TR650 Mods

[FabOneUp]

Ken is having computer issues getting pics to load, so I guess we will have to high jack this thread a little longer. Ken also decided he loves it up here so much that we had to look at a couple properties.. ...so we have lost a little time, but here is what we have gotten done. Tig welding is fun!...but man is it slow and I still have a lot to learn about it.

Edit: Continued @ http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/terraformers.30499/

 

[FabOneUp]

Love the energy y'all are putting into the mods for this new bike. Just wondering if anyone has contemplated a fork/shock swap. I've seen some nice suspension set-ups resulting from guys picking up yamaha/honda forks off ebay (would need to be 46mm for the tr, I believe), but I'm not sure how to be sure the brake mounts would line up properly. I've changed fork seals, bushings, and oil, but never a complete swap-- seems like the only way to get more than 7.5 inches of travel out of a TR650. Again, I'm a little out of my league here, so I'm hoping some of you dirt bike guys can enlighten me (or just get me started). Anyone else want to address this major (but only) shortcoming of the TR's with me?

I did have a donor KTM that I thought about doing this with, but I decided the Terra geometry was too good to mess with. It handles so good, I would hate to screw it up, and spend a lot of time and money screwing it up if it did screw it up. Flèche mentioned springs and oil weight and that is how I want to approach it. It would be great to hear from anyone who has done any suspension changes with the stock set and let us know of some sources.

 

[nev..]

I was sitting at the traffic lights yesterday when the fan came on. Middle of summer here so the northern hemisphere riders might not have encountered this yet, but when the fan kicked in, it shot a blast of hot air onto my left leg. Needs some sort of guard or defuser behind the fan to direct air from the fan off the leg. Something non-permanent that can be removed in winter when a blast of warm air might be just the thing needed. I'm not much of a fabricator, so I might pass this suggestion to those with some skillz.

 

[Thumpa]

Ken is having computer issues getting pics to load, so I guess we will have to high jack this thread a little longer. Ken also decided he loves it up here so much that we had to look at a couple properties.. ...so we have lost a little time, but here is what we have gotten done. Tig welding is fun!...but man is it slow and I still have a lot to learn about it. View attachment 23063 View attachment 23064

These look just the ticket! I always loved the look of the Wolfman hoops. Though i must confess you can't get much more efficiency and strength going the route of continuos tube, nice job, hella' strong! You got some very complimentary curves in there. Looking forward to some close up shots of lug/ mounting points. Great work, thanks for posting!

 

[Thumpa]

I was sitting at the traffic lights yesterday when the fan came on. Middle of summer here so the northern hemisphere riders might not have encountered this yet, but when the fan kicked in, it shot a blast of hot air onto my left leg. Needs some sort of guard or defuser behind the fan to direct air from the fan off the leg. Something non-permanent that can be removed in winter when a blast of warm air might be just the thing needed. I'm not much of a fabricator, so I might pass this suggestion to those with some skillz.

I do have my concerns with the cooling system on the Terra once the ambient temperatures begin to rise dramatically and warmer days return. As it seems there have been more than a handful of accounts running hot. Temp spiking whilst idling or slow manouvers in traffic or dirt, self included Be interesting to see how things develop in this area.

 

[david finley]

You probably already know this, so just a reminder, if you're welding on the bike disconnect the computer first.

 

[kjackbrown]

Just wondering if anyone has contemplated a fork/shock swap. I've seen some nice suspension set-ups resulting from guys picking up yamaha/honda forks off ebay (would need to be 46mm for the tr, I believe), but I'm not sure how to be sure the brake mounts would line up properly. I've changed fork seals, bushings, and oil, but never a complete swap-- seems like the only way to get more than 7.5 inches of travel out of a TR650. Again, I'm a little out of my league here, so I'm hoping some of you dirt bike guys can enlighten me (or just get me started).

Anyone else want to address this major (but only) shortcoming of the TR's with me?

I put 48mm KXF forks on my KLR. I picked up the ENTIRE front end off of a 2010 KX250F (forks, triples, brakes, wheel, etc.) and just had to buy a conversion stem from Emig Racing ($180). That allowed me to use my factory KLR bearings. No cutting and/or welding and only took a couple hours to complete.

