Husqvarna 701 (KTM 690) Enduro (Dual Sport) Project Bike - Technical Thread

[Motobene]

WYBDR - MY TECH LEARNING EXPERIENCES - PART 2

LYNDON POSKITT WIDE RATIO GEARBOX
Fitting a Rekluse auto clutch reduces the justification for the very expensive part and install labor costs of the complete Lyndon Poskitt wide ratio gearset by reducing the 'in your faceness' of the tall 1st. The problem of the low 6th is still there, however.
I already bought the $3,400 gearset (may it work as good as it looks!), so it will go in anyway. I didn't have time to risk putting it in before the WYBDR, and it was better to learn the stock box deeply before making the swap anyway.

I was thinking about the differences when riding, concluding that yes, the expensive cluster should make the bike better. The lower 1st will enable more precise technical creeping work. The taller wider spread and taller 6th will reduce shifting frequency and overall intensity. It will 'add length to the unicorn horn' by making super slab work at high speed (think: cruising at 80 to 90 MPH) more of a natural thing to do, widening the scope of use.

What the other gearbox will feel like I can estimate based on experience. Helpful is a practical analysis by the numbers, such as the following two from my Excel gearing calculator, where I look at travel rate at six RPMs. Most won't notice or care about the narrower-ratio-spread tranny. The latest LC4 with two counter balancers shakes less that the previous version, being pretty smooth on the highway even when running at higher rpm in a lower-geared 6th. What impacts riders more is the tall 1st gear, making slow work harder and requiring a lot of clutching skill to maintain smoothness, esp0ecially when the rider is tired.

Stock gears, stock final drive:

The stock tranny does have pretty even step-ups between gears.

Poskitt gearset, stock final drive:

Pick any RPM and compare between the two. A lower 1st is a positive, resulting in less clutch slip when creeping. The 2nd gear ratio via the same tooth counts for the drive and driven gears with both trannies for a 2nd gear well positioned for hauling ass in tight, rough terrain. The Poskitt has a general wider spacing between gears. That's not as good for stoplight-to-stoplight racing, but I'm no longer a pimple-faced kid so that's OK. I think the big LC4's wide torque curve, plus the elasticity of the Rekluse will reduce the perception of gaps.

Very appreciated will be the wider spread in general, leading to I think a more relaxed and practical ride. Having experimented a lot with gearing for unicorn bikes, I can tell you by experience that the feel difference is greater than the above numbers differences would suggest.

REVISED CONTROL SCHEME
Hand brakes only and no foot brake or clutch lever proved once again to provide me a significant advantage. I found the Rekluse clutch does a better job in the slip zone than I can, especially when fatigued. Raise the throttle slightly above idle and simply hold it there to creep along. The natural travel rate for 1st gear, especially geared stock on the final drive, is quite fast. I can cut that travel in third with very little throttle. I observed some 'whiskey clutch' by the manual clutch majority and once when swapping bikes I did that myself.

When swapping bikes I had guys get eyes wide during the preamble when I'd describe the controls. "There's no foot brake and that's not the clutch, it's the rear brake. Yeah you'll stomp air a few times on the non existing foot brake and brake hard using the 'clutch', but you'll get used to it pretty fast." And they would. My brakes are so immediate and responsive and that took them some getting used to. Once disappointment was in the ergonomics. I'd see primarily sit-down riders not standing very much. Such habits are hard to brake! But transition to standing and standing is where the more open trials ergonomics really shines.

 

[Motobene]

Editing note. I will continue to edit out on re reads errors, arrogance, or duh in the posts just above. Also add missing detail. Editing is a job never done, it seems! By the next day I am chiding myself for my foibles.

WYBDR MY TECH LEARNING EXPERIENCES - PART 3

Kit and camping. Did I take too much stuff? Yes! And no. Due to a brain fart I ended up putting a few additional items on the support truck. Given it was NOT returning to Boyer Ranch where my truck and trailer were, I had to haul all the stuff back across the state, making my bike look green horn silly when loaded up at Bear Lodge. I did manage to bring everything back but my tent water bottle, a 1.75 liter Simply juice bottle. The red stretch net proved very handy, and I'm glad the Mosko dry bags can puke out so far! All the crap denied my sliding way back on the seat, but what remained of the seat was still awesome (read on):

Bill Dragoo shared a hotel room with me. He had to ride arm injured from a last-afternoon expert section crash all the back to Oklahoma from just south of Montana. Toughness! And where his 'land yacht' really shined for extended super slabbing with kit hauling capacity. The spare rear tire brought along because the rear Rallz was just about knobless in the middle.

SLEEPING THROUGH NIGHTS
A major goal was met: to be able to sleep well through each night. At most on a couple of nights I'd wake up about 4am and contemplate intervening with 5mg of Zolpidem (Ambien). I even slept through a violently tent flapping straight winds night!

Rarely did I wake up to stare at nothing or resort to the Kindle to get the brain waves back to wanna-sleep mode. I was reading Motorcycle Adventurer, the story of Sterns Clancy, the first around-the-globe motorcyclist - 1912 to 1913. It was such a different world then, and people were immensely tougher in general than they are today!

Sleep is sure helped with good, secure kit, and not boiling or freezing at night. Thankfully our nights were mountain west generally cool to chilly, so we weren't lobsters boiling in tents. Skeeters and other pesky bugs weren't a huge problem, and never were we having to set up tent in the wet or awaking to tents in or surrounded by pools of water.

TENT
Very happy with the choice of a Big Agnes Crag Lake SL2 (1-1/4-person) tent with optional foot print. The foot print provides tent foot protection and a base for the unitized center-pivoting pole set for setting up only the rain fly for a panic shelter from rain. I prefer the rectangular tents with a zipper door on both sides. It's what we've long had. The rain fly vestibules are just big enough to store a lot of stuff under. Many riders had dome tents which were better for setting up in the - unlucky for me - straight wind that quartered during the setup to side-on, mashing my whole setup to one side. I noticed the dome tents also better at having your kit to either side of the sleeping bag, inside the zippers. Also better in straight winds when setting up because dome are less sail like, at least for side-on winds. The radical straight wind incident had my tent squashed to one side when erecting, and I expected a storm later. I was the first to security tie the rain fly using my bike as an upwind belay with four sections of paracord. My tent looked like a straining heart valve. The paracord helped me right then tent poles once inside as the tendrils took some of the side pressure off.

SLEEPING BAG & AIR MATTRESS
I was right to send back the 25 degree Large Zenbivy Light system for the XL 10 degree system. Excellent product!

