My installation of Happy -Trail parts on the KLR...

As some may know, I bought the KLR to go down a personal road less traveled.

I made the decision to learn to wrench a little. I started with a pristine 2009 KLR650....



Then started taking parts off and the first part on was a highway bar and pegs. Easy Peasy... and I even used one of my torque wrenches for the motor mount bolts...

But as you could see in the picture, I need 6 hands to hold the heavy bash plate, "hangers", and thread the bolts all through (including holding a spacer in front)... I went to bed instead (it was late).



Five days later Saturday arrives and it is time to try the tip a buddy gave me: tie the sucker up in place. Well DUH!!! (lesson learned).



Bash plate installed!! Easy when you know a trick or two. And I busted a knuckle -- must be a real mechanic now. Uhhh, did I install the washers right?...



OMG! :dribble: :blink: :huh: They want me to take half the front end off and put what where???!!!







So I call in the cavalry... best damn mechanic in the house, my son Mikey...



He dug right in and we had one of the best afternoons together EVER. It helped he took his Ritalin. I had a beer. It's all good...



We figured, we huddled, we discussed, we gave up and had lunch... then Mikey and I dug back in and got it together. A little ingenuity on my part( using two little rubber washers to hold a nut, washer, aluminum spacer and other bits on the bolt) while we slid that mess through two flat iron bars threaded through wires and tubes and cables and another spacer on the back of the downtube. Mikey was not only another set of hands, he has a real mechanical aptitude. "Dad, I think you're putting it in upside down..." AND he has small hands. Yeah it was a son of a *****. Yeah we had a great time. I had another fat tire.



Ann Marie kept checking to see if I was OK. She knows how injured I can get when alone with tools...



Then I took Mikey to the skate board park to try out his new sprocket and wheel set on his bike. The kid is athletic too! The girls are calling all evening long...

while he was away...

I put locktite on everything I could and tightened all the bolts up. Then I installed the rear brake thingy. I didn't like it the way it came all shiny and aluminum...



So I spray painted it with high temp black paint earlier in the week and put that on too. "The black patch on the front lawn is hardly noticeable dear..."



I sat back with the spoils of victory!! Cold beer and hot pizza... and so my Saturday ends with almost as much fun as riding my FJR :yahoo:



A couple final pics:

Berry Nice, think I'll go crack a Corona and help you celebrate a job well done B)

:drinks:

Very nice!

Next up.....The dreaded Doohickey.... :dribble: (or did they sort that out with the new ones?)

ShinyPartsUp said:

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(in Homer voice) Mmmm, Fat Tire, mmmmm, beer. But what's with the wet-spot? Is that alcohol abuse I'm seeing??

Nice job on the write-up and pictures. I'm jealous, wish I had room in the stable for a dual-sport.

And just think how much better that KLR will be for roads like this:

Duuuuuuude, really......Your KLR envy is showing. Have a lil pride, will ya?

Old Michael said:

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nice start on the KLR ....and my buddy Tim B and his posse at Happy Trails are as good as it gets.

Next you'l need to do some suspension upgrades.

Man, that bottle of Fat Tire shure looks good, and you had a great support crew, Nice you got it all figured out.

Oh gawd, she's awake.

And speaking of envy....Tough to handle.

...and



Okay. All that said, it's off to mass.

Wow that is the most nicely farkled zero mileage KLR evar! You gonna ride that thing?

If my FJR talked to me like that I'd *****-slap her so hard she'd fall over and break that big fat *** of hers. ....and she'd know she had it coming.

Ain't ever gunna happen though, she knows where she stands in the garage ...behind all the 'man' bikes.

You guys (and gal) really crack me up! OM, you gotta tell me how to do some of that stuff.

The FJR did call my name once, I swear.... but I had the beer and the voice went away.

I'll have you know she has 55 miles on the clock, daggumit! I'm gonna ride her today...

My brother emailed me. His response? "Clean the garage, it's a mess." :glare:

He doesn't have a wife and forgets what his garage looked like when he had a wife and kids that were small, with bicycles, camping gear for four, old chairs, "we can get it fixed like new." [in 2004 dollars maybe]..., etc. etc.

Only thing I'm worried about is OCfjr posted I done bad putting thread locker on nylon "nylock" nuts... any thoughts other than buy regular ones and replace the dozen or so I was "extra careful" about thread locking?

Oh yeah, I learned another valuable lesson -- blue thread locker tastes AWFUL, and the taste lingers...

Thanks for getting the KLR ready for me. Just drop it off at my house and I'll get it broke in for ya.