Kitting out the 650 part 1.

May I present the long awaited video...



I just get tired watching it. Sorry for the LONG video, in the future I will do my best to keep them shorter. Here is a list of all the modifcations done to the bike in the video.

• Wunderlich windscreen.
• TourTech 20mm bar risers.
• Ground clearance increased 1 inch, every little bit helps.
• Garmin Nuvi 500 with Ram Mount and hardwired for power.
• Spot personal tracker with Ram Mount.
• Tooltube and home made tool rolls.

The Wunderlich windscreen went on quite easily, but then I did have some virtual help from those who have already installed one (link).

The Tourtech bar risers were another matter altogether.  The Tourtech risers were about $40 cheaper, about half the cost of the next compatible set of risers, but it turns out they were exponentially more difficult to install. If I had to do it over I would probably go with the more expensive, easier to install bar risers.  There is a bracket (handle bar lock?) on the right side of the headset that will not allow the new longer bolt to be inserted, or at least not with out copious amounts of foul language and bleeding knuckles.  In the end I won only to have to remove them because I forgot to put Blue Loctite on the threads...

Raising the ride height was fairly quick and simple, especially the front, loosen the Allen head bolts and slide the fork tubes down.  But raising the rear did require that I purchase a new Allen head socket and a 27mm open end wrench.  I had the proper size Allen head socket, but the socket part was to big and would get stuck before it reached the bolt.

The Ram Mount for the GPS  is on a long arm (leverage) and it likes to move a lot , so it may get moved to the handlebar/hand guard if it looks like it's making contact with the windscreen.  The Ram Mount for the spot was the easiest of all, it can also do double duty as a camera mount.

I had intended to have the tool tube be in the time lapse video also, but before I new what happened my visualizing things turned into a completed and mounted tool tube.  I still need to paint it, make a tether for the cap and make a wrench to open it that can be stowed under the seat or in the tank bag.  The cap can be much harder to remove than you might think.  I conned my mother into making the tool rolls for me and they turned out very well.  I told her I could make some money if she would make some more, but she declined.  The rolls are made of heavy cotton canvas, we went through a whole box of needles sewing them

When I bought the 650 last September I also had the dealer install several items to make the bike more long distance and off pavement worthy.  Those mod's include:

• Hepco & Becker Pannier Racks.
• Hepco & Becker Engine Guards.
• Barkbuster hand Guards.

I also installed the following items right after I purchased the bike:

• SW Motech rear rack.
• National Cycle F-15 Tour windscreen.

The SW Motech rack allows quick change of several adaptor plates, currently I have the adaptor to mount a Givi Monokey top case.  Although the Givi is not suited to off-pavement riding (way to big), it is great for the daily commute.  The National Cycle F-15 Tour Windscreen looked good on the bike, but it had 3 flaws.  First it was terribly noisy, no matter how it was adjusted it put the wind right at my neck knocking my head around.  Second it projected out in front of the head light and even during the day it had distracting reflections, and third it crack later the same day it was installed.  So it when back to where it came.

Thats enough for now,  I need to get busy

In the future look for the following topics:

• Packing list - Digital / Analog.
• Packing list - survivel.
• Where am I going to put all the crap I think I need to carry with me?
• Last but not least I might actually ride the motorcycle.