[PhireSideZA]

In 2009 I managed to write off my old faithful Yamaha XT550 by propelling it and myself through a barb wire fence on the way to a biking bash, and as a 'get well soon' and 'thank you for not dying' gift from my parents they bought me a second hand KLR650 from an estate with just shy of 26K km on the clocks. I received it the day I finished my Matric exams in 2009, and my first trip on it ever was from Port Elizabeth to my parents' farm about 150km away.

Sadly, she is very neglected and not nearly as pretty as in the photos anymore, but I have a rebuild project scheduled for her for next year to get her up and running again. She now has 40K km on the odo and still pulling strong (as strong as 41hp can pull I guess...)

[Asterix]

Looking good and looks like a fun toy.... 

[Dazzler]

Thanks for sharing, I liked this bit...

and as a 'get well soon' and 'thank you for not dying' gift from my parents they bought me a second hand ....

[PhireSideZA]

@Asterix, thank you very fun indeed, and they are cheap as chips here too. New they retail for around A$6200, and I managed to pick mine up for A$1700 when it was 5 years old. It is pretty cheap though as the plastics quickly fade when it is left in the sun for a day, and the frame has a few spots of rust on. I am planning on rebuilding the bike though and along with that it will receive a new coat of paint all around. Mechanically it has been reliable so far, the only things I have had done to it was I replaced the indicator module and flushed the radiator out a few months ago as it was running a bit hot in summer.

@Dazzler, if I were my parents I would banish me from bikes for the rest of my life, but my dad used to race enduro's when he was a lad so I think he understood my passion and commitment to bikes. The funny thing is, my father was on a Transalp 650 the day I had my accident. We were on our way to a biking bash about 200km away, and it happened on the second last turn before we hit our destination.

The roads were terribly dusty due to a drought in the area, and I missed the turnoff where the road forked and instead headed straight for the fence separating the two roads. My father saw it happen as I could not remember exactly what happened, but according to him my helmet was about a foot shy of the top rung of wire. Had I been any more upright the wire would have caught me on my throat and probably have killed me as we were doing a pretty decent speed.

My poor guardian angel must be working overtime

[Dazzler]

Thanks for explaining, I wondered! 

[PhireSideZA]

Update:

I went to the farm this weekend again, and I started stripping the bike down to it's parts. In the process, I learnt many valuable lessons such as:

-Don't underestimate the usefulness of Q20
-Cheater bars help for stuck nuts and bolts
-Don't worry about labelling anything. It's like a big puzzle - you will figure it out eventually
-Invest in a good, small, low chair instead of sitting on your haunches all day
-Spiders like making nests. EVERYWHERE
-KLR650's are like tractors and the weight of some of the parts reflect that

In any case, It took me a bit more than two afternoons but the bike is fully stripped and I have the main frame, subframe and two brackets in the back of the car ready to be sent off to be sandblasted and powdercoated. The frame is very badly rusted due to it being in such close proximity to the ocean and standing underneath a carport as opposed to an enclosed garage. I still have a bolt stuck in the frame that I cannot manage to get loose, even with a 75cm breaker bar. I am taking it to an engineering shop to be pressed out and hopefully the frame doesn't distort...holding thumbs.

I'll try and get some pictures up soon...in the mean time, here are two I snapped while I was tearing the poor thing apart:









She is very dusty from standing for the better part of a year, and not nearly as red as when I got her

[CraigB]

No labelling of the parts lets see how well you get them back 

Did you try some WD40 on the seized bolts ? another thing you could do is you have available is apply some heat with an oxy torch to the frame around the bolt which should expand the frame enough to crack the bolt.

[Asterix]

Good luck with the project. Looking forward to see the result.... 

[PhireSideZA]

No labelling of the parts lets see how well you get them back 

Did you try some WD40 on the seized bolts ? another thing you could do is you have available is apply some heat with an oxy torch to the frame around the bolt which should expand the frame enough to crack the bolt.

