My WRR mods and accessories. An ongoing yawner

This is where I will report most, if not all, of the mods and stuff I do to our two WRRs. Comments and suggestions are welcome as I proceed. This is going to be slow and boring however. I tend to ease into things and especially won't mess with the engine management system while the bikes are under warrenty.

I will list most everything but won't go into detail on the mods and such that are already well covered by others in this Forum. I will go into detail on stuff that I preceive may be new or not well covered.


That's it for now! (I warned you this was going to be boring.) IMS 3.1s were backordered to the manufacturer but finally got shipped yesterday. Acerbis plastic skid plates are ordered. GPS hardwire kits are here and I will probably do that when I swap out the tanks. Still researching radiator guards and other goodies...

Nice bikes... beware of the fuel pump on that 1/08. Most failures were 2/08 but it's close enough that I'd be worried. After you get a couple thousand miles on it pay close attention to how it sounds while priming before a hot start.

I believe those are Emgo mirrors; I had a set of them on a bike I owned, worked well. Nice bikes!

Sarah

Hertz wrote:

Nice bikes... beware of the fuel pump on that 1/08. Most failures were 2/08 but it's close enough that I'd be worried. After you get a couple thousand miles on it pay close attention to how it sounds while priming before a hot start.

Thanks Hertz.

Yes, we discussed the possibility of faulty fuel pump(s) with the dealer. We'll be watching for the signs and symptoms, particulairly if and when warm weather gets here...

If it ever gets here, burrrrr!

What I can say is both pumps fire and sound identical at this point. Time will tell.

Just got notified the skid plates are on backorder. Yawn.

That first pic is epic!

Installed the IMS 3.1 gallon tanks. They fit great. No need to go into detail except I've read the stories about dropped tanks and broken fuel pump spigots. So I lassoed the tank to the handlebars while struggling the fuel line off the spigot:

One thing I did that may be of interest is I installed a "raceway" for running the Garmin power cable from the battery up to the coolant overflow bottle area. I used 3/8" OD air brake tubing. It is crush/kink resistant and large enough for two 14 AWG conductors or one Garmin power cable. This way I can replace/change things without lifting the tank:
Busy down at the battery. Photo shows fused Garmin power cable, single throw/single pole 10 AMP rated micro switch and fused battery maintainer connector. The Garmin 276C draws enough power to drain a motorcycle battery. Don't ask me how I know. I need to be able to cut the external power to the 276C and let it go to it's own internal battery (like during a long photo or lunch stop). I didn't want to chop into the looms behind the headlight and I didn't want the external power to come from a closed ignition switch. Diane runs a little Garmin GPS III Plus so no switch necessary on her bike.

The big, honkin' 276C mounted to the handlebars via a Touratech mount. I took this picture sitting in the riding position. All this jive is proven on my previous dual sport ride... a Honda XR400. You can see the elevation in feet where we live. External power switch is "on" (closed) showing 11.7 volts from the motorcycle battery with engine off. (Not shown: 13.4 volts with engine idling).

Forgot to take a picture of the installed switch. I'll post one later.

Here is the installed switch. Easy to reach down and operate this switch with gloves on. At the same time it is in a very protected place. I guess the beauty of all this is I have not permanently altered anything on the bikes save a 3/8" hole drilled in the side cover on my bike.


Also installed the plastic Acerbis skid plates. These are intended for WR250Fs. My killer heat gun came in handy for "spreading the wings" a bit which was necessary for an acceptable fit. No fastners come with these plates. I purchased stainless steel cap screws and stainless steel fender washers. 6MM 1.0 x 30MM up front and 6MM 1.0 x 16MM down and to the rear (not visible in photo). We tend to accumulate loads of fine fuel (twigs, leaves, etc.) between the crankcase and skidplate. I consider this a fire hazard and a impediment to engine cooling. So... I remove our skidplates often for cleaning. I made the fastners "captive" to the skidplate with cut lengths of rubber tubing. (Not visible in the photo.)

Look how vunrable the lower portion of the radiator is! That just won't do! Gotta make a decision about guards real soon.