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XR650 mini-tourer?
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I'm looking around for a new bike, and I have this idea in my head;
listen.....
I buy an XR650, used. To that XR, I apply
- A Corbin saddle
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You may want something other than a Corbin.
I loved my Corbin. I got it at the factory and had them do several
modifications til they got it right. I could ride forever and never
get tired. But since then, they have had horrendous customer service
issues, (especially with mail order,) and they're not cheap. And they
are significantly heavier than stock.
There are other companies with good reputations.
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- A long-range gas tank
- A windshield
- Street-friendly tires
- Those cool dirtbike handguards, and
- Saddlebags
The result is a light, inexpensive, comfortable bike that is good on
gas, has good handling, reasonable range, good weather protection
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(SNIP)
But it's still a 650 single. And the vibration from same would make it a
poor choice for long-range comfort.
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Otoh, folks have been doing exactly this to Kawi KLR650s for more than
a decade, and just in the past couple o' months Motorcycle Consumer
News had a continuing series of articles on how one of their own
contributors set up his KLR650 to ride around the world on.
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Sure. And I once met a German fellow who had (at that time) ridden 3/4 of
the way eastwards around the world on an unbelievably overloaded Honda 500
thumper. But he said he seldom rode more than a hundred miles or so in a
day.
I, on the other hand, once owned a KTM Adventure that was the best
dual-sport bike I've ever owned, but more than an hour's Freeway time would
cause your butt, hands, and forearms to vibrate themselves into a painful
jelly-like state that forced you to dismount and massage various parts of
your body for ten minutes or so until the feeling returned.
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I recall a KTM rider remarking that it was like sitting on a paint
shaker. Not sure if the KLR is better counterbalanced or not.
My personal choice would be a dual plugged BMW R80 G/S
monolever with 1000 cc cylinders and possiblbe mods to the
final drive ratio, charging and ignition systems.
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? why not just get a R100 GS then?
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Got one. For a round the world trip, I'd go with the monolever
rather than the paralever. Paralever is a nice design, but
IMHO, the pivot bearings and U joints are both a mite fragile
for serious long distance bashing. The R80 is also a tad
lighter.
We're looking for superior Luddite technology here.
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Excellent! Thanks. Now I can expand my search for my next bike to
include the R80 GS!
Thanks also for helping get the KTM off the short list.
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Maybe I'm just over-sensitive to vibrations, but ever since then I've
thought that an "Adventure Tourer" should be at least *reasonably*
comfortable for those of us who like to cover long distances in one day.
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(remember those cool dirtbike hand guards--they keep the wind off!)
It's not heavy, not encased in fragile plastic. The bike has
stump-pulling torque, it's reliable, and while not necessarily unique,
it's certainly unusual and quirky enough for my tastes. Two wheeled
bliss, right?...
Well... XR650 puts about 35HP to the rear wheel. Going 100mph for
hours on end ain't my thing, but I like passing cages as much as the
next guy, and probably more. Will that 35HP be enough?
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Hell, I do that with the KLR250! The 650 would be a blast.
Tires are key. My preference for dual sport (50/50 highway/dirt
roads) is the metzler sahara3s.
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The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that doing this
would be just building a VStrom 650 out of the XR; and my engineering
skills lag behind those of Suzuki.
So, has anybody done it? Or something similar? What was the result?
And did you trade it for the VStrom six months later?
Tell me.
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By the time you finish you will have the pride of accomplishment and
something you could have bought ready made for far less with better
performance.
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