Heck, I have another set in the garage that came off of a 2006 KX250F. The only thing is whatever you do to the front...you gotta do to the rear too! Worthless to have 11"+ travel in the front and only 7" in the back...can actually be quite dangerous.

 

[Mark Regier]

I put 48mm KXF forks on my KLR. I picked up the ENTIRE front end off of a 2010 KX250F (forks, triples, brakes, wheel, etc.) and just had to buy a conversion stem from Emig Racing ($180). That allowed me to use my factory KLR bearings. No cutting and/or welding and only took a couple hours to complete.

Heck, I have another set in the garage that came off of a 2006 KX250F. The only thing is whatever you do to the front...you gotta do to the rear too! Worthless to have 11"+ travel in the front and only 7" in the back...can actually be quite dangerous.

Thanks for your thoughts/experience on this. I assume that you swapped the entire front end because that allowed you to avoid all the possible problems with brake mounting points, axle/hub compatibility, etc. Part of why I'm inquiring is because the terra looks like a great bike (I haven't bought one yet, but I go to the dealer regularly to drool), and if the suspension can be sorted out, I'm in. But I'm not sure I want to spend the money until I have at least a plan...

 

[Mark Regier]

... how about other husky dirt bikes? Anyone familiar with the "typical" husky suspension want to eyeball the mounting points, brake attachment points, etc on the terra? Totally different or similar? It'd be sweet to swap some parts from another husky that were compatible!

 

[blaine.hale]

How in the heck did you pull out the spark arrestor? I popped the circlips out and attacked the arrestor from every angle with every tool and could not get that sucker to budge. It almost felt like it was a press fit.

My changes, so far; Cheap-ass windshield - al la: BigDog, Ram-mounted GPS, Husky(BMW) Jen-U-Wine Handguards, license plate bracket removal/relocation, 12V power socket, spark arrestors removed.

 

[cbxtc6]

How in the heck did you pull out the spark arrestor? I popped the circlips out and attacked the arrestor from every angle with every tool and could not get that sucker to budge. It almost felt like it was a press fit.

It was a tight fit, but came out with some wiggling with regular pliers.

 

[kjackbrown]

Per post by cbxtc6 a few days ago, this is what you will be removing...


...would love to hear what it sounds like with them removed! If you have a camera handy, once you get those suckers out of there take some video and post it

 

[Motosportz]

Will this not make the off idle lean spot way worse? Did you get better performance? I would think you would need to richen it up some.

 

[Kawagumby]

Why remove spark arrestors? Even in dirt bikes they don't affect performance when the system is tuned for them and, worst case, you can start a fire riding along the way and not even know it.

 

[Highfive]

+1 I have (unintentionally) proven that a fire can be started in the woods by riding a bike without a spark arrestor. It happened to me one day. I'm just glad others were riding behind me further back. I stopped at a turn and they didn't show up. When I backtracked, three of them were madly trying to stomp out the fires.....emphasis on plural. I had started a fire trail off and on for a couple hundred yards. Took us about 30 minutes to get it all put out. Just glad it was slow burning that day without any high winds.

Holy Smokes! is an understatement. Sure made a believer out of me.

HF

 

[nev..]

Went to wire up my battery tender today.
The BMW battery in the TR650 has these extra threads in the terminal, which is good because I don't like cluttering up the terminals with accessories, but the positioning terminal makes it almost impossible to use that thread because its not flush to the side of the battery and there's no room to tighten in the

I saved some battery terminal screws from an old battery on my other bike, the type which has a screw and a floating nut within the terminal. By screwing the terminal nut onto the screw as a spacer I was able to use this terminal connection as well.

 

[kjackbrown]

Nice! The bend in the neg cable in first pic has got me worried tho****************************************!!!

 

[Leo Fisher]

Perhaps a stupid question but can't you just hook your battery tender to the existing power outlet that is on the bike?

 

[blaine.hale]

Your dealer installed that. That's not factory. My dealer extended the same courtesy.

Perhaps
a stupid question but can't you just hook your battery tender to the existing power outlet that is on the bike?

 

[Leo Fisher]

Mighty nice of them.