I like living on the edge! I have a parts fiche handy so it shouldn't be too difficult. The hardest part will be matching up bolts and nuts, but I am replacing all of them with stainless steel jobbies once I reassemble it. I did try WD40 as well but it won't budge. I unfortunately didn't have access to a torch but I did consider it. I have never ever had a bolt sit this tight in my life. Reading up on the net it is a common fault with these bikes. Kawasaki drilled holes for the water to run out of the frame where the sleeves sit, but the holes are in the middle of the frame - not a problem when you are riding and the bike is upright, but when stored on the sidestand the water dams up inside the frame and wreaks havoc with the bolt

I have decided to powder coat the frame and subframe in a gloss black instead of silver as it came from the factory, although it might look odd as the swingarm will still be silver. I will see what I want to do. Other good news is that my shock I sent in to be repaired is ready for collection, so that means I have one less thing to worry about

Thanks Asterix! I was meaning to ask, did you ever succeed in fixing your sons' VW that had power steering issues?

[Asterix]

Thanks Asterix! I was meaning to ask, did you ever succeed in fixing your sons' VW that had power steering issues?

No. I couldn't by any means loosen the bloody hydraulic pipes that are mounted on the steering house. As I only have an open carport and it's around 0ºC outside, I decided to stop as the next step would be removal of the complete steering house and I didn't want to do that at those conditions.

He wasn't to happy with the car anyway so we sold it. Now it's some other poor bugger's headache...   

[Dazzler]

Thanks wabbit, I enjoy your posts and both of the 4 photos... 

[Phil №❶]

The grass on the floor, is that to make finding dropped nuts easier. 

[PhireSideZA]

The grass on the floor, is that to make finding dropped nuts easier. 

That is half the fun!

My father has many little projects around the house and the garage is a new one that he is building this year, but the floor is still pending, hence the au naturale wall to wall carpeting

[PhireSideZA]

Thanks wabbit, I enjoy your posts and both of the 4 photos... 

Oh gosh, clearly I needed more sleep last night

Thanks Asterix! I was meaning to ask, did you ever succeed in fixing your sons' VW that had power steering issues?

No. I couldn't by any means loosen the bloody hydraulic pipes that are mounted on the steering house. As I only have an open carport and it's around 0ºC outside, I decided to stop as the next step would be removal of the complete steering house and I didn't want to do that at those conditions.

He wasn't to happy with the car anyway so we sold it. Now it's some other poor bugger's headache...   

Ah that's a shame. But as you said, if it starts giving hassles then best to flog it while you still can. There are many people out there who enjoy fixing odds and ends on cars, but I am not one of them as I prefer to just drive them

Bikes on the other hand fascinate me and I love wrenching them and seeing how I can improve it in any way I can

[John B]

Well Wabbit, you sound just like my brother, there is nothing he likes better than buying motorbikes and then stripping them down to nothing and repairing them. He then sells them ( always at a loss ) . He then buys another one and starts all over again. Keeps him happy though but don't  know about the wife.

[PhireSideZA]

Well Wabbit, you sound just like my brother, there is nothing he likes better than buying motorbikes and then stripping them down to nothing and repairing them. He then sells them ( always at a loss ) . He then buys another one and starts all over again. Keeps him happy though but don't  know about the wife.

He does quite sound like my double! It keeps the spirit young

[PhireSideZA]

So I am long overdue for a reply on this thread. I have, since my last update, rebuilt it and taken it for a spin! I started in May 2017 (!!!) and finished in August, and I worked over the course of probably four or five weekends. I am at the painting of the plastics stage, but this is becoming difficult with the bad weather we have been having lately. The reason I stalled so long was because of lack of motivation, lack of time and lack of funds - and lack of patience until one day I said "F*** it", and got my hands dirty.

