Sat. 2/2/19. Light rain, breezy, cool. We try a little ride, Matt snaps his clutch cable 6 miles from camp. Sh!t, ah I have a spare dr650 cable, copy that. We fix BMW 650 gs broken clutch cable with dr650 spare. After that, we decided to just chill for the rest of Saturday. Sat. Into Sun. Rain up high, some signs of flooding, snow at higher elevations, WIND!!! Sunday morning partly cloudy, Windy, cool.
Wow. Sounds like some challenges!! Hope you are Abbie to enjoy the rest of the time there. I’ve been watching the weather on my departure dates. Doesn’t look good so far. Lots of snow and rain. We will see
Man, Its been a long week. I was sick for the last few days, so I wasnt getting a lot done on the bike. With that said, yesterday and today were very productive. I was able to get my fusebox, relay and wiring in. I had a problem at first, I wasnt getting any power with everything connected. I was able to trace that down to a toasted wire under the dash. Whew!! I am not the best at wiring, so anytime things go wrong I tend to stress a little. I ended up placing the relay and the fusebox in the glovebox under the seat. I really couldnt find a better location. I added a dist block for the ground as well. Thanks to Motophsychoman. Pretty much plagiarized from the pics he posted. Everything is working today! Started getting the plastics ready to put back on. Installed the tank and all connections. Started getting ready for the case guard too. I have been watching the weather in the valley here for the last several days. It looks like my first day down might be all rain. Yuk.
Also replaced the plug and did the brass rod mod to the plug wire. Actually, I used copper. Just as good, right!?
A little more done today. Still feeling a little under the weather, so I worked till I was done felt done!! Engine guard and skid plate on. Man, I like having an engine guard!!
Thinking about lowering the front forks a bit for handling. I saw a post from a very experienced Pegaso guy over on the AF1 forum. He lowered his about 16mm and said it really made a big difference on this bike. Has anyone else heard of this? Thoughts?
I'd say ride it a bit first and see how it feels. Raising the tubes in the triple clamps steepens the steering head angle, making the bike steer quicker. This can make the steering twitchy. Lowering the tubes in the triples increases the angle, slowing the steering. This can make the steering sluggish or heavy feeling. Pretty straight forward stuff, but mostly personal preference. Presumably the stock height was chosen as a decent middle ground. The actual amount of steering head angle adjustment possible isn't much.
The steering on my bike is SUPER stable. Even at high speeds (well, high for my bike). The thought was to make it a little more nimble for dirt and up hill under power. It tends to have a little under-steer. People who have done it on this bike stated that there was no discernible difference on the road, but the difference in turning and off road steering was noticeable??? I might try it and see. Its a pretty easy adjustment. I suppose I could even change it back easily if I dont like it in the desert?
As long as you've got the one or two wrenches needed with you. Whenever you disassemble a front end, it is always advisable to tighten the top triple clamps first, loosen any fork brace, loosen the front axle a bit, then pump/bounce the front end up and down a couple of times. Then tighten/re-tighten the triple clamps, brace and axle. That will allow things to self-align a bit.
Well, I got the bike back together and took it for a short test drive. The good: No more low throttle surging and the low end power seems better. Way smoother acceleration. The bad: The shift lever is way close to the crash bar. Are shift levers pretty universal? Im not sure I will find another that fits before I leave. This fairing will not fit behind the crash bar. Not sure I need though. It didnt seem to make any difference with engine temp during my short ride. And the brackets for the light bar are hitting the front fender. I should have seen that coming. I guess I didnt realize how far the front end travels. Still thinking about how Im going to sort this, or IF Im going to sort this. Im still super stoked that the bike is running well though. I had my worries after all of the carb and wiring work. Whew!!! Any ideas about the bar or the shift lever?
Shift levers are not universal, but there are some common ones. The diameter of the shaft and number of splines is the first thing to check. Then the length (center shaft to center toe roller) and offset (end of shaft to base of toe roller). Sometimes there are funny bends as well. Since it is a Rotax single, I'd expect a shifter from a BMW single would fit, but not sure it would make anything better. If I recall, the BMW single will also fit a XR250R shifter. Found this: https://advrider.com/f/threads/bmw-f650gs-shift-lever.479784/
Hmmmm. I might have to call the Honda dealer tomorrow. Im gonna take mine off and take it to another local shop this week too, just to see if they might have something. As for the light bar, I measured the potential travel on my front end. The light bar is not going to work. Its gonna hit no matter what. I might be able to get some spots to mount to the crash bar, not sure if it will happen before I leave though.
Try any good dirt bike shop. You shouldn't need to go pay Honda $$$. Moose Racing MH12 is a fit. But definitely take it with you to compare.
I ended up getting a shifter for a Honda xr250r. It was one of several that was listed to be fitted with the MH12. IMS 312223 Flightline folding shift lever. No one had any in stock, but I am able to get it tomorrow. I will take mine in with me to see how it lines up. Keeping my fingers crossed!! It was about $40. That seemed high, but everything the shops had on the shelves was between $30 and $45. This was on my list of things to put on the bike anyway (folding shifter), just a little sooner rather than later now!
Leaving the 22nd. Weather is looking good for that day and I should get some test ride time in by then too.
Went out for another spin today hoping to avoid the rain. It didnt happen. Found out just how NOT water proof my rain gear is anymore. Got some spray on water repellent at REI (on the cheap because I had some dividends!). On the upside, Im really noticing a difference after the carb and spark mods. I can power out of 2k rpms now no problem and without hesitation. Before, it would just gag and I had to downshift. The tires did pretty well in the rain too (wasnt pushing them though). Overall, Im pretty confident that this bike will do great on this trip. Fist time with this helmet in the rain too. Up to 70 mph and not a drop of water inside.
The shift lever came in. Could not have worked out better. Splines were a perfect fit, about a half inch longer (I have really big feet so this is a plus) and clears the new crash bar!! I hope that other Pegaso riders find this helpful too. Although Im not sure if other crash bars create this problem.