I tend to run cold when sleeping and will wake up if I get chilled or lack weight over me. Only one night did I start out on top of the quilt, but as the temp cooled to below 50 I slipped inside. I did not wake up sweltering, ever, which make me wonder how cold I'd get at the rated temperature. I suspect very cold! I think I'd be comfortable down to around freezing.

The air mattress was excellent, wide and long. I never felt on (or off) the edge. I'd air it up with my 12V old tire air pump detailed above. Plug it into the BMW style power outlet and and into the mattress valve walk away for 4 minutes while it noisily did the work. In the mornings, last thing I'd do sitting on the bag was to pop the valve out to flatten the thing. Each experience of that was a reminder of just how hard it would be to sleep in hard contact with the ground!

'SHEET'
A critical kit item was my 10-year-old REI light weight fleece liner, mummy shape, 82" X 30". They don't offer it in the same material any more, but have similar. This was my 'sheet' to sleep in or on. I sleep naked and don't like the icky feeling synthetic sheet material of the quilt and sheet of the Zenbivy system. Also, the Zenbivy material is not so easily washable so best to keep my greasy and stinky ass separated from it. I never got hot in the fleece, which I found nice, but I suspect when it's truly is cold it will help.

iPHONE KILLER
I wish I had known before the trip what an engine vibration excited RAM mount can do to my iPhone 12 Max! I was using it for navigation as I had yet to load a single gpx file into my fancy new Garmin. I'd've added a vibration isolator to the mount had I known.

I stopped to take a video after a long WFO gravel section only to think aliens were about as my screen was waving around as though under water, and videos have an added buzzing sound. Kevin the programmer said vibration had nuked a board component, a gyro. My 701 never felt like it vibrated much but I put a finger on my iPhone at speed and felt high frequency vibration with significant amplitude. The 12 does not have some configurability for turning image stabilization off like the later two versions. Not sure that would protect them anyway.

The problem looks repairable by replacing the camera board as detailed in this video, but I wonder if this will address the buzzing sound?. I'd be happy to just have all the zoom levels of the camera back to document things. I can live with a little video buzzing:



This fellow discusses various vibration dampers. Whatever I get will have to fit what I have and like:



Maybe I can mount a Quadlock damper unit or similar? A iPhone 12 Max with Otter case plus the robust RAM Quick Grip is big and heavy. Whatever vibration isolation component I use will have to have to work with higher mass to avoid resonant frequency excitation.

[UWSL]GAS CAP[/UWSL]
[UWSL]The Mosko 80 proved right for the 701, and notable is the cutout in the core structure to access the gas cap. Regarding the plastic gas cap I like it for its light weight, but key actuation and tight fit risks key damage. The aftermarket option are better but are heavier, so I was thinking about defeating the key for a[/UWSL][UWSL] lever that can handle high torque. That's a job for the machine shop.[/UWSL]

 

[Simmons1]

Editing note. I will continue to edit out on re reads errors, arrogance, or duh in the posts just above. Also add missing detail. Editing is a job never done, it seems! By the next day I am chiding myself for my foibles.

WYBDR MY TECH LEARNING EXPERIENCES - PART 3

Kit and camping. Did I take too much stuff? Yes! And no. Due to a brain fart I ended up putting a few additional items on the support truck. Given it was NOT returning to Boyer Ranch where my truck and trailer were, I had to haul all the stuff back across the state, making my bike look green horn silly when loaded up at Bear Lodge. I did manage to bring everything back but my tent water bottle, a 1.75 liter Simply juice bottle. The red stretch net proved very handy, and I'm glad the Mosko dry bags can puke out so far! All the crap denied my sliding way back on the seat, but what remained of the seat was still awesome (read on):

Bill Dragoo shared a hotel room with me. He had to ride arm injured from a last-afternoon expert section crash all the back to Oklahoma from just south of Montana. Toughness! And where his 'land yacht' really shined for extended super slabbing with kit hauling capacity. The spare rear tire brought along because the rear Rallz was just about knobless in the middle.

SLEEPING THROUGH NIGHTS
A major goal was met: to be able to sleep well through each night. At most on a couple of nights I'd wake up about 4am and contemplate intervening with 5mg of Zolpidem (Ambien). I even slept through a violently tent flapping straight winds night!

Rarely did I wake up to stare at nothing or resort to the Kindle to get the brain waves back to wanna-sleep mode. I was reading Motorcycle Adventurer, the story of Sterns Clancy, the first around-the-globe motorcyclist - 1912 to 1913. It was such a different world then, and people were immensely tougher in general than they are today!

Sleep is sure helped with good, secure kit, and not boiling or freezing at night. Thankfully our nights were mountain west generally cool to chilly, so we weren't lobsters boiling in tents. Skeeters and other pesky bugs weren't a huge problem, and never were we having to set up tent in the wet or awaking to tents in or surrounded by pools of water.

TENT
Very happy with the choice of a Big Agnes Crag Lake SL2 (1-1/4-person) tent with optional foot print. The foot print provides tent foot protection and a base for the unitized center-pivoting pole set for setting up only the rain fly for a panic shelter from rain. I prefer the rectangular tents with a zipper door on both sides. It's what we've long had. The rain fly vestibules are just big enough to store a lot of stuff under. Many riders had dome tents which were better for setting up in the - unlucky for me - straight wind that quartered during the setup to side-on, mashing my whole setup to one side. I noticed the dome tents also better at having your kit to either side of the sleeping bag, inside the zippers. Also better in straight winds when setting up because dome are less sail like, at least for side-on winds. The radical straight wind incident had my tent squashed to one side when erecting, and I expected a storm later. I was the first to security tie the rain fly using my bike as an upwind belay with four sections of paracord. My tent looked like a straining heart valve. The paracord helped me right then tent poles once inside as the tendrils took some of the side pressure off.

SLEEPING BAG & AIR MATTRESS
I was right to send back the 25 degree Large Zenbivy Light system for the XL 10 degree system. Excellent product!

I tend to run cold when sleeping and will wake up if I get chilled or lack weight over me. Only one night did I start out on top of the quilt, but as the temp cooled to below 50 I slipped inside. I did not wake up sweltering, ever, which make me wonder how cold I'd get at the rated temperature. I suspect very cold! I think I'd be comfortable down to around freezing.

The air mattress was excellent, wide and long. I never felt on (or off) the edge. I'd air it up with my 12V old tire air pump detailed above. Plug it into the BMW style power outlet and and into the mattress valve walk away for 4 minutes while it noisily did the work. In the mornings, last thing I'd do sitting on the bag was to pop the valve out to flatten the thing. Each experience of that was a reminder of just how hard it would be to sleep in hard contact with the ground!

