Tuesday, March 18, 2014

WR250R mods and new gear

Lots of stuff to report on over the next few posts. With winter still holding us hostage and my fat bike needing a new bottom bracket and crankset (that's a whole other story), I've profited from the downtime by disassembling my WRR, attending to some maintenance, and finally making some changes that I've been researching over the last year. These include a Tubliss tire conversion front and rear (from A Vicious Cycle), switched junction block and headlight relay from Eastern Beaver, home-brew GPS mount and wiring (cable from gpscity.ca), and soon-to-be-added LED driving lights (likely the next-gen Fenix 2x2 solution from Motorcycle Innovations with a Skene 175 controller).

Most of these mods are individually well documented elsewhere on the web and easy to find through Google. So my angle here is to cover observations as they pertain to integration with the WRR and my style of riding--which is generally conservative woods/trail riding in remote areas, following a minimalist and self-reliant ethic. For me, safety and reliability are important and I tend to spend a bit more time/dollars on better engineering versus lowest price. In researching these mods online, I found a lot of current advice for larger bikes or pure dirt machines, but not as much for the WRR or my needs. Hopefully I can fill in some of the gaps and you can benefit from my research.

On the new gear front I picked up a Leatt neck brace, thinking this would be a wise bit of protective gear for those woodsy excursions. Having bailed many times (sometimes spectacularly) on a mountain bike this winter, I can't help but think it could eventually happen on my motorbike as well. After fitting the Leatt I discovered it doesn't work with my pressure suit, which led me to a whole other quest for compatible body armour and the discovery of impressive new jackets and pants from Clover, offered through Motorcycle Innovations in Canada. Slippery slope indeed.

So I'll cover all these points in upcoming posts. For now, here's a picture of my K60's next to the tires on my fat bike. The fat bike tires are $275 each, which is more than the K60's with Tubliss inserts! At least the Dillingers are bigger for all that money and have wicked traction. Looking forward to seeing how the K60's perform without tubes at lower pressure.