Rarepartbuilder... modding the WR250R

Hi Folks

I'm building some  wr farkle  item{s} ...

i will add additional posts to this thread when new wr250 machining happens.One of the main goals is to inspire other riders to get the tools out and make/own some of your bike part additions... I've viewed some really good rear fender tidy up/trim..side stand foot  posts here on WR forums. keep it coming!! I would also like to thank the forum members that have graciously supplied dimensions of their boughten farkles..again thank you for sharing.

Bill

Hi Folks

I obtained some dual sport GPS tracks to use from a local DS site here in Atlantic Canada ..  when reading the ride report from the GPS track initiator/owner .. i noticed that one dr650 rider  without a skid plate hit a sharpe rock and  punched a hole/or crack through an engine case half.. oil pissed out slow enough that someone noticed and the bike was shut down.

actual picture from RR

dr650 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


Since i was planning to follow the same GPS tracks later in the month i had a problem... the bike i wanted to use in the stable had no skid plate so i scoured the net for some idea's and it became quickly evident that many bike owners complained about metal skid plate noise reflection on WR250R.. even if rubber spacers were used ..bedliner coating on skid plate etc... etc.
..
As always music is on in the shop .....



So here is my version of the truth... a hybrid skid plate build..

OEM set up ... great for work commute protection i suppose..:-)

20151101_165130 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_165137 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


grab some measurements ...

20151101_165227 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_165249 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_165303 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

angles....

20151101_170652 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_170719 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

paper gauge to get the frame bend radius...

20151101_171834 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_171840 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_172406 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

segment length of radius

20151101_172433 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

just need to go find some stock...

for the base

HDPE { high density polyethylene } this is the same stuff food preparation/cutting boards are made from and is available in reasonable size sheets .

20151101_175640 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

.5" for the skid plate "bottom" .. this same stock made great chain slider stock from another old home made farkle post HERE

20151101_175632 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

for the vertical portion of the skid plate HDPE but only 1/4" thick
joinery section and sides will be 6061 alum

plan:

20151101_174534 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

bike frame shape:

20151101_174548 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

i opted first to make the transition pc from horizontal plastic to vertical..

i laid out a section of 12" diameter aluminum pipe that was left over from a hand guard build earlier in the farkling thread.

20151101_172911 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

concave side laid out... "just in case"

20151101_173316 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

......

20151101_173807 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

get the safety glasses out.....also... i use blade wax as cutting lube. ..cheap... and extends blade life
mucho...

20151101_173956 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

machined the aluminum section edges parallel

20151101_191844 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_191820 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_191351 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr




tapped it to the bike frame to get my head wrapped around what the bottom section needed to look like...

20151101_175303 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

1/2" stock roughed out..

20151101_175838 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_175847 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

smoothed up edges.. stuff cuts like butter..

20151101_180448 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

step nylon edge fwd side only so that the aluminum and 1/2" nylon will be flush to each other...

20151101_181620 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151101_181739 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

the thick base would need to be "bent"   to fit the first frame 17.5 DEG bend per the sketch.. i choose this 1/4" dia x  1/8" rad cutter.

20151101_182745 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

milled just deep enough to create a full radius groove at the c/l of bend..

20151101_183016 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

next up

how in the heck to bend the freaking 1/2" HDPE

ok.. get you folks in synch...








a bit frustrated with bending the 1/2" HDPE ...plastic stock to the 17.5 deg angle. At first i tried a propane torch but could not evenly heat the sheet enough to get it to bend consistently....
Looking down at the plastic ....got thinking about the shallow 1/4" groove machined earlier.. then spied an old scrap flange off of a pc of 1/4" steel angle.
In the aircraft world hot bending and joggling of aluminum is not uncommon so i thought.. why not hot bend the plastic with a hot "edge"

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/Ah8Sgs']20151101_184811[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

The machined groove made it easy to locate the bend... i had a cardboard gauge made to check the angle.. after two attempts..
{note.. you will need and exhaust fan if you try this.. and a rag to wipe the hot angle edge from plastic residue..if you reform on the still hot steel edge}

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/zYddNV']20151101_185948[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

a quick shot of how the aluminum transition /corner piecec fits flush to the 1/2" skid plate bottom .

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AV6Hw2']20151101_183321[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

.......


[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AV6LU4']20151101_200244[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AW5UDp']20151101_200401[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AW5V54']20151101_201928[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AW5VoR']20151101_201935[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/Ah8WZW']20151101_201951[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

up until now i had deviated from the 1/4" HDPE on the front skid plate edge and was trying some 1/4" PVC but it was too brittle.. .. so back to the original plan..

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/Ah8HoM']20151102_063915[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr


heated and bent to match up with alum. transition.. the thin stuff forms fine with propane torch over the scrap pipe section

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ASNJoE']20151102_065519[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

random assembly

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/zY5ghE']20151102_071210[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/Ah8Kg4']20151102_083119[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr


drill 5mm

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ATYeWQ']20151102_094307[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr


tap 6mm

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ACxzXj']20151102_094612[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

assembled shots

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ATYfJb']20151102_095447[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ASRYT5']20151102_095455[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AjvhGZ']20151102_095516[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr


mounting holes and oil drain plug drilled

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AhcdKs']20151103_062927[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/AjviG4']20151103_063150[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr

bolted the assembly to the bike and used cardboard to make a side profile view.. i wanted to make some side case/water pump protection that had not been addressed yet.

