my new bike for the catalonian HISS

[mikeyboy]

Some time ago myself and a mate decided we were going to do the HISS this year,so simon was duly contacted and our places secured,the ferry booked and the dates entered in the diary :woohoo: :woohoo:
my problem was what bike to do it on
my trusty funduro was going to need a good fettle for the trip,but i really didnt want to take it off the road to prep it in the middle of the summer :whistle:
so i hatched my plan :laugh:
i happened to acquire this mk1 f650 ,a customer had it sitting around in his garage its a 96 model,complete with the optional 5 speed gearbox,(no 2nd gear).
a very common fault on the funduro and a bit of a job to sort,but perfect for my cunning plan.
here it is in all its glory

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[mikeyboy]

so my plan is this,
build a new rolling chassis and engine so everything is tip top for the trip,then remove some of the bits from this one prior to departure

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stuff like the acerbis tank,bash plate etc,basically just the bling/one offs
i have another idea what to do with this bike buts thats another story :laugh:

[mikeyboy]

this build thread will take place over the next few months so bear with me (thumbs)
so, once decisions had been made about the basic spec and improvements over my original white bike, i pulled the "new" one to bits :laugh: :laugh:

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[mikeyboy]

the first job i did this week was to fabricate a case saver,the funduro only has a plastic cover which traps all the mud/crap its been on my to do list for a while,
so i bent a piece of 5mmx25mm steel to match the contour of the case,then turned some spacers and tack welded them together

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once i was happy with the fit it was welded and dressed up

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[mikeyboy]

with that bit done i needed to make a cover cos i like my toes and want to remain attached to them

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with this fitted its two bolts to swap sprockets from road to trail (thumbs)

[mikeyboy]

while i am waiting for various bitsnbobs to happen i turned my attention to the engine,as i said earlier,funduro,s are prone to jumping out of 2nd gear,in order to get to the bits that fail you need to strip the motor,2nd gear aside,the rotax motor fitted to the funduro is a proper bit of kit easy to work on both in, and out of the frame.
everything is accessable,not like the later f650gs or the xchallenge etc.i love these engines :laugh:
i read with interest the rebuild thread that thedktor did on that husky the other week,
these motors are nothing like that,
simple and robust with a huge scope for tuning,heres one i dismantled earlier

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[mikeyboy]

the internals of the motor are all good,so apart from some pretty bad external corrosion and flaking powder coat we can come back to it later in the build.
next up,engine subframe.
the mk1 subframe is prone to cracking,so i tend to buy the later post 98 ones if they come up on evilbay cheap,
as the 650 only has a plastic bash plate the standard mounts are not up to much :whistle:
so out with the angle grinder and make it,fit for purpose (thumbs)

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thats better :laugh:

[mikeyboy]

now rightly or wrongly i have a perception that the trails in catalonia are going to be a bit rocky so given that i hate navigating and my mate ian never gets lost and can be bothered with route planning etc i will be spending most of the time following another bike so i thought it prudent to fit a grille over the headlamp (thumbs)
work in progress :laugh:

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thats it for now,more next week if you can handle the suspense

[Dutchgit]

You can fit spacers in the front forks to raise them a bit (about 4.5 CM) or you can use the inner fork legs and all the internals from a F650 GS Dakar so you get more travel as well as a raised front. You could then use the low front mudguard (with the "brace" under it) or use the whole front forks of the Dakar verson. If I remember right you can also fit the Dakar GS's rear shock which raises it and gives more travel.
In the airbox there are two round "dents" the size of a Pound coin. If you drill these out you get a bit more air in. There are some tubes under that and these should stay in there but I forgot the reasoning behind that.
If you can get rid of the fairing and the whole bracket thing for the light and fit a small Koso dash you'll save a lot of weight.

I'll be following this with interest.

Cheers, Ard

[gspod]

Great - I love a Mikeyboy rebuild thread (thumbs)