Another From KLR...With Questions

So I got rid of the Pig/KLR (rather quickly), now I get my 2016 WRR next week. It will be good to lose the weight and get EFI. I did have a couple of questions for the WRR Veterans...

The KLR had a jungle gym for front and rear crash bars to protect it....If I get the skid plate and radiator guard, is that all I need?

What touches the ground when the bike is tipped? Will the plastics get damaged, muffler....etc, or is it just wheels, footpegs, handlebars.
The KLR had it's Thermo-Bob, DooHickey...etc for weakpoints...What do I need to worry about this bike..since it's a 2016 the fuel pump and stator shouldn't be an issue (hopefully).
I have no current plans to change the engine, or remove any of the smog items, I pretty much just want to ride.

First mods while breaking in...
Flatland Skidplate & Radiator Guard
Sandman sprocket guard
Storm Barkbuster hand guards
Pivot Pegz.

Suggestions?

I had a KLR first too.

Bark busters and a rad guard are all you need for tip over protection on a WRR, the bike weighs over a hundred pounds less than the KLR so it doesn't self destruct when you tip over lol.
I have bent foot pegs and dented my fmf pipe when dropping the WRR, that's about it and I have dropped it lots as I was racing scrambles with it and like riding up steep hills and in rock piles, crashing comes with riding in that terrain.

If you ride offroad much at all your going to like the WRR much better.

Thanks for the info. I originally bought the KLR because I thought I wanted to do Fire and min maintenance roads. Turned out that I liked the woods, and state park OHM trails instead. I rode the KLR in the mud and dropped it 8x. after the 8th time I was exhausted. I learned a lot. Lesson #1 put knobbies on if you are going to run the trails. Lesson #2 get a lighter bike.

I am really hoping that the bike will meet my expectations. My only real expectation is that it's easier to handle off road and will cause much less fatigue while riding on the trails. As for power, I am sure it will be just fine, the KLR was no speed bullet.

Handle bars are something I'm wondering about. I had always wished I had higher bars.

I just have guards on the bars, skid plate, I went to double take mirrors so I can fold them in when in tree`s, the best thing I did was put on a 47 tooth back sprocket I should have gone 48 or 49, that is the best thing for the bush, with the 43 stock rear its just too hard to pop over log`s, at least it was for me, cheer`s

I literally just moved from a KLR and I couldn't be happier!  I am 51, 6' tall and about 220lbs.  The bike cruises comfortably on road....actually better then a KLR in some respects.  Off road it is no contest!  Plus the bike seems to be dead stone reliable.  Hand guards and a skid plate is all it needs for protection but you will want some better bars. I am replacing mine with some Pro taper SE 7/8" in the CR High bend..  I think a gear change is a must.  I did a 48 tooth rear and it transforms the bike!  It will still do 60-65 all day long.  After that look at a seat and an IMS 3.1 gallon tank, lol.

Welcome aboard!

OK I just rode home from the dealer taking back roads since it's in the break in period. Hopefully this review will help someone else looking to switch from a KLR, or someone just looking,

Took 3.5hrs to get her home. I really appreciate all the input. What I have found is the seat for any duration is very uncomfortable, and I would like the bars to be a little wider. I really liked the KLR bars, I bought a set of Pro Taper, Windham bend for it, a bit wider which should fix the comfort issue. The bike runs at 55-60 with ease thanks to the 6th gear. bike rode so well in 5th gear, I almost forgot I had 6th. Its transmission is very smooth, almost no vibrations on the bike. Compared to the KLR this thing is as smooth as the goldwing The KLR was a little rough. It was 1300 more than what I had paid for the KLR, but worth it. You can feel how light the bike is on the road, once the protection comes in and break in is done, I can't wait to get it on the trails. The bike put the fuel light on at 80 miles, so an IMS 3 gallon tank is also on order, however my butt needed a break from that seat after about 40 miles.

For me I just want the bike setup right away, so I ordered all my stuff at once. the next 2 weeks should be fun.

Seat concepts Complete Kit (Lower seat, black / blue)
Full front & rear Edge 2 tail light eliminator, with turn signal & running lights.
Oxford Adventure Heated grips
ProTaper Windham bars
Cycra Pro Bend Brush Guards
Sandman Freedom case saver
Pro Moto Billet rack
IMS Tank
Flatland Skid Plate and Radiator Guard
Eastern Beaver 3 circuit sealed kit (2 switched 1 un-switched)

I might have forgotten something, but I think that is a pretty good list to get me started.

Congrats and enjoy the bike! Like you, I just got my WR a month ago and did everything right away. I have the IMS 3.1 (awesome), Scaggs billet rack, Moose pro skid plate, 48 tooth rear sprocket, Pro taper bars and zeta hand guards. Last night I put a Q4 slip on it, and removed the EXUP and AIS while leaving everything else (airbox) stock. It looks and runs great (the key is leaving the airbox alone, hehe) and I want the mileage so not sure about a fuel controller just yet. I also put on a Seat concepts seat last week...Wow what a difference! I think I could ride it for some pretty long stretches now

Have fun on it and pics or it didn't happen!

rrarthur wrote:

OK I just rode home from the dealer taking back roads since it's in the break in period.  Hopefully this review will help someone else looking to switch from a KLR, or someone just looking,

Took 3.5hrs to get her home.  I really appreciate all the input.  What I have found is the seat for any duration is very uncomfortable, and I would like the bars to be a little wider.  I really liked the KLR bars,  I bought a set of Pro Taper, Windham bend for it, a bit wider which should fix the comfort issue.  The bike runs at 55-60 with ease thanks to the 6th gear.  bike rode so well in 5th gear, I almost forgot I had 6th.  Its transmission is very smooth, almost no vibrations on the bike.  Compared to the KLR this thing is as smooth as the goldwing The KLR was a little rough.  It was 1300 more than what I had paid for the KLR, but worth it.  You can feel how light the bike is on the road, once the protection comes in and break in is done, I can't wait to get it on the trails.  The bike put the fuel light on at 80 miles, so an IMS 3 gallon tank is also on order, however my butt needed a break from that seat after about 40 miles.