'SHEET'
A critical kit item was my 10-year-old REI light weight fleece liner, mummy shape, 82" X 30". They don't offer it in the same material any more, but have similar. This was my 'sheet' to sleep in or on. I sleep naked and don't like the icky feeling synthetic sheet material of the quilt and sheet of the Zenbivy system. Also, the Zenbivy material is not so easily washable so best to keep my greasy and stinky ass separated from it. I never got hot in the fleece, which I found nice, but I suspect when it's truly is cold it will help.

iPHONE KILLER
I wish I had known before the trip what an engine vibration excited RAM mount can do to my iPhone 12 Max! I was using it for navigation as I had yet to load a single gpx file into my fancy new Garmin. I'd've added a vibration isolator to the mount had I known.

I stopped to take a video after a long WFO gravel section only to think aliens were about as my screen was waving around as though under water, and videos have an added buzzing sound. Kevin the programmer said vibration had nuked a board component, a gyro. My 701 never felt like it vibrated much but I put a finger on my iPhone at speed and felt high frequency vibration with significant amplitude. The 12 does not have some configurability for turning image stabilization off like the later two versions. Not sure that would protect them anyway.

The problem looks repairable by replacing the camera board as detailed in this video, but I wonder if this will address the buzzing sound?. I'd be happy to just have all the zoom levels of the camera back to document things. I can live with a little video buzzing:



This fellow discusses various vibration dampers. Whatever I get will have to fit what I have and like:



Maybe I can mount a Quadlock damper unit or similar? A iPhone 12 Max with Otter case plus the robust RAM Quick Grip is big and heavy. Whatever vibration isolation component I use will have to have to work with higher mass to avoid resonant frequency excitation.

Lots of people I know have smoked iPhone cameras on their bikes with or without vibration dampers. A couple more than one phone.

I am still old school and prefer to use a purpose built (read tough) GPS for Navigation and have my phone packed away out of the elements. I do typically load the tracks in my phone as a back up in case my GPS fails but I have never had to utilize the phone as a back up.

 

[Motobene]

WYBDR MY TECH LEARNING EXPERIENCES - PART 4 SUSPENSION
The current suspension is something I can ignore because it is good enough... but only in warm-hot weather when the suspension oils are substantially thinner. Cold weather riding, however, will see a substantial increase in oil viscosity. With my back against the adjustment wall, standing on a narrow ledge of acceptable suspension speed, cold weather will have that wall push me off the cliff edge into 'negative awareness.' I'll become pissed at the even harsher, slower suspension! I know WP are after a high degree of suspension control when hard charging, but they thus mismatch the majority of riders, including me and my relatively high skill level and ability to go really fast when I want to - or shouldn't. So thanks, WP, for once again having a zero clickers adjustments system. It's better than the super harsh WP stuff of the mid `80s, but the same general errors are still there.

I keep bringing up suspension philosophy because it's critical to decoupling 'better suspension' from over simplification. The hydrodynamics of sophisticated suspension are complex and it's a good idea for this engineer to keep 'fluid' rather than ridged in my assumptions. I'm seeing some benefits to the more 'plugged up' model of suspension, and am taking my time to contemplate the 'where to' from a growing body of experience with the 'from.' Perhaps I should engage the head of a local suspension guy David Hall of the Hall Effect. He works at a local shop, but perhaps I can engage (pay) him for a round of discussion at least?

FORKS
The WP 6500 cartridge kit I and other found qualitatively better than the stock open/base valve setup. Quick bumps at speed would send shocking high impulses into my arms or spine. That got a touch better with break-in, but was always there as a reminder.
At no point in the whole trip was I able to use all the travel despite all clickers wide open. The red rings still stubbornly stand off the bottoms at 1.8" shy of full travel utilization, same as the 2" shy I experienced testing the stock forks on desert g-outs. What do I have to do to use all the travel, drop from a tall cliff?

One section of the BDR was a wonderful high altitude 'woods' section with a lot of dips and big ass rocks. I ate it up, charging hard, then stopping to let the light behind me come up. I'd then charge off again and stop to not over run the lead group. I pounded the suspension well and good. The overall control was good, but I could definitely feel higher reaction impulses on the fast/hard hits because the damping was not giving way sufficiently. The spring rate at 0.52 kg/mm is right, so it's not that the fork springs are over stiff. The forks are plain and simple, over damped.

Unfortunately with the closed-bled system I have to send the cartridges back with an attempt to explain the changes I want from perhaps two different philosophies of suspension. Been there, done that. One possible option is denied to me: reduce oil viscosity to speed things up. The extent to which the closed cartridges exchange some oil slowly with the outer chamber is unknown to me. Dropping thinner oil into the outer chamber may do nothing positive, at least for a long time.

SHOCK
The stock rear shock worked generally well and better than expected, but the same over damped character and no available adjustability is in the butt end as well. I will re valve the shock in the shim stack and seek to open up the rebound bypass capacity for useable rebound clicker adjustment. if the bypass lacks a check valve I can speed the compression response in the clickers as well. I should probably buy the Race Tech gold valve kit. That's give me a lot more shims and adjustability in the shim pack they send, which I can arrange to my best guess on the compression and rebound stacks.

As for the spring, my philosophy of stiffness is along modern lines of stiffer springs and less preload. The stock spring is 7.2 kg/mm (pink below), not 6.8 as shown on the Race Tech above the below table. I and others with KTMs on the trip were cursing the side stands as the rear ends tend to sag low despite higher preload. The high seat heights and longish kickstands can trap riders who fail to park with forethought, unable to lower or raise their stands without risk of falling over.

Riders would sometimes need help to lean their bikes with the tall seat height to be able to get the stands up or down unless they parked with forethought. Parking trials bikes at every section of the first loop of every trials competition has given me forethought... most of the time, but sometimes I'd not get it quite right and would struggle to get off or on the stand.

I've long avoided really stiff springs as they add harshness to the fast-hits response, but I find the 690/701 an exception in that they 'crave' the stiff springs. I chose to up to 8.0 kg/mm (yellow), as opposed to Race Tech's recommended 8.4 spring, and I ended up with a - to me - ridiculous 3/4" of spring preload and that was righter even when I offloaded most of my kit onto the support truck. That leads me to conclude I should go for stiffer than recommended (green):

But there's a caveat. If I change to more free damping, I have to take care to not override the rebound damping with a really stiff spring. Popping over a large log might have the rear end extending too quickly for a whee! nosedive response.

