Dirt MT

[kylerhsm]

I completed this build a couple of months back now, but thought it was time to share it with the group. I'm not one to document my builds as I'm usually busy with work/life/kids etc. so this is the first time it's made an appearance anywhere other than my local Facebook groups.

Background: I've always had an interest in both road and dirt riding and so have been building "Scramblers" for about 10 years now. Started with a CB250RS, then CB400N, GS500, MT03 (660cc), Duke 390, and now finally the MT07. As much as I knew the MT07 would always be the perfect base for an adventure/dirt build, I was always a bit apprehensive about using my MT07 as it's been my faithful and all time favourite bike for the last three years now and also isn't a cheap bike to go awol on and turn into a dirt bike. Though I finally got sick of building Scramblers which just weren't quite good enough and so I bit the bullet and sacrificed my MT07 to the dirt gods.

After spending countless hours on research prior and sourcing the necessary parts, the build itself was rather quick taking about a month from start to finish. The "kit", named so because everything is fully reversible and transferable to another MT07, is the following:

- Gen 2 KLR 650 forks in the standard MT07 triples with Cogent DDC emulators, 200mm standard travel.

- YSS SV650 shock, 175mm travel, revalved for adventure riding conditions.

- KLR650 wheels, 21" / 17", running Motoz Rallz, and oversize 320mm front disc.

- Fully functioning ABS retained with a toggle switch up on the handle bars.

- Few accessories, screen, taller+wider bars, hand guards, skid plate, crash bars, ventura rack.

- Plus a bunch of other bits and pieces, machined spacers, longer front brake line etc. to pull it all together.

The end result is an absolute weapon off road and more fun than my stock MT07 was on road. It weighs in at 190kg wet, so about 10kg (22 pound) more than stock although that includes all the bolt on protection and the rack, so works out about the same.  The bike sits about 75mm taller than stock at the sump with a bit more than that from the front end and a bit less from the rear so is canted back slightly giving it a more upright riding position. At 173cm (5'9) it's probably sitting at the limit of height that I can still manage off road although I have been riding dirt bikes for many years so am somewhat used to it.

The suspension is dialed perfectly for myself at 73kg with the stock KLR fork springs and standard YSS SV650 spring and hits just the right balance of on/off road mix. Smooth enough when it gets rough, but firm enough for spirited road riding and preventing it from bottoming out. And with the altered ergos it wheelies like there's no tomorrow.

I couldn't be happier with how this bike turned out. It's hands down the most fun bike I've owned over the years. My days of seeking out the perfect Scrambler are done as this is exactly the bike I was after. There's only one change potentially in the works. It might be about to become an XSR700!

 

 

[stickshift]

So cool! And looks good too.

 

 

[klx678]

How much work was it to fit the KLR rear hub?

[Mt707]

I like this a lot better than Jake the Garden Snakes adventure build

[kylerhsm]

1 hour ago, klx678 said:

How much work was it to fit the KLR rear hub?

I needed a narrower 17mm XT660R axle which is shimmed out at the ends to fit in the stock adjusters. And then custom spacers to push the brake disc (stock KLR) and rear sprocket (stock KLR) out to the correct offsets. Ideally I would have used a DR650 wheel as it shares the same 20mm axle diameter and so I could have kept the stock MT07 axle, but I couldn't track one down for a reasonble price and I bought the KLR front end + rear wheel as a package for very cheap. A bearing swap for the KLR rear wheel from 17mm to 20mm wasn't going to happen either as it would have required machining of the hubs for larger bearings.

If I was doing it again I'd try to find a DR650 wheel, or maybe even a VstromXT or XT660R wheel which wouldn't need as wide shims for the brake/sprocket and come with a wider rim. In saying that, now it's all set up it's not worth changing as it rides beautifully.

The front end was literally just sliding the KLR forks and wheel straight into the MT07 triples and running a new brake line. No spacers required, the fork offset is identical. Getting a spacer to replace the speedo drive and hold a Duke 390 ABS ring was a little trickier but that's only needed if you want to keep the ABS. Speed is read from the rear wheel and it was easy to mount the stock ABS ring to the machine brake spacer.

