Dehorning the RR rack

Sharp edge on the RR rack

The RR racks have rectangular cutouts that I want to use to secure my Wolfman bags. There is a problem though, Apparently the edges are sharp enough to eat through the mounting straps in relatively short time due to the vibrations that the big thumper produces.

The way the straps run, (in reality from the upper and lower corners, but you get the point)

I'm keen on keeping my simplified method of strapping the bags to the racks so I needed to come up with a solution that removes this problem.

different edge trim options

I bough different edge trims, two with metal inserts, one flabby rubber one and rubber fuel hose. While the fuel hose is the most ghetto, it just might be the best of the four. The wider trim with metal insert wont bend enough to sit nicely nor will the flabby rubber one. The flabby rubber trim would also need to glued in place, otherwise it just falls off.

Fuel hose top left, flabby rubber bottom left, smaller trim with metal insert bottom center

Plan B

I'm wasn't overly impressed with what I came up with so I needed a plan B. I would like to say my plan B was genius, it's not, but it might do the trick well enough. Looping a double layer of webbing should prevent the actual attachment straps from wearing through and the protective webbing can also be used to hold a rubber trim in place without the need to glue anything. The webbing and rubber should provide enough "edge protection" even for longer rides and the webbing can be detached and used for something in an emergency. The webbing will be attached in place with plastic quick release buckles once I can score some from somewhere that are the right size.

This is the general idea how the webbing is routed

UPDATE

The "final" solution for now. There is a piece of rubber edge trim under the webbing. The buckles will be placed on the inside. They are on the outside for the photo only.

KTM 690 Enduro R Seat Height

UPDATE [19. May 2015]

For some reason this post wont open, so I made a duplicate as I could access the original from the blogger system. The problem keeps reappearing so I guess I'll keep this double post up.

UPDATE [8. September 2014]

The seat height seems to be a major mental hurdle for many. I've done roughly 6000 kms with the bike now. Suspension is completely stock as is the seat. I haven't even touched the rear. A sin I know. (The ergo seat makes no real difference either). I'm 173 (5'8) cm and 73 kg (160 pounds). The only issues I've had with the seat height have to do with getting the kick stand up if the bike is parked at an incline to the left. Meaning that your right foot needs to go further down to reach the ground compared to being parked at level ground. The problem is somewhat pronounced when loaded up with gear. UPDATE: the kick stand issue can be solved with a neat little trick i picked up from ADVrider forums.

690 Enduro R seat height looks obscene when standing next to the bike

The seat height really isn't that bad once you get on the bike.

KTM 690 Enduro R seat heigh

The seat height (910 mm) of the 690 seems to a major issue for many. Most shorties tend to give up on the 690 before ever even trying the bike for size. The seat height number is intimidating, I'll give you that. Then again, my previous Tenere was only half an inch lower and weighted over 120 pounds more than the 690. It was a bit high but in no way unmanageable. The 690 is significantly narrower which results in me getting my feet on the ground better than on the Tenere. I'm not able to flat foot, but I'm not on completely on my toes either. The lower COQ and weight of the 690 removes any of the wonky top heavy feeling that a fully fuelled Tenere had.

IMAGES >> http://cycle-ergo.com/

If you are in Danny Devito class height wise, there's always the lowering link option to lower the suspension. Koubalink seems to be the preferred choice for 690 riders.

IMAGE >> http://www.koubalink.com/

Wolfman Expedition Dry Saddle Bags & Rally Raid luggage racks

Wolfman Expedition Dry saddle bags mounted on Rally Raid luggage racks

Based on my own experiences on mounting travel gear solely on the rear/top rack I came to the conclusion that I needed rear/pannier racks and some sort of saddle bags. My goal was to get the weight of the gear lower on the bike and keep the gas cap clear from luggage so I could refill with minimum hassle.

My first instinct was to get 2 waterproof roll bags and simply strap the to the racks and be done with it.

Couple of things had me reconsidering this option.
1. getting to gear inside the back would not be ideal as the bag would be sort of sideways.
2 all the weight of the bags would be on the racks unless I came up with some sort of strapping system to distribute some of the weight of the rack.

Number 2 could be solved easily enough, but why go through the trouble when better commercial options are available. Plan A was then dismissed.

Renegade roll bag by Wolfman

I then started going through bag options designed for enduro type bikes. Options are plentiful and companies like Wolfman and Giant Loop come up often.

Basically there are two approaches to the rear bags dilemma. There are the horseshoe shaped bags that can be mounted without racks if so desired and the more traditional two separate bags approach.