I'll soon be back in OKie and my shop to TIG weld shorten the kick stand. I will benchmark the unloaded and rider-loaded sag. Sag, like muffler plugs, is an anality I tend to ignore. But not entirely. I go for preferred steering reaction torques at greater lean angles versus sag recipes. Steering reaction torques are a function of rake, trail, handlebar grips positions relative to the steering axis, and other variable. One can lower ride height and control steering reaction torque by relative lowering, varying bike pitch until the desired steering characteristic is attained. For me that is just a touch on the side of oversteer from neutral, and avoiding all under- or severe over-steer. Front end up with rear end down promotes under steer and visa versa. The 690/701 is so fundamentally stable that it may be hard to pick up on nuances of steering reaction torques. Then again the insensitivity of the system just serves to make lowering easier.

I've just decided it wise to re valve the shock and shorten the kick stand first, then assess which spring to fit. Maybe the 8.0 is fine, accepting the higher preload amounts. If I need a different spring it'll mean one more shock R & R, but that's OK. With a long term keeper bike, the added labor for precise optimization is to me justifiable.

Lowering by lower preload meshes well a time-honed method of lowering tall bikes. No lowering link required. Rather, less rear spring preload for more rear sag and 'negative travel', which is the travel in shock extension with swingarm dropping down from the static equilibrium angle. More negative travel tends to promote terrain following, which increases plushness. This requires abandoning the idea that there is a 'right' rear-end sag. I don't think there is one right sag.

The lowered rear ride height then gets mated to moving the forks up in the triple clamps. My 701 with HDB handlebar mounts allows a substantial minus 1-1/4" of front end relative to the typical forks in triple clamps setup of just a bit of the legs sticking up out of the top triple clamp.

Thus ride height is lowered front and rear. You may lose some positive travel in the rear, but the travel in the front is the same. You will either see the front wheel kissing the front fender at full travel... or not. With a lowering link in the rear, I have had the rear tire melt spots on the rear fender. I once had a fine 2006 KLX330S. That model had too little rake resulting in oversteer. A fix was change of bike pitch by lowering link. I had to go through three lengths before settling on 1" lowering to keep from smacking the rear fender at full compression.

 

[Motobene]

Lots of people I know have smoked iPhone cameras on their bikes with or without vibration dampers. A couple more than one phone.

I am still old school and prefer to use a purpose built (read tough) GPS for Navigation and have my phone packed away out of the elements. I do typically load the tracks in my phone as a back up in case my GPS fails but I have never had to utilize the phone as a back up.

The whole GPS thing is another project. I've a friend with a gazillion GPX files of the whole Southwest US. The Google Earth KML to GPX thing is something I've played with several times. Next ride I'm going to set my own route.

One problem with old school is even the most modern GPS units lack easy ways to enter or look up destinations and use the unit for unplanned navigation. The Tread may have a way to do this, but it's not evident.

I'm even more old school in that I use maps to set routes. But I must admit having something live playing out in front of me is quite useful. I don't have to stop to check that I'm on route.

I've never put my hands on a vibration damper, so I've ordered the Quadlock version to have it in hand and see about fitting it to my setup. That may require the machine shop to do cleanly.

 

[Simmons1]

The whole GPS thing is another project. I've a friend with a gazillion GPX files of the whole Southwest US. The Google Earth KML to GPX thing is something I've played with several times. Next ride I'm going to set my own route.

One problem with old school is even the most modern GPS units lack easy ways to enter or look up destinations and use the unit for unplanned navigation. The Tread may have a way to do this, but it's not evident.

I'm even more old school in that I use maps to set routes. But I must admit having something live playing out in front of me is quite useful. I don't have to stop to check that I'm on route.

I've never put my hands on a vibration damper, so I've ordered the Quadlock version to have it in hand and see about fitting it to my setup. That may require the machine shop to do cleanly.

In regards to your second paragraph. I have a bunch of old GPSs I still use for day rides and an XT for longer travel. With Gramin Drive in my phone and linked to the XT it's very simple to use Drive in the phone to find a destination and then send it to the XT. Best of both worlds for me.

I also use a combination of paper maps and Google Maps when building my routes/tracks and carry paper maps on the bike.

I have a buddy that smoked an iPhone camera on his BMW GS. Got the phone squared away and installed a vibration damped Quadlock system. First trip with the Quadlock setup he smoked another phone camera.

This doesn't seem to be problem with Android phones. YMMV

 

[Motobene]

[UWSL]Comments added to the BDR suspension learning experience thread part 4.[/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]WYBDR MY TECH LEARNING EXPERIENCES - PART 5 CLOTHING, RIDER PROTECTION, MINIMALISM VERSUS INDEPENDENCE OF KIT, ETC. (An addition to Part 3)[/UWSL][/UWSL]
[UWSL][UWSL]Road trips and trials competitions, past general poverty, and the desire to not overheat in the hot seasons modified my clothing preferences. I like to joke about myself as the 'least best dressed trials rider', as I only wear Carhartt cargo shorts to compete, even when really cold I add thermal bottoms. I have bought hundreds of these shorts over the years. Recently I was stunned to find them 'wussified' for the urban Gen Zers and cheapened for the bean counters. The pants version seems still available so I have to stock up [/UWSL][/UWSL]
[UWSL][UWSL]

[/UWSL][/UWSL]
To protect the knees I have long used Fox Titan Sport guards on the outside:

[UWSL][UWSL]I can more easily overheat than normal people, so wearing spandex/synthetic clothing and long pants when competing in trials is out. For cold weather I add layers like thermals to the bottom and when really cold a wind proof jacket over the layers. That's worked down to a 4-degree blizzard in the Texas panhandle. [/UWSL][/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]Faster riding I like to wear the Carhartt pants. I brought along a set of Kim Mojave pants I've had many years because it 'might' rain. [/UWSL][/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]They stayed on the support truck, except when I had to haul the heavy things down state after the BDR :-( If I had worn them I'd've gotten hot and cursed them, so they are now off the preferred list indefinitely for the hot/warm/dry season. They are justifiable to wear for cold and especially wet weather, but I'll endeavor to never pack them. Packing rain pants quickly accessible takes out their need.[/UWSL][/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]I've long worn a Joe Rocket armored mesh street jacket for off road and dual sport/adventure riding over a long sleeve cotton T shirt (for arm sun protection). It a really heavy thing but breathes... A LOT! When I need to be warmer, I add layers, and warmer yet an oversize rain jacket over the outside. The 701 was fit with a DIN BMW-style Powelet outlet for the air pump and other accessories, so I can add my Aerostich heated vest for when it's quite cold and I'm doing road work. The heated vest to go over the T shirt, with another T shirt and/or fleece layer over the T shirt over the vest. The rain jacket over it all makes for a thick warm bubble for the torso, serving to add unicorn to the 701 as a cold weather highway machine. My skinny ass just hates getting cold to the core![/UWSL][/UWSL]