[kylerhsm]

48 minutes ago, Mt707 said:

I like this a lot better than Jake the Garden Snakes adventure build

Cheers mate. I love his work and he's great to watch. Seeing him riding his off road definitely helped push me over the edge. Although his build is more like my previous builds, which is dirt tyres on standard rims and minor suspension tweaks to get a little more lift. This time I wanted to go further and build something truly capable when the going gets rough and so longer travel suspension and a bigger front wheel where mandatory.

[J.J.]

DOPE!

[klx678]

19 hours ago, kylerhsm said:

I needed a narrower 17mm XT660R axle which is shimmed out at the ends to fit in the stock adjusters. And then custom spacers to push the brake disc (stock KLR) and rear sprocket (stock KLR) out to the correct offsets. Ideally I would have used a DR650 wheel as it shares the same 20mm axle diameter and so I could have kept the stock MT07 axle, but I couldn't track one down for a reasonble price and I bought the KLR front end + rear wheel as a package for very cheap. A bearing swap for the KLR rear wheel from 17mm to 20mm wasn't going to happen either as it would have required machining of the hubs for larger bearings.

If I was doing it again I'd try to find a DR650 wheel, or maybe even a VstromXT or XT660R wheel which wouldn't need as wide shims for the brake/sprocket and come with a wider rim. In saying that, now it's all set up it's not worth changing as it rides beautifully.

The front end was literally just sliding the KLR forks and wheel straight into the MT07 triples and running a new brake line. No spacers required, the fork offset is identical. Getting a spacer to replace the speedo drive and hold a Duke 390 ABS ring was a little trickier but that's only needed if you want to keep the ABS. Speed is read from the rear wheel and it was easy to mount the stock ABS ring to the machine brake spacer.

Thanks.  I'd love to get an 18 on the back and an 18 or 19 on the front of my XSR to get more the flat track look and a bit narrower tires.  I'd prefer a 110/90-19 or 18 front and a 140 or 150 - 18 rear.   It's more about appearance than road racing wheels.  I'd even go for a narrower rear rim in the 17 if I could.  

I know the 920 front wheel can be fitted for the 19", but no 18 rear

[kylerhsm]

On 2/1/2022 at 8:39 AM, klx678 said:

Thanks.  I'd love to get an 18 on the back and an 18 or 19 on the front of my XSR to get more the flat track look and a bit narrower tires.  I'd prefer a 110/90-19 or 18 front and a 140 or 150 - 18 rear.   It's more about appearance than road racing wheels.  I'd even go for a narrower rear rim in the 17 if I could.  

I know the 920 front wheel can be fitted for the 19", but no 18 rear

You might have swingarm clearance issues with an 18". My 17" with a 130/80 comes pretty damn close. It was actually rubbing on the Akraprovic Ti at one point before I changed the chain and sprockets to a 520 set at the desired number of links (15/46).

[klx678]

I see your point.  I didn't look at fit at the moment.  The 17 would be fine, but the width is too much, looks too fat and is mostly unnecessary.  I'd go for a 140/60-17 and would like the 18 or 19 on the front with a 110/80 on it.   I get it on the bikes that might actually be used by someone with the capability to use the 180, but that ain't me and probably 50-70% of the riders on XSRs.   I guess I'm one of the few who look at a bike and want tires that actually suit it.   My 250 dual sport has a downsize 4.10-18 where it came with the fatter 120/80-18.  With the XSR supposedly a neo retro, the tires are just too wide, but I guess it suits the parts bin build.  It should have wheels similar to the first Indian FTR1200, which had an 18 rear and 19 front.  Decent tires are available.

So I'm looking.   I wish I could spend the $3000+ that a set of custom laced wheels would cost to get the 18/19 or 18/18.  Maybe if I could find someone with an MT03 that wants fat tires...

[motocannon]

Not to thread jack. Here is my fz07 adventure bike. Jake is my best friend, but the recent additions to my fz07 haven't fully day viewed on his channel yet. I opted to do the full tenere 1200 front end. With a uk tracer 700 longer oem swing arm. Extreme customs Australian lift arm for the tracer. 25mm lift. Im working on getting tires for my spoked set up. Ended up purchasing cognito moto rear hub and stock tenere 1200 front hub and had woodys wheel works lace them up. The next thing is to figure out a longer travel rear shock. To the point that I can take advantage of my lift linkage and turn it into a lower linkage to have better down travel out of the rear wheel.