Progress:

Prepping the frame for the engine to be popped in


Engine installed


Rear swingarm installed


Rear shock installed


Doggo helping me push the bike into storage after a weekends' worth of work


Rear subframe installed


Installing the radiator


A few swings later and she starts!


Shoehorned into the Caddy for the trip back to my home


Safe and sound in PE


First ride! The teddy bear was a donation for the 2017 Toy Run that I went on to take it for the maiden ride. Also note the ugly plastics where the sun had damaged it over time


First plastics painted. Much better! Old one at the bottom, new one on the top



There are a few gaps in the pics but I didn't really concentrate on snapping pics of my progress. Most of the time spent was figuring out which parts go where and in which order. And the wiring! Oh what a mess that was. I didn't have a workshop manual handy so I was going by memory, and some snaps I took as I disassembled it. I am happy with how it looks now and will update here when I get the plastics nice and fresh again!

[mickd]

Great stuff !, hard to kill those big bore  traily's. 

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the update Phil. Just be careful when you start riding again! 

[PhireSideZA]

Great stuff !, hard to kill those big bore  traily's. 

Tell that to the XT I wrote off it was a barn find but I loved that bike. One of the few pics I have left:



The numberplate broke off after a hard landing pushed the wheel up all the way against the plate itself. The mirrors were off a DT125. The speedo and odo came from a similar two-stroke machine. The fuel tank leaked. The drum brakes were terrible. The tappet cover leaked. The valves made a noise. The plastics were mismatched. The clutch slipped.

But I will be damned, it wheelied like a champ and was the most fun I had on two wheels. I had a strong bond with that machine and was so sad the day I wrote it (and nearly myself) off

Thanks for the update Phil. Just be careful when you start riding again! 

Certainly! I have no intent on accidentally getting off it any time soon

[PhireSideZA]

Removal, sanding, painting and reassembly done and dusted!



The colour came out much brighter than I expected (can be compared to the fuel tank colour for reference), but I am happy overall. Much, much better than the faded mess it used to be.

Here's to hoping it stands against the test of time

[AlanHo]

Red paint pigments tend to be the most unstable of all the colours.

Here in the UK - you see many cars that used to be red and are now a dull deep pink. Especially Fords

[Dazzler]

It looks great Phil. Staying in one piece is more important than staying one colour anyway! 

[John B]

Looks brand new,good job.

[PhireSideZA]

Red paint pigments tend to be the most unstable of all the colours.

Here in the UK - you see many cars that used to be red and are now a dull deep pink. Especially Fords

Dull deep pink, on a Ford? Surely you mean rust?

It looks great Phil. Staying in one piece is more important than staying one colour anyway! 

Fair point! Thanks!

Looks brand new,good job.

Thank you John B! Now if only I had the time to actually ride it

[mickd]

@PhireSide ,
Sorry for the late reply.
Looks great !. A far cry from original condition. Get out and enjoy it 👍👍
 There's a club for Japanese Motorcycles over 25yrs old called VJMC, world wide . Don't know if any members near you though .

[PhireSideZA]

@PhireSide ,
Sorry for the late reply.
Looks great !. A far cry from original condition. Get out and enjoy it 👍👍
 There's a club for Japanese Motorcycles over 25yrs old called VJMC, world wide . Don't know if any members near you though .

Thanks mickd! There probably won't be any near me, and I have never really been into the whole club thing (this site is an exception). I used to belong to a club locally based (dual sport bikes, think advrider on a smaller scale) but the politics got out of hand and the atmosphere turned toxic -- I ended up leaving and never looked back. I frequent the KLR650 subreddit and trawl around advrider from time to time, but never found a place I could really call 'home'.

I may go ride this weekend, looking forward to it quite a bit! I have been out the saddle for way too long

[mickd]

 
Sore thighs and arse coming up for sure !, but its worth it 

[Lakes]

nice mate

[PhireSideZA]

Some glamour shots...








...for Gumtree. Someone is coming to view and possibly collect her tomorrow