HELMET
[UWSL][UWSL]I've spend the last 16 years using a Bell Star street helmet everything non trials. The color ended up spot on for the 701, so I bought all new liners and internal bit recently. [/UWSL][/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]With no bill for sun shading I learned the black tape trick. The lack of positional ratchets was fixed by the Gorilla tape 'strap' that allows full opening and a cracked open closed position. [/UWSL][/UWSL][UWSL]I picked a Medium size based on the size chart numbers, which for my noggin are in the upper part of Medium at 22.6" to 23.2", depending on how one measures around the noggin. That did not account for my Alfred E. Neuman ears, however, and for years I've been torturing my ears. With the 6 days of riding this became a problem of ignoring the pain. [/UWSL][UWSL]I discovered that a buff helps reduce ear smash and peel when donning and doffing the helmet, also increasing sweat comfort, but the thin material also added to head compression. I determined when home to FINALLY buy a new helmet![/UWSL]

[UWSL][UWSL]After research and trying on helmets at Cycle Gear yesterday I learned Large is a better size for me. They lacked a non-solid color and I liked the Arai XD4 Catch model color scheme in yellow, so I ordered the only size available from their warehouse, Large. Arai helmets in non-solid colors are not made in large quantities, so if you find a pattern/color you like don't dither. It will sell out. I find the following right for the 701, and a newer patter/color to be more garish and weird, so this is what is coming to the house soon:[/UWSL][/UWSL]
[UWSL][UWSL]

[/UWSL][/UWSL]
My second choice was also a very $$, Japanese-made (versus Chinese), more modern Shoei Hornet X2 design. But the Arai felt great and the shield can be adjusted (via friction) to any position. I don't care is the design is a bit dated.

One should avoid shield-type helmets that lacking the ability to crack open the shield and have stay fixed in place, whether by friction, like the Arai or detents, or by excellent detents like the Shoei. Avoid helmets with closing detent that will suck the shield shut, preventing the cracked-open position that is be best compromise for ventilation for cooling and anti fogging, yet still having good dust and adequate rain protection.

Both helmet designs are juxtaposed in this video:



The above DS and ADV-type shielded/billed helmets allow for goggles use for really nasty situations. I don't prefer goggles, but it's nice to have the option.

THAT MINIMALISM VERSUS INDEPENDENCE & COMFORT THING
[UWSL]This issue has come up in a What's App conversation with my new BDR friends. It's not so easy to determine what one should NOT bring along for a multi-day ride. While the tendency is to over pack and learning by bad example to be more minimal, the issue will always be a difficult one as it depends so much on a wide array of variable, some in our control and some not, such as unexpected changes in weather. Over m[/UWSL][UWSL]inimalism from ' I be tough' macho, lack of insight and planning, or just plain poverty, can invite unwanted adventures which instruct with negative knowledge. No matter how much you study and plan, there's always the learning experience to have. "I wish I had brought X", to "I wish I had not brought Y."[/UWSL]

[UWSL]Sigh.[/UWSL]

BAGS

[UWSL]One does need some CAPACITY to bring stuff to bring stuff. On my person, I have the side pockets of the Carhartt pants. One usually had reading glasses while the other had sun glasses. With the new thing of reading sun glasses, the pockets could have been used for something else. Also on person always is an[/UWSL][UWSL] Osprey Manta 25 or 28 backpack. Quality bags (the 25 I have used for trials competitions for over a decade and it looks like hammered shit).[/UWSL]

[UWSL]In the Osprey pack for the BDR were additional clothing layers and the critical rain jacket. Also sun screen, a second set of sun glasses, and spare gloves. I did not fit my hydration bladder this time. That's critical in trials events, but I had a 2 liter Nalgene rectangular water bottle in one of the Mosko Aux Pox, which I'd usually had 1/2 full, and a juice bottle with water in the side pockets. Osprey packs of this design can comfortable carry up to four 30-ounce MSR fuel bottles, but due to the large ride group and support truck I did not bring but two bottles, and they stayed empty. I also did not take my 1 gallon gas bag. In[/UWSL][UWSL] the pack I found Marcus Aurelius Meditations book which I never read, a collapsible bowl, spoon, and a freeze dried breakfast and dinner - just in case, which went unused. On the support truck my Jetboil and fuel usually rode, having, tea and coffee. I did appreciate the cup and a half of my habitual Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea in the evenings, but these and related items were not needed for this BDR.[/UWSL]

[UWSL]On the bike was the 21 pounds of Mosko 80 bags that I wracked my brain over. Too big, heavy? But I found it better to have the larger potential capacity and then choose how much I inflated that capacity for the situation. Regardless of whether or not I'm camping, I still have to have my tools and supplies, and some water to not die when the unexpected happens.[/UWSL]

[UWSL]OVERALL[/UWSL]
[UWSL]I learned more of what to take and not to take for the particular ride. For the next multi-day ride with camping I will be similarly challenged, but I will go more minimal if the support is promised and the group is larger. How could I know with the West38moto ride when I had never done that before? Now I have. Less is appreciated to reduce the burdens of the ride, but the perspective must be wide. The 'which bike' consideration is huge as that will affect how much adding kit is felt, and how heavy you are to begin with before you add anything else to the bike. There were guys doing the BDR in the 300 to 500cc range and doing fine. Then folks like me with 'in between' bikes, 690/701. Then the multi-cylinder bikes with their advantages and disadvantages. So far I'm very pleased with the benefits of the added weight and power of a bigger, powerful single as a wider bandwidth-of-use bike. My unicorn horn is felling pretty long after the experience. But I also experienced the benefits of the 'land yacht' bikes in test rides.[/UWSL]

[UWSL]All design is a compromise of competition requirements, and we is certain parts of the world in this time have the 'problem' of a lot of choices of where we can go and the use of the magical miracle liquid fuel. That serves to remind that I (we) can spend too much time thinking and preparing, and not enough time getting out there, doing and exploring before the night comes, which it will, in more ways than one. [/UWSL]

 

[Motobene]

EXPLORATION RIDE - TIJERAS TO TIJERAS TO CHILILI, TAJIQUE, 4TH OF JULY AREA
A long day ride yesterday exploring SSE of Albuquerque was fun, but came with learning experiences regarding use of a GPS for navs.

