Had major title issues but finally got it sorted.

Kinda been a pain. Moral of the story. Don't buy a "streetable" motorcycle without a title.

I fired it briefly on Saturday. It runs. I'm in the putting back together stage.

Swingarm bearings greased.
I have a new rear shock. It's a little shorter so I have to make some tabs for it.
Took care of the oil leaks.
Should have my new fork seals in this week. I already have the springs.
New tires.
Oil, filter and plug done
carb rebuilt
Gas tank cleaned and coated. I plan to have it painted today.
I managed to find all the plastics on ebay. Getting them all cleaned and treated.

Amazingly all the light bulbs work. Including all the stuff on the cluster. :rockon:


http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...sassembled.jpg

My parts showed up Friday but I didn't have time to work on it Saturday due to our exchange students being here. So I worked until 2am on Friday night.

Then my friends Gabe and Chuck showed up Saturday morning and finished everything up while I went to the lake with our exchange students. They knew I wouldn't be here so I guess I owe them. I buttoned it up this evening.

Here it is.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...20624-1829.jpg

http://youtu.be/R3DvZJzxgSQ

Pretty happy with it. I do have some things before my first real ride. The oil looked like cappuccino even after the change. So it's either the water pump, or head gasket. I need to adjust the valves. And figure out why my temp gauge is not working.

Plus I have a couple more cosmetic things to do.

Other than that it pulled pretty strong.

Pulled the motor apart to replace the clutch. Figured I'd adjust the valves and do the "doohicky" mod. That's a cam chain tensioner that is a cronic problem with these motors. Turns out the cam timing is 180 deg out. Yeesh. We'll get it straightened out though.

I also will be adjusting valves and replacing my rear tire.

New trailtech

Before

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...cle/gauges.jpg

After

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...20816-1750.jpg

New bars.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps9faba1ee.jpg

Also at Hatfield McCoy I lost my plate. The bracket on the back just broke off. I didn't like it anyway so I mounted it up on the fender.

I don't have a before picture but you can see it in the video of the first drive. Here is the after looks more "dirtbikey"

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...psd58e3e0b.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...psd84483e0.jpg

So since the Trail Tech install I keep blowing fuses for the headlight and melting LED's for the neutral light. They are both on the same circuit. I hate wiring.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...pse6aa6094.jpg

I ended up having a dead short that was blowing the LED's. Got it fixed.

Some suspension work. The front end was a little squishy. It had alot of brake dive at and would bottom on jumps. So I scarfed Chucks old bent forks that had a stiffer rate, progressive spring in them. I swapped out the springs. Took less than an hour.

Also the lower forks on these are known to be a spot of flex on these heavy bikes. fortunately there are several manufacturers that make fork braces. I picked up one from Eagle Mike.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...48C652A576.jpg

I have a new pipe on the way that should help with my throttle response. I am pretty amazed what a difference in jetting is required with realative small changes in intake and exhaust. Also I dropped off the tank and fairing to be painted. I can't wait to see them.

Tank is really green.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...6ACC97B208.jpg

I'll put it on to see how it breaks up. It needs to cure over the weekend.

I also got the exhaust in yesterday.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...248705F6DE.jpg

The pipe portion in 33% longer so I will need to trim some side plastic.

Still waiting on the fairing.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...1DEB4D41DE.jpg

All together. Went for a short ride. Pipe made a huge difference. Fork brace stabilized the front end as well.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps33d71cb9.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...pse09fe84f.jpg

Nothing like jumping a 312lb dirt bike.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps78e6b2fd.jpg

So last trip I cracked my left side cover. I smacked the shifter into the case. Kinda glad I just bought and installed the MSR shifter. So I bought a new case gasket and jb welded the crack both sides. We'll see how it goes. Had to do a quick fix as we are riding this weekend at Hatfield McCoy then Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving.

I also went through it and fixed my other leaks. Oring on the oil filter, oring on the oil fill cap, seal on the clutch mechanism on the case. One final leak is on the valve cover gasket but I'm out of time tonight. I'll do that later.