[URL='https://flic.kr/p/ACxTCE']20151103_074415[/URL] by [URL='https://www.flickr.com/photos/118158037@N08/']Freewillie KLR[/URL], on Flickr


next up skid plate "side" build and completed installation view on bike.

Thanks for sharing.  It certainly is interesting to see the complex steps, tools, and materials that you're using to build this.  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product installed on the bike.

Just curious, why weren't you interested in Moose Racing's HDPE skidplate?

I have the Flatlands Racing aluminum skidplate.  I was able to mitigate most, if not all, of the oft discussed noise problem by placing inexpensive high density foam weatherstripping between the skidplate and the frame.  Basically I just peeled the paper backing off of the sticky side of the weatherstripping, stuck it to the frame, and bolted the skidplate over it.  No more noise complaints from me.

Glad your tagging along WW

The same moose hdpe skid plate is 218.00 + tax CDN {free shipping}

https://www.canadasmotorcycle.ca/moose-pro-skid-plate.html

pricey ..but not for the reason you would think
Its only 6mm thick on the bottom ..in my own opinion is too thin pitted against a pointed stone. If the unit gets damaged or cracked it's another 218.00 vs me cutting a 10.00 pc of plastic and making a new bottom section with only one bend and 8 or 9 through holes.

This is the first time i have bent 13mm nylon type material. Being able to bend opens up a lot more options down the road{now that i know HDPE type materials can be formed easily}

There will be a chain slider build for the WR this winter using the same 13mm stock :o)

rarepartbuilder wrote:

There will be a chain slider build for the WR this winter using the same 13mm stock :o)

The material of choice for chain troughs that take a brutal amount of weighty abuse in lumber mills ;  }

That will be one tough slippery plate when your done. I do like the hybrid approach you are following. I can't help but admire your approach to fabrication. Keep up the great work.

Good to have you folks on board.... Fall time was/is spinning by so fast.. i was trying to get as much riding time in as i could before winter officially sets/set in...

lol no pressure huh...enjoy the tune...




Had the template made time for side contour construction.. as the hip says... rushin by the machine revving tension...

cardboard trimmed...the tear in the cardboard is where the water pump housing is...

20151103_074952 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

bandsaw... below the aluminum is one of plastic french curves i use to join layout shapes together with... dollar store item ..

20151103_082339 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

fasten left and right side together... to make opposing halves... the bolts are located in at least one area that will be cut out..

20151103_083447 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

any place flat on the two bolted parts.. got a quick cut on the mill..

20151103_180940 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151103_180947 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


with the sides machined and deburred.. i wanted to make a small shelf for the nylon to sit on... found a short pc of 6061 ...1/8 " extrusion... 1 " flange... trimmed off.. = 2 parts...

20151103_185826 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

tack weld the extrusion flange to the sides... the rough sawn side is what is being welded..save some machining..

20151103_204837 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


20151103_205000 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


20151103_212830 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151103_212849 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr



"bottom" bolted to sides... now is to make sure things are good before full length weld of extrusion...

20151103_212906 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

played around with a marker trying to decide what to put for lightening holes... the clock was ticking the ride was in the morning.. because the sides were mirror image..they could still be bolted together for a good drilling...


20151104_210244 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151104_210253 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

bolted the thing on the bike the next morning.. and went for a 400 km ride to mt thom of which 90 kms  was a DS gps track...this is what the skid plate looked like afterwards...

20151110_110943 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

about 1/4 " space /clearance at lowest shift and brake position

20151110_110955 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151110_111002 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151110_111006 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

The only "field" installation was the 6mm bolt at the top edge /adjacent to the exhaust pipe..

20151110_111017 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151110_111028 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151110_111042 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


20151110_111054 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr

20151110_111103 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


not shown earlier... the bolts in the bottom of the nylon in the oem location are counter sunk into the 1/2 " nylon... just in case ...

20151110_111117 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr


felt good to get out... the trail area  users have a good sense of humor... only about 130 kms or 80 miles back home from this trail head...too bad the days are soo short "eh"

20151105_140522 by Freewillie KLR, on Flickr



thanks for tagging along...

Im sure that skid plate is super tough but how do you upshift and check the oil?

I'd be cutting the parts that stick out past the frame under the shifter and brake lever off so I could shift and ride normally and you can drill a hole in front of the oil sight glass so you can see it.

I found some scraps of black 3/8 hdpe and made a skid plate for my old kx (I've sold it since then) and my brothers klx, the stuff is tougher than the 1/8 alum my WRRs zeta skid plate is made out of and quiet. If I didn't already have a skid plate I'd be making one out of it.

Thanks for the observations Biglake
The build was under a bit of duress due to riding day approaching which i think you gathered in the post.The morning of the ride the bike was ready ..so i installed the skid plate and left. I'm not content with the lightening process of the sides {they can be mucho lighter}.. and will especially after pointing out the site glass will turn the the lightening holes into vertical slots.lol.. i guess posting things in almost real time makes the forum members on the R & D crew eh.
Shifter works fine for me at least with the atv boots i wear.. if i encounter a up shift problem.... i'd likely just put a custom bend /mod the shift arm to custom fit me instead of butchering the skid plate.

I am a bit biased when it comes to shifters hanging out in space.. on an off i've bent them bad in the past.

Hang in there and we'll get her tidied up!!

I have my shifter one notch higher than yours so I can get my big thick mx boot under it, that would probably help you out with your skid plate under the shifter as well.