For me I just want the bike setup right away, so I ordered all my stuff at once.  the next 2 weeks should be fun.

Seat concepts Complete Kit (Lower seat, black / blue)
Full front & rear Edge 2 tail light eliminator, with turn signal & running lights.
Oxford Adventure Heated grips
ProTaper Windham bars
Cycra Pro Bend Brush Guards
Sandman Freedom case saver
Pro Moto Billet rack
IMS Tank
Flatland Skid Plate and Radiator Guard
Eastern Beaver 3 circuit sealed kit (2 switched 1 un-switched)

I might have forgotten something, but I think that is a pretty good list to get me started.

You got pretty much everything you need for the bike.
The only other things you need IMO is lower gearing, it works better on the road too as 6th is too tall at times and maybe tires depending on what its like where you ride off road.

Just a heads up on the drc lights, they're not sealed and die quickly if you get them wet so seal em up with silicone or something, then they last a long time.
I have the flatlands rad guard too, it does nothing for tip over protection, the rad still bolts to the plastic shroud, you can add a piece of alum to the top mount so the shroud pushes on the guard not the rad and use a zip tie for the bottom one to beef things up so you don't bend the rad in tip overs, theres a few post on this if you search

Thanks for the heads up on the lights. is it the 602 turn signals, tail light, or both. since they aren't really ever supposed to wear out (LED's) I'll seal them up with some good silicone.

A tip I have used when having to caulk things. we in Minnesota have a Farm supply store / department store....Fleet Farm. In Wisconsin its farm and fleet. anyway, if you go back to thier animal care (horses, cows, ..livestock) section, you can by syringes in all different sizes. then ones for the cows are big but work best. fill the syringe part with silicone, or caulk, then you have a very precise non messy way to apply the caulk. works great, and the syringes are very inexpensive. I have used it many times to do corners of tile around bath and bath fixtures.

Welcome to the site RRarthur

Sounds like you have the WRR nailed down pretty good. For me the WRR addition to the herd happened after reading from ->THIS <-  site that basically contains  a 50000 mile riding log with blips of WR  parts added etc and the reasoning behind the mod or lack of .The members here on wr forums are real helpful . .. I just spent a while researching tire thread on here.. sure makes the purchases "easier to decide"

Enjoy the new ride..post up some pictures when you get a chance.

Bill

Leave the rear pegs on for added crash protection.

I took mine off to save weight and although they do provide some crash protection, they can also cause damage to the subframe which is much less desirable!

CRFan1 wrote:

I took mine off to save weight and although they do provide some crash protection, they can also cause damage to the subframe which is much less desirable!

Good point.

rarepartbuilder wrote:

Welcome to the site RRarthur

Sounds like you have the WRR nailed down pretty good. For me the WRR addition to the herd happened after reading from ->THIS <-  site that basically contains  a 50000 mile riding log with blips of WR  parts added etc and the reasoning behind the mod or lack of .The members here on wr forums are real helpful . .. I just spent a while researching tire thread on here..  sure makes the purchases "easier to decide"

Enjoy the new ride..post up some pictures when you get a chance.

Bill

Have to agree with Bill, you seem to have it figured out.  I too went from an '09 KLR with an interim stop over on a TE 610 Husky that, as much as I loved the bike and the way it rode and handled, was too much bike and power for this old fart - 66 at the time.  I have Flatlands skidplate and Radiator guard, both fit well, the IMS 3.1 and have not run it out of fuel in 180 miles (maybe 1/2 gallon left), same Eastern Beaver (good stuff for adding GPS power, heated grips, etc.)  You may want look at the Zeta handguards, they incorporate an LED turnsignal to replace the KLR appropriate massively huge alien Starship WRR lights on the front.  Enjoy the bike, my story was about like you, just kept getting into more technical stuff with the KLR and dropped it way too many times, those suckers are just too heavy, very hard to get back upright too! Compared to the KLR the WRR feels like riding a big mountain bike.

Bob

Thanks. To do all that stuff at once was a pain. I have a very patient wife. Nearly everything came in at the same time. I like the bars. I wanted some more width. That turned out to work well. The heated grips were a bit too wide so for now I just put regular grips on. The 12 o'clock lighting I put on was great. I soldered all my connections so that seemed to take forever. Heads up you will need both front and rear running light adapters if you choose to go that way. I noticed I didn't order everything I needed. I also choose to purchase an extre oem connector so I wouldn't have to splice wires when doing the rear running light adapters. I ended up using the spare connector on the license plate light socket. I now have the rear brake light with the edge 2 with its chase pattern running lights and outer LED turn signals all working. I now feel like I can be seen from behind. The tank install went great. Overall good products.