I found good alternatives for the horse shoe bag from Mosko, Altrider and Giant Loop but I decided I didn't want any gear on top of the saddle or rear rack. I didn't want to end up back in square one with the fill up problem.

Mosko horseshoe style saddle bags

One thing I am adamant about is that the bags must be waterproof. Rain covers never really work in real life. I found several viable options for the bags, but once I found out that my friend had a pair of Wolfman Expedition Dry Saddle Bags laying around I decided to look no further.

Once I got the bags in my hands it was mounting time. There were straps and loops everywhere and if there is a "proper way" of mounting the bags to the racks with the provided loops I sure could not figure it out. Yes, the bags can be attached securely to the racks with the provided hardware, but I would need to get the bags on and off the bike with relative ease and speed. That didn't seem a possible combination. If I had the Wolfman racks, the provided hardware would work beautifully, but since the RR racks really don't seem to be designed for the Wolfman hardware I needed to come up with something better.

I decided to remove almost all the straps from the bags leaving only the wide top ones that come across the saddle and the ones that actually keep the rolled bag mouths shut.

removed straps on the left vs. the 4 replacements on the right

Instead of a small bag worth of straps I now have 4 compression straps with metal buckles that keep the bags in place. The setup is easy enough for me to figure out / remember even if I'm not using the bags frequently. I hate to those how-the-hell-did.this-work-again moments. using existing loops on the bags the end result looks clean enough and I have a place to store excess strap if the bags are not full.

Metal buckles on the straps

backside of the rack

topside

UPDATE

Quickly after I got this stuff posted I got a heads up from Poland about my mounting method. It seems that the Rolling Hobo had done something similar with his bags and ran into problems when vibrations ate through the straps. The straps are now going through the rectangular cuts on the racks and while they are not very sharp edged I fully believe that this issue needs sorting. I'm certain it can be solved, it's just a matter of how. Gotta put on the thinking cap. UPDATE -> in here 

Bro tip for the short riders

This was not my idea, I shamelessly stole it from ADVrider.com forums. ( most likely the wunderfest megathread ). The 690 enduro kick stand is not particularly difficult to deploy, UNLESS you are a shorty like me and end up in situations that your right foot needs to go lower than usual. Parking on an small incline to the left for example. Suddenly things turn from manageable to damn annoying when you are trying to get the kick stand deployed with your pygmy foot. Usually what happens is, that I get the kick stand part of the way down and run out of leg length and the kick stand snaps back up.

The solution is a RAM ball mounted on the kick stand. With the ball mounted, your leg doesn't need to extend nearly as low/far to deploy the kick stand all the way down.

This is the exact product I used, but there are probably other similar ones that work just as well.

Carrying extra fuel on the KTM 690 Enduro R [updated 17.3.2015]

The tank is too small. No way around it. It's fine when commuting and roaming around the countryside on the weekends. but any adventures that take place on the outskirts of civilization will soon have you wanting for a bigger tank. For now, I'm not interested in installing safari/rally tanks due to the cost and the limited actual use. For the occasional adventure ride an auxiliary fuel canister will suffice. I know Rotopax has an excellent product for this particular need, but I wanted to try something different just for the hell of it. Oh, and because the Rotopax solution is rather pricey ($ 85 for 1 gallon pack + mount). Kolpin makes something similar to Rotopax but according to internet wisdom the product is noticeably inferior to Rotopax. The containers some times leak and the mounting hardware is plastic instead of metal (like with Rotopax).

PLAN A

Primus fuel bottle (0,6 l)

Plan A was to buy 2 drink bottle holders that would presumably hold one 1 litre Primus fuel bottles each. That's only 40-50 kms of extended range, but I calculated that it would be enough to get me out of trouble if it came to that. Northern parts of the country don't have that many gas stations and some of the distances are a bit too close to the max fuel range with the standard tank.

I bought the drink bottle pouches because I didn't feel comfortable packing the bottles in the bags with other stuff such as food and presumably the pouches would give me several options for mounting the fuel bottles. After fiddling around with the pouches I came to the conclusion that another solution was needed. For the pouches to work the bike really should have luggage racks. There seemed to be no (elegant) way of mounting the pouches on the tail rack in a way that would satisfy me. I could get the bottles mounted just fine, but I didn't like how much I had to compromise with all the rest of the stuff as a result.

PLAN B

A friend of mine stumbled on a German site called www.fuelfriend.de/ that seemed to have a reasonably priced (14,95€ for 1,5 liter bottle) solution to the problem. The bottles are square shaped and have a groove in the middle for mounting straps. Two 1,5 liter bottles equal one 1 gallon Rotopax so the end result is the same as with one Rotopax, but price is less than half of the Rotopax set.