Been working on the front suspension. I was under the impression that the forks were pretty much identical to the 650 forks. The springs are the same, and both 38mm. However when I went to install the cartridge emulators from racetech, they don’t go down all the way. They stop about 6” from the top of the fork tube. Well turns out the 600 tubes taper to a thicker wall at the bottom triple. So the internal dimension is 29mm vs 31mm. Stronger forks than the 650. Racetech helped me out in measuring my stuff and getting me the part that would fit. The new ones are on the way. Which is good because I already drilled the holes in the dampening rods which essentially means I can’t go back.

Just in case you are reading this and don’t know what an emulator does, it basically allows you to adjust your dampening and rebound independently of each other, by putting a valve in the fork. So it’s been on my stand for a couple of weeks looking like gonzo from the muppets.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...pse16140c6.jpg

This has allowed me to do a couple things that I’ve been putting off. No excuses now because I can’t ride. I fixed some wiring issues. I wrapped the harness in places where it was rubbing in rubber tube. I also rerouted it to remove some pinch points. Finally I made a new hot lead and my ends were pretty bad.

I also took off my stator cover again and JB welded it as I whacked it on the snow ride and it was leaking again. I need to work on some skids.

The Fleet
 

The emulators worked awesome. What a huge difference being able to tune the forks. I was able to keep the front end planted. I was able to do stuff I wasn?t able to before. I?m really very pleased. I?m sure I have some fine tuning to do. I want to see how they do at peddler next weekend. I hope these cure all the bottoming.

Also I finally had to let go of the old Kawasaki bag. It was tearing pretty bad and I was afraid I?d start losing tools. I bought a Moose one and I like the quality. Comes with a rain cover. It?s a little bigger than I wanted but I can get both tubes in with a small tool kit so I?m happy.



Old

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps9cb779f4.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...pseec80c47.jpg

New

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps1732214e.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...psba09e248.jpg



Some video of novice riding by me. This is actually a forest service road so tags etc are mandatory.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylgqpVf2O6Q



Same road.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Czc-UTQ2fI



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...e/IMG_0137.jpg



http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...e/IMG_0138.jpg





I sold it shortly after this. I was starting to do more technical stuff and could only justify 1 bike at the time. Got a good couple of years out of it. My new KLX 300 fit the bill well. There are times I wish I had this bike back. It did many things well. I even had a chance to buy it back but 2 duals sports is overkill. And I'm sure my KLX is quicker, but doesn't have the legs to pull 70 mph all day like the 600 did. Oh well that's why I have a BMW.

And here is a Jeep I built.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS-cHsA-6ys

Next installment. This is my dual sport and was my "everything" bike until I got my gasser.

Anyway I only had what I got out of my bike for a new one. So I started looking for these 3 bikes. Honda XR400, Yamaha WR400, and Kawasaki KLX300 (98-2004). The biggest downfall is all these bikes are kick start only and do not have a title from the dealership so they need converted. Lots of people do it but it takes time. And with my last title woes I just wanted to ride and go. Much to the chagrin of Gabe the XR was my last choice. Heaviest, oldest technology, worst suspension of the 3. I basically had a tie between the WR and KLX. Suspension is comperable on both. Power on the WR is way better almost 10 more HP. Which is alot on a dirtbike. KLX is the lightest by a large margin. 25lbs also a huge difference on a dirt bike.

Long story short I was negotiating with 2 people yesterday. 1 - WR400 in Pittsburgh with aftermarket suspension, pipe etc. I'm pretty sure it was a ripper. No title, bill of sale only. 2 - KLX300 in Akron with aftermarket pipe, suspension. Stock motor, but a street legal title. I ended up with this one. It's missing a rear fender but I'll get that. I wanted this bike more anyway because I like Kawasaki green and always have even since I was a kid. It's got a full street legal conversion kit etc which is worth about $1200. I got the whole bike for $1200. So I throwing caution to the wind and leaving after work on Wednesday, or earlier if I can driving the 6+ hours to Akron picking up the bike then driving home. I should be back in time for work on Thursday, which will suck.


http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps159ccaed.jpg

Mirror, LED turn signals and tail light installed. My new trail tech will be here this week.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps2af4a2d0.jpg

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k5...ps8b62334b.jpg