TRAIL ZONE

TRAIL MAIL:

PREPPING KAWASAKI'S KLR650 FOR THE ADVENTURE HIGHWAY

Hi guys: After a recent back injury at work and with time on my hands I decided to build an adventure bike. Inspired by your many TRAIL ZONE Project Bikes (I have every issue ) I picked a Kawasaki KLR650 2010 model. After upgrading the suspension I moved on to the motor with a head job, Snitz 685 piston, billett counter-balance adjuster weight and torsion spring, Unifilter, Barrett pipe, carb mods, second carb vent and a good dyno tune -- all done by Andrew Hallam. After removing as much weight as possible I then fitted SW Motech rack plate, centre stand, crash bars, bashplate, tool box then hot grips, Renthal bars, Barkbusters (after this pic), Rox risers, power plug, oversize front disc, stainless-steel brake lines, billet master cylinder mount and cover, sidestand foot, longer gear lever, magnetic drain plug, Pivot Pegz, Far mirrors, Continental TKC 80s (after this pic) and more, more, more. As you can see, my back took a while to heal! I got back on the bike in March and have covered 10,000km on several adventure rides with mates and have to say the bike turned out great and seems to run better with every ride. Thanks for a great mag, I look foward to every issue!

-- Jim Steele, via www.trailzone.com.au

Nice job, Jim. Kawasaki's KLR650 certainly offers awesome value for money when it comes to big-bore single-cylinder adventure bikes, and as you have shown, there's plenty of scope to turn it into exactly the kind of adventure bike you want with a feast of well-placed mods and accessories. Good one!

-- Clubby, www.trailzone.com.au