The build quality of the containers is very good.(as you would expect from a product made in Germany).  I tested the containers with water and found no leaks. Subjecting the containers to hundreds of miles of vibration and bumps will be the true test, but everything seems good so far.

I ordered two different kind of nozzles for the containers,but I think I will only be packing the long one fro the upcoming trip.

Mounting

I tied two containers together with a "dedicated" strap and attached the package to the rear rack with another strap. I wish the Nomadic rack had more mounting holes machined into it. It works fine as it is, but a few more would be much better as you almost always end up wishing you could have stuff mounted an inch or two the other direction. For now it seems I will have to loosen the mounting strap and move the containers a few inches back in order to get the tank cap open. Not a big deal since I will have to move the duffel bag out of the way each time too.

FuelFriend tanks on KTM 690 Enduro R

UPDATE [17.3.2015]

After installing the RR racks and Perun moto rear rack the carrying capacity is greatly improved. I can now mount 4 FuelFriend cans very conveniently. 2 at each side on the RR racks and 2 on the rear rack. The extension plate comes in handy if you want to mount two on the rear rack.

For now I sill settle for 2 cans attached to the RR racks. This way I can get the weight of the extra fuel pretty low compared to mounting it on the rear rack. I'm also pretty confident that 2 cans will be enough for my needs anyway.

FuelFriend mounted on a RR rack

One Fuel Friend on top and one on the side

Perun Moto rear rack & extension plate

Perun Moto rack and extension plate for the KTM 690 Enduro

At the time I bought my Nomadic rack it was the best and nicest looking* rear rack available. Since then Perun Moto has come out with a better design.

* just my opinion of course

By better I mean

1. More options for attaching straps to the rack. 16 on the Perun model vs. 8 on the Nomadic rack. This is important as the lack of slots was a bit of a problem for me with the Nomadic

2. Visually better design. The Perun version fits the bikes lines very nicely

3. Bumper added to the underside to limit flex and vibration and also reduce stress to the mounting bolts.

The Perun Moto design, while being made of slightly thinner material than the Nomadic, is bent much less aggressively than the Nomadic and the lower support also extends much further to the rear. These combined with the bumper design should at least in theory make the Perun rack a long lasting solution.

The trade-off of the Perun design is the relative narrowness of the rack which can be seen in the photo below. This is not a big problem though, as Perun Moto also sells an extension plate to the rack that when attached gives you more real estate than the Nomadic rack. The extension plate attaches with 4 bolts and can be attached without removing the rack so putting it on and taking it off when needed is not a big deal. That said I'm planning on mostly keeping the extension plate off the bike and attaching only for longer trips when I need the maximum carrying capacity.

I liked the design before, but now that I got my hands on it I like it even more. If you are in the market for a rear rack I highly recommend considering Perun's products. While the product is good, he also communicates swiftly and ships quickly. Maybe most importantly he is the one making and designing the stuff AND he actually owns and rides the bike the products are made for. Oh, and supporting the little guy over Touratwat for example is always commendable.

Where to Buy: Perun Moto

(And no, I get no percentage from the sales.) 

The Perun rack has 16 slots suitable for straps compared to 8 on the Nomadic rack. Both are drilled to accept a rotopax mount

Undersides of both racks

A key difference on the Perun rack are the rubber pads under the rack

The extension plate gets you more attachment options and space 

Comparison between the Perun  rack and the Nomadic rack. Visually the Perun rack fits the 690 Enduro a lot better.

The Perun rack is made of slightly thinner material than the Nomadic. 

Bends on the Perun rack are much gentler than on the Nomadic rack. The larger the radius on a bend the better, from a durability standpoint.

The Nomadic rack has quite aggressive bends which in theory are potential weak points / failure points

The Perun rack is supported from the back while most others like the Nomadic are not

Customized...

I wanted to use the longer spacers that came with the RR side racks for 2 reasons. I felt that the rubber bumpers pressed quite firmly on the rear fender and I wanted a little more clearance between the fender and RR racks. This meant that I needed to get longer (80mm) bolts to replace the ones that came with the Perun rack. 

BTW, I measured the holes with the rack and Perun spacers in place and I think the bolts could be a bit longer even if no customization is done. That or I measured incorrectly.

Perun spacer and RR spacer 

Longer bolt and the original Perun Moto bolt

I also used the form washers that came with the RR rack.

USE

Fondling the rack under the fluorescent lights of the garage tells very little how the product holds up and work in real life. I will have update this post once the season gets going and I get to actually use the rack for something. To be continued...