Well, now we have a suspension. \u00a0 We have wheels, too. \u00a0 The bike can roll around, I don’t have to drag it any more. \u00a0 But, the fairings need to be reinstalled, along with the tank vent lines, and then the windshield. \u00a0 That didn’t take too long and now the bike is completely reassembled. \u00a0 And the best part – no parts left over. \u00a0 Usually, it’s a good sign when there aren’t any parts left over when you’re done. \u00a0 I taking this as a positive sign.<\/p>\n
There is a problem, however, that has to be fixed and fixed fairly quickly. \u00a0 Since the bike is about 2 inches lower than it was before the suspension work, the sidestand is too long now. \u00a0 The bike actually leans away from the sidestand rather than toward it. \u00a0 That’s not too stable. \u00a0 Well, if you let it fall onto the right side, then it’s extremely stable, but not too useful. \u00a0 I logged onto the advrider.com forums and found someone that was raising a KTM from standard to “S” height, the exact opposite of what I did. \u00a0 We emailed and agreed to trade side and center stands. \u00a0 Great! \u00a0 Now the issue is just removing the sidestand and shipping it to him. \u00a0 He’s having his suspension raised at Trailtricks, so he currently has no wheels on his bike while that is happening. \u00a0 Trading sidestands can be done now, but he can’t safely remove the centerstand until he has some wheels under his bike. \u00a0 No problem we can do that later. \u00a0 When I have a sidestand of the proper length, the centerstand won’t be used much anyway – just for maintenance and I hope I’ve wrapped that up for the immediate future.<\/p>\n
I received his sidestand and it was simple to install it. \u00a0 It’s the correct length and works great. \u00a0 The bike is actually rideable and doesn’t have to be leaned against something while it’s not moving. \u00a0 Just need to swap centerstands and the transformation will be complete.<\/p>\n
I got out on the bike for a few miles and it is very nice. \u00a0 The throttle is very smooth at just above idle, no sudden bursts or surging like some FI systems do just off-idle. \u00a0 A smooth throttle at low speeds will help riding in challenging off-road sections. \u00a0 So far, with no real off-road riding to speak of, I like the bike a lot. \u00a0 Hopefully I will be able to do that this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Well, now we have a suspension. \u00a0 We have wheels, too. \u00a0 The bike can roll around, I don’t have to drag it any more. \u00a0 But, the fairings need to be reinstalled, along with the tank vent lines, and then the windshield. \u00a0 That didn’t take too long and now the bike is completely … <\/p>\n