KTM 690 Rally Build

  While travelling with soft luggage the obvious questions is where do you store your precious stuff like passports, documents and money. If someone steals a T-shirt it doesn't matter much but if you loose the passport there is a bigger problem. The solution idea I got from the guys at North and Left a Bit who used Pelican cases. So I simply needed one to go on the back plate which I found in the Ossa shop in Kowloon .   The idea was to put it as much forward to cover the rear bolts so it is not easy to just screw it off but not too much forward so that the lid to the rear tank is covered. A happy medium seemed to be when the rear of the box just hit the rear of the rack. To hold it in place I got some nuts and bolds with a small plate to go under the back plate. This in addition to two forward points which are mostly there to stop the box swinging around. Inside I added a small reinforcement around the plate since the pelican box is not too thick although the material i...

  Having just soft luggage on the bike this time there was a need for somewhere to store the tools since I don't want to drag them around more than necessary. There is some spare space on the right hand size under the pannier racks on the right hand side. The reason for it is that the racks are symmetrical while the exhaust pipe only sits on the left side. My shipping guy Edwin in Sai Kung, Hong Kong found this very useful vendor on eBay which I bought the toolbox from. It is initially intended to carry manuals for agricultural vehicles. It is perfect in size and twists open and has a water tight seal. It is however not designed for heavy equipment and vibrations. It is also not lockable. These two things we need to sort out.  First thing is to make sure it doesn't interfere with the lashing and rachet system for the luggage Second thing is to reinforce the attachments with hose clips to hold more weight. They should also be able to carry the tyre levers on top with an extra ...

Social media manager seat: Time to test out luggage setup. The luggage racks from Rally Raid fits perfectly on the bike and has also pillion foot pegs. The Giant Loop saddle bags I have used before in the shape of the big horse shoe version. However, fitting the Giant Loop bags on the Rally Raid racks while still making space for pillion feet needs some experimentation. The building ratchet seems to do the job fairly well so far. Initial testing above. First prototype setup below. Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 In order to charge gadgets like iphones and cameras I added a front tank bag. Drilling some holes under the seat and securing them with zip ties worked out fairly well.

  Getting lost in exotic countries can sometimes be fun but can also be dangerous in case you don't get to where you need to in time. For the upcoming trip next year the navigation system, or nav tower for short, is built on top of the Rally Raid front tower. First off some prototyping was needed: Then a first rough acrylic glass prototype was made: Initially I thought about laser cutting a aluminum metal plate. However, the makerspace with the laser cutters in Hong Kong only cut carbon and stainless steel so instead decided to go with a bit thicker acrylic glass (4mm) compared to the prototype (3mm). The idea behind the setup is to have redundant instrumentation for all critical systems much like in an airplane cockpit . The key instrumentations are: Navigation Primary: Carpe Iter Backup: Mobile phone Speed Primary: Bike standard instrument Backup: Carpe Iter Distance Primary: Bike instrument Backup: Carpe Iter Fuel Primary: Bike instrumentation Backup: Open tank and look Electri...

Time for some new grips since the existing ones started to turn into chewing gum Tools needed to get the crash bars off Also useful with a sharp knife to get the old grips off Not quite sure why rubber turns into chewing gum like material. Very sticky and needed some solvent / gasoline to clear off the residual sticky goo on the handlebar The one on the throttle hand was much cleaner for some reason To put on the new grips it is useful to spray the inside of the grips and the handlebars with hair spray since it 1. acts as lubricant to slide the grips on and 2. solidify as glue and prevents the grip from sliding   To hold the expander nut of the crash bar a bit of tape is helpful so that the bolt can get into the nut without it slipping into the handlebar itself Finished result with new grips on