Be aware, ride safe!

Some parts of the clips used are not quite in context but the general message is brought home to both Cagers and Bikers alike...
Get home safe, be aware, bring all road users home safe.
"Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety." ~William Shakespeare

The Heidie Saga part I

I recently got the opportunity to test a K75 Heidenhau rear tyre for the KLR, here are the pics I took just after the wheel was fitted. many thanks to Harold at BikeGear for the opportunity!

The K75 has a nice aggressive look.
New K75 and well worn K60...
Close up of the wear on the K60. This is after approximately 8000 Kilometers, the best wear I have ever had so far from a rear on the KLR. After the test I think I will be back on a K60.
Another comparison between the two. The K75 is not a tar tire but as I do a bit of commuting as well we want to see how it holds up in this regard, many DS riders want a agressive dirt tire that does have some tar use as well. I think in this respect I will be able to give it a good test.
Now all I have to do is go and put some kilos on the tire... or is that tyre?.
I'm no good at DIY. I'm terrible with computers, too. And decorating. But I can change a tyre. Gwyneth Paltrow

Prototyping a screen deflector for the KLR - Part 2 and TomTom mounting

The TomTom One gps mounting.




















More of the TomTom













Detail of the Xscreen and mounting points using extended bolts.












Bigger picture with Xscreen and GPS.













Side view...













Detail of the GPS mount using the handlebar stay bar, extended nuts and aluminium section.












Front view...













How it looks...




















Another side view.













Another view showing the Xscreen mountings and TomTom cradle.




















Now I just need to fit a power plug for the TomTom 12v Usb supply and the job is done!

To be Updated/Added/Edited at a later stage...

Prototyping a screen deflector for the KLR - Part 1

After seeing what was on the market and what I had in the junkbox I decided to Pooratech an extended screen for my KLR, and this was the result so far. Call it some backyard R&D if you will. Post needs some editing and body but this was to get the pictures up in a link for the other Wild Dogs that may be interested..

Shaping and cutting the perspex to resemble something decent.

Side View of the perspex showing the curves...

Figureing out...

Pre fitting then on to the mounting with aluminum brackets...

Mounted for test ride

Not bad at all!

Quite chuffed at the results so far...

After all the effort I am quite happy with the result, it does need some more refining though.
I think it needs to be higher up and have more support from the rear, that will be in the next update.
Material used so far has been;
1 sheet of perspex (must measure it still)
Strip of 12mm Aluminum Angle cut as needed.
Strip of 25mm flat aluminum cut as needed
8 x 10mm 3mm SS button Allen head screws
6 x 20mm 3mm SS pan head screws (could not get SS Button heads that size)
6 x 3mm heat sink washers
14 x 3mm Nylock Nuts
Strips of neoprene rubber for scratch protection
Strips of 6mm sealing rubber for cushion between support and screen.

To be Updated/Added/Edited at a later stage...

A legend passed today

Buell is no more...

Harley Davison has canned Buell and will be selling MV Agusta as well.
I personally think this is a serious error but who am I to question Corporate America? They obviously know what they are doing? Just like GM sold the Hummer to China? I think it was the Japanese that once said "Stop selling your companies if you do not want us to own them".
So much expertise is lost when this happens as well and the roll on effect for the staff involved is colossal.
I am sure that if they really wanted to the company could have saved the bike brand as well as the brains involved but it may well be that they had too many eggs in the basket and that the other two were impacting on Harley sales. I mean, who wants a Harley when for the same price you can get a Buel that handles like a racing machine?
Hopefully the Buell ideals and ideas will find a new home somewhere, I always liked the bikes they produced, albeit not in my budget range...
"Only a Biker understands the feeling a dog has poking it's head out of a car window"

Stop...

means STOP! Even a kid knows that... Or so I thought, this past Saturday I was gobsmacked when virtually the whole Quad class ignored this most basic of signs and proceeded to blast over the crossing at top speed. Of course the subsequent list of exclusions from the day's results was not taken well by many. Unfortunately I am not letting safety take a second place to popularity or convenience, neither did some of the race jury members, MSA now has to decide... and I will comment further when that happens. in the meantime... please Stop!