My longest riding partner, having abandoned his older 690 over concerns for electrical reliability, went anvil simple and got himself a DR650. Throwing a ton of money to create a kind of Super DR was my choice for a bike build, then I got big ideas and acquired a 701, which is more 'sports car' versus 'tractor.' I was thinking through what final drive I might use with the future wide-ratio gearbox while my friend told me about repeat vain attempts to shift into a 6th gear he doesn't have. No complaints with the 701 and it was hot enough for the suspension to just about move acceptably. I loaded up as an experience for a maximum kit configuration short of camping. The 701 didn't seem to care.

I regretted forgetting a backup paper map. The route was created on the amazing Garmin Tread app on a phone using parameters like 'adventurous', etc. The gpx was loaded into our Tread GPSs, my friends as one file, whereas my Tread broke it into 2 files. Maybe him having a micro SD card whereas mine does not may account for the difference?

We set off all bright eyed and bushy tailed from ABQ, going south along the greener east side of the mountains to explore new for us territory. Planned for was ~200 miles, trusting the GPS was not lying about roads going through or even existing at all! And we should have paid attention to the Isleta rez and the Chilili grant, as such places often prevent outsiders from travelling across their sovereign territory. We kept getting pushed south. In places we'd get to within ONE parcel of the national forest, then (buzzer sound), gated and blocked. Stopped at a nice little store in Tajique to top off on gas because where the hell would we end up? A cute young woman running the store gave us local intel on Cibola NF roads, so we went there and spent hours in the rough having fun, but by then we knew we'd have to back track to avoid having to go way around to the south to get back to the dryer western side of the mountain chain.

 

[Motobene]

FOOTPEGS
I want to highlight the foot pegs I used on the 701 project bike, as they have proved critical to my whole ergonomic scheme.

I long ago ran out of the stainless steel laser cut 'blanks' I have used to make so many foot pegs. Back in the mid 1990s I designed and had a number of these cut at Kalamazoo Sheet Metal. They cost me then around $10 for a set of enlarged foot pegs. 20 years later I priced another run and the price per and minimum run amount was ridiculous, so I dropped ordering more, so I can no longer easily add to existing pegs to achieve better ergos.

The cultural norm for foot pegs has come a long way, but in my educated opinion has stopped well short of long and wide enough for 'more optimal.' Unlike the torture devices of 50 years ago, they are SO much better, but they've gotten stuck at 'goodnuff.' But 'goodnuff' is suboptimal for comfort and control.

There are a lot of options on the market and certainly all sorts of opinions on what makes good pegs. For what it's worth, I'll offer my insights.

Avoid the pivoting pegs! They are a gimmick design based on the assumption that having a rotating axis under under the peg is better, when you already have a super-computer-controlled articulating ankle, and the decoupling of the foot peg/sole. The added axial rotation reduces, rather than enhances, control. These came on my friends used DR650. I warned him about them, but he said, "I don't know. I might like them", which got a shoulder shrug from me. Then came the ride wherein he conceded, after an hour off road, that, "they are almost dangerous and will come off."

Avoid aluminum in the structure of foot pegs. More than once have I experienced guys brain storming some kind of temporary foot peg after an aluminum peg has snapped off from an impact. Aluminum is of course an awesome material. The foot peg mounts on a 690/701 are aluminum forgings. But they are also massive enough to take huge impact loads. Aluminum foot pegs aren't massive enough and they much more likely to snap off with a rock hit or bike crash.

A great peg choice is the KTM Rally pegs. They are long enough and have perhaps the best teeth profiles. But they don't address the penchant for KTM pegs to be positioned high and too far forward.

When I saw Radan's Czech Republic Bosley Pegs, specifically the one below left, the largest and most back set and down set version, I found my preferred ergonomic and control enhancing solution. They will be considered by the majority as 'ridiculously' large, but that goes away when sitting over them and standing on them! He does orders through email,

[email protected]

I wrote:

Took a while to receive them, and they were not cheap, and I had to so some minor material removal in the clevices for a good fit, but they have proved awesome, and have fixed some habitual KTM ergonomic flaws. I have a 34" inseam, so I am considered tall. I have never liked having my feet pushed up when sitting, and I don't like them more forward as the seated-to-standing transition is resisted more than it should be. High foot pegs also serve make handlebars feel too low in the grips positions, especially in the usual rolled back position.

I have the widest available aftermarket seat, the Seat Concepts comfort XL, standard thickness. The stock pegs have my legs up and off the seat at the thighs, adds pressure on the hip prominences, speeding up time to monkey butt. The pegs I chose add thigh support when seated. A rider on a 690 with the same seat said mine felt more comfortable. The pegs may actually account for the positive difference.

Another difference noted in the swap was shifter position. Typical for me riding other's bike is the shifter tip-angle is adjusted for shifting in the seated position, and often I find my toe crowded under the tip, especially when standing. A 690 rider said my shifter was higher than his, but when I compared my bike to his the shifter was at the exact same angle. Again, the foot pegs accounted for the difference and it was a positive one for me as I don't like the shifter crowding my foot. That's a trials bias. On trials bike the shifter is completely out of the way of the foot which is preferred because we are so leg and foot dynamic on the bikes:

The TRS trials bike has shifter tip 10" in front of the foot peg centerline. A bis DS bike isn't a trials bike. I'm just providing context. My 701, now more open in the shifter ergos because of the foot pegs, is at 7-7/8". Stock was 6-3/4", making the new center position +1.125" (~29mm). I like it.

 

[Motobene]

NEW HELMET
Arrived by Fed-X from Cycle Gear today. This is my first helmet in a LONG while. It's an Arai XD4 in the Catch Yellow color scheme. Yikes! Just under $800.
Size is Large. I am intermediate oval measuring between 22.6" to 23.2" around my shaved dome.

Cowboy isn't quite sure what to make of it....

I'm glad I scored one of the last few of this model run. The dayglo yellow fits the 701 and lights up the rider. I like it better than the (I assume) newer Arai Cover Yellow, as it has a bit more white:

and better than the Shoei Hornet X2 Sovereign Yellow:

The fit while wearing the Arai feels better at the get-go than any previous helmet I've owned. Nice and cradled and a touch snug, perfect for opening up with break-in. There are no weird pressure hot spots.

Getting the thing on and off is tight, as it wants to shear my ample ears off (ouch - a buff will help), but thankfully the ear compression WHILE wearing a helmet is corrected.

I found this Arai DOES have some face shield detents. I thought only the Shoei had detents AND a just-cracked open position. This Arai detents are fewer than Shoei, however, at closed, just cracked open (critical), mid open, and fully open. Shoei has more and evenly-spaced detents.

