895 OTD for my new KLR and for that kind of cash I can afford to spend a lot on the bike making it what I want! Some weight that can be removed from the '08 version. I was hoping to loose 30# from mine but a more realistic number will probably in the neighborhood of 20#. It's at this point that the naysayers say, yeah but you're going to add more weight with rear racks and crashbars, aluminum bars, handguards, etc... Yes, that is correct but... the stuff I'm adding are higher quality parts that will actually make the bike better and protect it in the event of a drop or worse. The elitists will always have a problem with cheap utilitarian motorcycles that aren't flashy. I'm not a poser (I ride a KLR) and I don't need all that flash, just a bike that will get me there and back. If I feel the need to add something to the bike, I'll do it. If it needs inverted forks I'll gladly buy a set of Kawasaki inverts and start up a project. It can be done. My plans don't include major off-road routes but I'd like to be able to tackle them in moderation. I have no plans to jump it, if I did I'd be joining the TE crowd. The KLR isn't that type of bike.

If you get a chance PM me!

Could you give us magazine names and dates? The only major test of the 2008 KLR I've seen was in the November issue of Cycle World and I was very disappointed at the new weight (442 wet, up 41 pounds from the previous model) the dyno numbers, and the performance.

I think Larryboy has it exactly right. You could buy a TE610 and a 690 Adventure (if KTM ever gets around to building it) for less than it would cost to take a hundred pounds off the KLR. And please don't tell me you think a bored and stroked KLR would be more reliable and less maintenance than either of the Europeans. Even the KTM 530 would be bullet proof compared to an engine stressed to that level.

Yeah but a lot of the time a 2nd hand bike is just buying someone else's problems. no thanks Ill buy new