Kouba lowering link, Rally Raid shock collar, and other farkles

Some parcels arrived in the mail this week. A box from KTMTwins.com, and a box from Rally-Raid-Products-UK:

• Kouba 1" Lowering Link
• Radiator fan sensor switch 88 Celsius
• Heavy Duty stainless steel shock collar
• Fuel injector hex bolts and spacers upgrade kit

While there were a couple more items in the packages, I only had time today to install the items listed above. The rest will have to wait until next weekend.

Over a beer last evening, I started to think and plan the work required to install these pieces. Since I would need to remove the rear shock to swap out the flimsy aluminium collar for the very beefy stainless steel piece from Rally Raid, and since I was also planning to switch out the suspension lower link for the Kouba unit, I first thought it would be good to remove all of it at once... to gut the entire rear suspension. Then after thinking about it for a while, I figured it might be smarter to do the jobs separately. Probably didn't matter much, but I decided to do the shock collar first, and not remove the lower link until the shock was all done and re-installed.  Once that was done, I then proceeded to remove and swap out the lower linkage. My plan worked out well enough and everything went together nicely. The end result is that the bike sits about 1" lower than before. For my 32" inseam, I'm still on my tippy toes, but not as much as before. I notice the seat is more level now. Previously, the rear of the seat was significantly higher than the middle part of the seat, causing me to slide forward all the time because of the sloped geometry of the seat position. Now the seat feels flat and level, and my feet are touching the ground a little easier. The side stand is noticeably lower, but does not need to be shortened.

The seriously rugged Rally Raid shock collar on the left,

the flimsy OEM collar on the right.

I used these super heavy-duty zip ties to keep the spring 

compressed a little (put them in place before removing the 

original shock collar, while the spring is still compressed). 

This helps to get the spring seat off without too much swearing 

or cuts on your knuckles.

The shock with the new collar and lock ring in place

Now the shock is back together, and the spring is 

compressed a little so I can now cut the zip ties.

OEM linkage and Kouba side-by-side

The 1" lower Kouba link is actually a little longer than 

the OEM linkage but the end result is that the bike sits 1" lower to the ground.

Linkage removed - left side

Linkage removed - right side

I hung the bike from the ceiling using a pair of tie-down straps.

Kouba link installed.

With the suspension mods finished, it was time to swap out the 

temperature sensor switch for the radiator fan. The OEM sensor 

activates the fan at 105 degrees Celsius. This unit from KTMTwins 

causes the fan to kick in at 88 Celcius. Yes, the fan will be on more

 frequently but the engine will run cooler.

The new sensor switch installed.

I used my ninja skills to swap the fan sensor switch in just a 

couple of seconds, but somehow I still managed to lose about 

1/2 cup of engine coolant. No sweat, I had some of this 

$900 a bottle stuff from Motorex.

Rally Raid UK sells a bolt upgrade kit for securing the fuel injector. 

£11.34 (nearly $20 USD) is pretty steep for two little metric bolts and 

two aluminium spacers but I definitely have more confidence in this hardware 

that the OEM crap. Fortunately my bike is practically new and I didn't have 

any real trouble removing the Philips head bolts. If the bike was old and dirty, 

you'd easily muck up the heads of those cheap bolts and you'd have a nice time 

trying to get them out.  I could feel them getting hacked  up even using my good 

quality screwdriver. Soft metal Philips-head junk.  The Rally Raid pieces are nice 

quality. Piece of mind if I ever need to remove the injector.

The injector held in place with the cheap OEM Philips-head bolts

Injector removed

New sturdy hex bolts holding the injector in place now. 

The aluminium sleeves just slide down inside for a perfect fit.

***** OBSERVATIONS:  I'm no mechanic but I have wrenched on bikes for ~35 years. While I do love this bike and I really admire all of the technology that makes it what it is, I can't help but say nasty things about the fucking engineers who designed this bike. What I'm saying is that it's not the easiest bike to work on.  In order to remove the shock, you need to practically strip the whole bike down to the bear frame. First the rear luggage rack, then the rear fender, the seat, side panels, voltage regulator, the airbox (yes, the fucking airbox on the 2014 model must be removed before you can pivot the fuel tank upward and out of the way), lower fuel tank mount, muffler.  And that's just to get the damn shock removed. For fuck's sakes...  It's times like this that I really miss having my trusty old Suzuki DR650. That bike truly was an easy machine to work on. It's a good thing that I actually enjoy working on motorcycles -- almost as much as I enjoy riding them. I like hanging out in the garage with a cold beer and tinkering late into the evening hours. Relaxes me after a long week in the office. 

Profill fuel filter sock

Cheap insurance to protect against dirt in the fuel injection system is to make sure you've got good filtration. I've always thought having one of those sock filters would be a good way to catch any debris or other shit that might come from the underground storage tanks at the gas station, or other ways crap can find its way into your tank.  As I was filling my DR650 one day a few years ago, a clump of mud fell from the visor of my helmet into the fuel tank. Nice.

Anyway, for $30 plus a couple more bucks for shipping, I ordered one from from Profill-Australia: Specifically, I bought part # MK3 KTM0002 which states that it fits "under" the billet aluminum filler neck that they sell. I have a similar aftermarket filler neck (mine is made by CJ Designs) but it basically mounts the same so I figured it should work. This would not work if you are still using the junk OEM fuel cap. Throw that shit away.

Just under 2 weeks to arrive in the mail. Not bad considering it traveled 1/2 way around the world.

Installation was pretty simple: I removed my aftermarket fuel filler neck, dropped the sock down into the tank, and re-installed the filler neck. The plastic collar around the sock wiggles around a small amount but it can't fall inside the tank, so there's no danger of going anywhere. Total installation time: 5 minutes. 

Thoughts:

The next day, I learned that I had grossly underestimated the annoyance factor in the extra time required to fill the fuel tank. Holy fuck! Ten minutes to get 10 litres into the tank. If I try to squeeze the gas pump nozzle to flow any more than a small dribble, not even a trickle, the result is gasoline spilling everywhere. I expected it to be slow -- but it's beyond ridiculous. Filling up using an eye dropper would be faster. That being said, I do realize I'm whining about first world problems. I'll have to accept extra time at the gas station to keep the fuel system clean.

This arrived in a small bubble-wrap envelope. 

Fabric looks and feels like sating or silk.

Here's my aftermarket filler neck, made by CJ Designs, 

with Acerbis screw cap.

Here I removed the filler neck, and dropped the sock inside the tank. 

The plastic collar on the sock prevents it from falling inside the tank.

Now the filler neck has been re-installed. The sock is sandwiched 

between the top flange of the fuel tank and the billet filler neck.