I'm hoping barely cracked open will be cracked open enough to provide enough circulation air shield more down when it's hot.

Having the ability to wear goggles with a full face shielded helmet will be something new to check out. If I can find goggles that will fit over sunglasses I might be inclined to use goggles for dusty rides. But still having to pack and protect goggles when not using them just takes up space.

 

[Motobene]

Vibration damper (Quad Lock) for phone mount received. Looks like a nice unit. I'm thinking if I can also stabilize the upper part of the mount to reduce resonance that the mount might not kill iPhones? We shall see.

I ordered the camera module for my iPhone 12Max. $90. Don't know if it exactly the same as the original. Working on phones can be a royal pain, but have a microscope. We'll see how the self repair goes!

 

[Engineer]

Maximizing horsepower is irrelevant to me. All I care about is 'right' power, as in very useful and predictable power. The power is certainly ample grabbing a handful, but it isn't 'right.' There is an over-lean condition at and above idle and low throttle openings, with a pulsating feeling of hunting around, and the occasional pop on deceleration. Not only is that distracting, it's also not safe as I will be doing some technical riding. A heavy, taller bike lacking rock solid predictable power off bottom is an invitation to unexpected 'thud' stalls. I've been injured twice from that in the past and don't care for a repeat!

My 2021 701 is unfortunately Euro 5, not Euro 4 or previous). The previous owner fit a Rottweiler [UWSL]O2 sensor dongle and removed the O2 sensor. I've asked him to please locate the O2 sensor so I can experience closed loop to directly feel the difference, closed loop and open. The Euro 5 ECU coding may be defeating the dongle. Can't know without trying.[/UWSL]

[UWSL]Since I picked the bike up I fit the lighter and a lot less hot Wings muffler with the quietest dB killer insert, and also fit the RADE Garage dinky airbox and oiled foam air filter. The changes are supposed to make the bike run even leaner, but stock or not, the lean problem is right there![/UWSL]

[UWSL]I tried to contact someone down under about their little super dongle, but they ignored my inquiries. So that left the expensive Dynojet Power Commander. I[/UWSL][UWSL] called Dynojet and had a long conversation with a 'techspert' there about my desire for a plug-and-play solution. I wanted to know if the new Commander 6 could solve my problem without me futzing around a lot with it and gained confidence that for some $470 it might be plug and play. I certainly hope so!! We settled on a very specific map, which they will load for me before shipping the unit.[/UWSL]

[UWSL]I'll let all two of you know how it turns out. [/UWSL]

When I bought my KTM 690 (2020 model,Euro4), the prior owner had done over $1000 of work taking out all of the emissions equipment, stock airbox, O2, muffler, etc. I put everything back except the evap canister, and it runs as well or better without as much noise.

Some people with Euro 5 bikes belatedly realized that their throttle response was negatively impacted by changing out the muffler and/or airbox, and had to restore the OEM equipment to get a smooth throttle. Remember, there is an entire industry of charlatans peddling performance "upgrades" to cater to this belief that OEM engineers don't know what they are doing, unlike some business guy with a marketing degree who owns a performance parts store, selling resistors for $50 and anodized plates.

Some things I noticed is that the stock airbox is carefully engineered to trap water and prevent ingress if you drop it during a water crossing. The foam intakes have absolutely no protection. Also, it is resonant at midrange RPM to smooth throttle response and increase power there.

Removing the $50 Rotweiller fuel dongle, which is literally just a resistor, didn't decrease performance or hurt throttle response at all and my gas mileage went up after installing the O2 sensor.

Restoring the SAS was easy and had no effect on performance one way or the other.

Stock muffler weighs a little more, but the 690/701 is already pretty heavy, especially loaded up with luggage, crash bars and rally tower, so it's negligible. The stock muffler is designed to be resonant in such a way that back pressure increases at a specific RPM to improve midrange power.

Lastly, the Power Commander is an over priced gimmick. What you really need is to install a wideband O2 sensor and an adjustable narrowband emulator that can properly adjust AFR in a closed loop fashion. This is what modern vehicles are using now.

Spartan 3 Wideband Device

Sorry, this isn't what motorcycle owners want to hear, but these performance parts upgrade guys are mostly just a bunch of crooks.

 

[Antti]

Instead original airbox I have Rade garage small box with foam filter on my eur5 bike. I’d like to use the original but there very handy storage place there now.. exhaust is Wings and the bike has also Coober taking care of mixture. It runs fine and I don’t have any complaiments about that. But the intake sound is awful. Bike is likely few kg’s lighter.

 

[Engineer]

Instead original airbox I have Rade garage small box with foam filter on my eur5 bike. I’d like to use the original but there very handy storage place there now.. exhaust is Wings and the bike has also Coober taking care of mixture. It runs fine and I don’t have any complaiments about that. But the intake sound is awful. Bike is likely few kg’s lighter.

So on that note, reinstalling the OEM airbox was a total nightmare and took about three days. The wiring of the main harness was rerouted by the original owner for the installation of the rally tower. Also, the prior owner and myself had installed many accessories with additional wiring.

To get the original airbox to fit, I actually had to cut it in an area on the side and move the panel in a few mm, epoxy and caulk. Then I had to figure out why it still wasnt seating, to find the main wiring harness needed to be moved over in another spot.

There is so much stuff crammed into the 690/701 and the tolerances are so tight that it can be a PITA to work on. Its clear to me that KTM group just keeps shoe-horning in new components, hoses and wiring into an existing frame design to keep up with emissions and feature requirements. ABS blocks the radiator, harness is too close to the airbox. SAS, crankcase breather and evap canister are a rats nest of tubes and hoses.

The OEM airbox is clearly designed with CAD to fill every available mm^3 to get the resonant frequency low enough for the particular RPM range they are trying to enhance.

In truth, I contemplated giving up on the effort several times. But since I had to order the airbox from the UK, I was motivated to see it through. Almost makes me want to keep the Rottweiler one, however.

 

[Antti]

Auch.. sounds like I`m not just trying the difference with OEM airbox in near future.

 

[Motobene]

Same for me, Antti! The stuffed pickle of the OE air box is never going back on my bike. Exception: If I buy another, fresher 701 and wish to keep my expensive aftermarket bits.

Engineer, the SAS, ABS lines, canisters, etc, is tricking into storage boxes, buying me real estate reducing clutter irritation (except for where to store the damned boxes!). Can't wait to complete deleting ALL the ABS cap when I pull the engine to fit the Nova Racing gearbox, which won't happen until deep winter.