"With a stop light, green means 'go' and yellow means 'slow down'. With a banana, however, it is quite the opposite. Yellow means 'go', green means 'whoa, slow down', and red means 'where the heck did you get that banana?'" Mitch Hedberg (1968 - 2005)

"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher

LED there be light

Ok... so while Shrek was dismembered I decided to do some radical surgery to the instrument cluster and add a hazard warning switch while I was about it...
Fortunately the wiring diagram has not changed much since the 1985 model, it is basically the same just that some of the stuff has been relocated on the bike.
The indicator relay is now under the instrument cluster which made it very easy to splice in a wire on the Orange output wire to feed to a DPDT switch and then feed that to the LH and RH indicator wires on the harness. Green = left and Grey = Right. I used a peice of ribbon cable... also fitted 2 plugs so that it is removable. yeah I know... looks like computer plugs... I did not have a suitable 3 pin one at hand so this will have to do till the next
farkle episode...
Then I removed the white lettering on the N and <> lamps, this was to make the Neutral the LH indicator and the <> the RH one. I found that paint brush cleaner did the trick while not being too aggressive to the plastic lens.
The indicator leads are now split, one to the old neutral lamp and one to the old <> lamp, the other ends of the lamps are now grounded on the instrument cluster ground points so that they LED's now have a ground path.
Due to the fact that the LED lamps are fitted with reverse polarity diodes you may have to orient them 180 degrees if they do not work. This also keeps the LH/RH indicator circuits isolated!
While doing this I hooked up 2 diodes and a buzzer as well to the indicator circuit... now Shrek sounds like a delivery bike... but I have less excuse to leave the indicator on now!
Then I fitted the new amber neutral LED under the speedo... using plastic steel to mount the led and resistor as well as the lead securely... the lead is then spliced on to the old neutral wires from the harness plug... the other ends became the LH indicator leads...
Once all the splicing and dicing was done I fitted the blue LED lamp to the high beam socket and the 3 HiBright LED lamps to the 3 lighting sockets. LED lamps are supposed to outlast ordinary filament globes and at the same time
they draw less current from the electrical system. Here are the pictures:Led lighting up the unstruments...
DB25 connectors!

Splicing into the Orange indicator lead to go to the DPDT switch...

Splicing into the R/h L/h Indicator leads...

DPDT switch mounted and silicone used to waterproof and insulate the back...

The switch on the front panel...

Indicators! one for each side!

Mounting screws on the right to be loosened when un mounting the instrument cluster...

Ditto another screw on the left...

Neutral LED mounted on the front panel...

Led and resistor prior to connecting and potting with epoxy or plastic steel...

Lead fitted and the lot gobbed with plastic steel...

Filament lamp VS LED lamp, a bit bluer than the filament and not quite as bright... but I like it...

Main and indicator LED's being tested...

Another shot...

Lights before the mod...

All the plugs and leads... wiring and speedo cable loosened to remove instruments.
"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning."
Bible, Luke xii. 35.

Happy Birthday Shrek

Shrek the KLR650 that is... today is the anniversary of me saying, "The Green one is mine!" and signing on the dotted line...
So around 11AM MD popped around to my office and we took a coffee break... then we decided to take Shrek for a Birthday Ride to Hoopstad to visit friends of MD's.
First thing was to but on the tankbag and pop the warm gear in the topbox and fetch MD... when I arrived she was already ATGATTed.

Did not take any pics on the way but what we did next made up for that, here we are about to go Offroad in a diffrent way!

The combine is a factory on wheels, with all the latest data gathering electronics, here we are being shown how much yield the particular stretch of maize is giving, this information is then used with soil samples to determine next seasons nutrient dose.

The business end...

First of two loads we saw ofloaded in the run across the field...

Taking a break before the next run... yeah... parts of the dirt road to the farm looked like this field track... but we beat the Sand Monster.

Off into the sunset goes the Monster...

Then we saw the momma of all tractors!

Showing MD the controls and GPS assisted computer guidance system... similar to that on a cruise missile... but being used to literaly guide the plough... all the operator has to do is drive it to a particular field, do the first row, set the system and wait for it to finish the back row to turn it around again. All this with a 10mm precision. The newer ones do the turning around as well I hear... who needs a driver!

Shrek patiently waiting for us to finish guzzling coffee, tart and flapjacks! Typical Free State Platteland hospitality!

And by the time we got to Bultfontein it was getting dark... arrived back home just after seven after a wonderful ride and visit. Nice way to celebrate 12 months with Shrek!
Wow... what an amazing twelve months this has been, not without it's sorrows but nothing unsurmountable, just like when you hid a rough spot while riding you apply some power, the same way when life had rough spots we were able to draw on God's power and make it to the other side... it would have been a much less rewarding trip without His guiding hand I believe.
"For believe me: the secret for harvesting from existence the greatest fruitfulness and greatest enjoyment is - to live dangerously."
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
This is my WD label... for all my future bike blogs.