My hearing is damaged and I have constant tinnitus. A curious thing about some types of hearing damage is becoming over-sensitive to certain kinds of noise, like intake thrubbing. A musician friend can no longer tolerate music or radio no one else finds loud. I jump at loud noises. I once had an extensively modified KLX330 for many years. When running no airbox lid the intake thrub was to me intense and irritating. I ended up putting the lid back on with no rubber snorkel through the hole.

I was surprised Rade Garage airbox did not thrub me irritatingly. The Rade Garage airbox and Wings exhaust with the quieter of the two end-inserts is even pleasant. When I rode the stock 690s, I found the bikes too quiet, having sound feedback insufficient at speeds above about 25mph.

For slow technical riding I don't wear ear plugs. I prefer the added acoustic feedback of sound bouncing off the terrain for a slight uptick in spatial acuity. While I find the added noise of the modded 701 to be acceptable, even pleasant, I cannot tolerate in-helmet wind noise when riding faster! And that's with a very good full-face helmet. My solution has long been to jam very good ear plugs way into my wetted ear canals to become - I like to describe it - being 'as deaf as possible' during faster riding, especially if the wind is up. In such cases an over-quiet bike lacks in auditory feedback for more precise use of the available power.

 

[Engineer]

Vibration damper (Quad Lock) for phone mount received. Looks like a nice unit. I'm thinking if I can also stabilize the upper part of the mount to reduce resonance that the mount might not kill iPhones? We shall see.

I ordered the camera module for my iPhone 12Max. $90. Don't know if it exactly the same as the original. Working on phones can be a royal pain, but have a microscope. We'll see how the self repair goes!

So I've actually been designing, machining my own phone mount vibration isolators recently. My expertise is in laser physics and engineering, of which vibration isolation is quite important in practice.

As mentioned, all of the commercial phone vibration isolators are worthless. But the good news is that vibration isolation isn't rocket science, but it isn't cheap or compact, either. I've literally spent tens of thousands on vibration isolating equipment in the lab...

That said, the gold standard for this application is Sorbothane rubber.

Sorbothane Male-Female Vibration Stud Mount - 4 Pack

These ultra-high quality anti-vibration mounts are designed to provide the best vibration reduction possible. Each mount in comprised of high quality fasteners and industry leading Sorbothane visco-elastic polymer. These are Male to Female Stud Mounts.

www.isolateit.com

These do the job well, but I find they can tear if you use only one big one. So I'm in the process of machining a mount that incorporates two or three of these smaller isolators. But given the price, you can see that a proper isolator would be more like a $200 device than a $35 device like what Quad Lock sells.

 

[Engineer]

My Solution to KTM 690 / Husky 701 Limited Cooling Problem

As most know, the KTM 690 / Husky 701 platforms "runs hot". Part of this may be due to emissions requirements, but the real problem is not the operating point, but rather that the bike tends to overheat during slow, technical riding during hot summer days. If you look behind the radiator, you'll see that there is only a fan on one side. The other side is also somewhat obstructed by the brake/ABS system and coolant hose. While many people have toyed with various bandaids, like lower temperature thermostat, or different coolant, these don't solve the real problem--which is that the radiator simply doesn't have the necessary cooling capacity for an engine of this power output. It would help tremendously if there was a second fan on the right side of the radiator, but its blocked from behind by a bunch of equipment.

Marine 3" Turbo Fan 12V - Amazon

As a result, my solution is to mount a small, but powerful, 3" waterproof fan in front of the right side of the radiator. It is powered from the ACC2 plug in the instrument cluster, which runs off of circuit "e" in the service manual. That's the same circuit (but different fuse) that the original fan runs from, which is important to maintain...or you will be jumping the relays and causing problems. The ground of the fan goes to the radiator thermostat switch so that it turns on with the stock fan. I think this is the best solution because the thermostat is designed to keep the engine running at a constant temperature, around 100 C. You just don't want it going much above that.

I was able to fit the fan at such a position that it doesn't contact the ground when the bike is on its side, and there is also clearance for the full motion of the forks and tire.

I tested it out today at idle, and it does seem to move a good amount of air through the right side of the radiator. If I place my hand back there, I can definetly feel hot air blowing out the back side, and the thermostat seems to cycle off quicker. Its cooled down here for Fall, so I'm not sure I'll need it this season, but I can easily disconnect it when its cool out. Although, since its regulated by the thermostat, it doesn't really do any harm to leave it on either.

 

[Simmons1]

My Solution to KTM 690 / Husky 701 Limited Cooling Problem

As most know, the KTM 690 / Husky 701 platforms "runs hot". Part of this may be due to emissions requirements, but the real problem is not the operating point, but rather that the bike tends to overheat during slow, technical riding during hot summer days. If you look behind the radiator, you'll see that there is only a fan on one side. The other side is also somewhat obstructed by the brake/ABS system and coolant hose. While many people have toyed with various bandaids, like lower temperature thermostat, or different coolant, these don't solve the real problem--which is that the radiator simply doesn't have the necessary cooling capacity for an engine of this power output. It would help tremendously if there was a second fan on the right side of the radiator, but its blocked from behind by a bunch of equipment.

Marine 3" Turbo Fan 12V - Amazon

As a result, my solution is to mount a small, but powerful, 3" waterproof fan in front of the right side of the radiator. It is powered from the ACC2 plug in the instrument cluster, which runs off of circuit "e" in the service manual. That's the same circuit (but different fuse) that the original fan runs from, which is important to maintain...or you will be jumping the relays and causing problems. The ground of the fan goes to the radiator thermostat switch so that it turns on with the stock fan. I think this is the best solution because the thermostat is designed to keep the engine running at a constant temperature, around 100 C. You just don't want it going much above that.

I was able to fit the fan at such a position that it doesn't contact the ground when the bike is on its side, and there is also clearance for the full motion of the forks and tire.

I tested it out today at idle, and it does seem to move a good amount of air through the right side of the radiator. If I place my hand back there, I can definetly feel hot air blowing out the back side, and the thermostat seems to cycle off quicker. Its cooled down here for Fall, so I'm not sure I'll need it this season, but I can easily disconnect it when its cool out. Although, since its regulated by the thermostat, it doesn't really do any harm to leave it on either.

What happens when you ride in muddy conditions with this setup?

 

[Engineer]

What happens when you ride in muddy conditions with this setup?

Well, the fan is waterproof and there is a screen in the front. So it will probably be OK. However, I am in New Mexico, so we don't have a lot of that wet stuff. I suppose if you live in an area with a lot of fine mud that cakes up, one could simply construct a shield that blocks mud buildup, like the radiator does for the stock fan.