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...

Installing the Rally Raid Soft luggage racks with a Nomadic rear rack [updated 6.3.2015]

Finally got a around installing the rack. For some reason I had decided that I wanted the whole rear of the bike matte black now that the bike would have the black racks to ruin the "lines". Childish I Know.

I bought a new black rear fender and painted it with rubber paint similar to Plastidip. The end result matches the tank surprisingly well.

Painted and unpainted black plastic side by side

RR provided spacers in place

The lower part mounted with RR provided hardware. I would prefer the 19 mm spacer to be much wider as there is space.

Installing a bolt that is too long  on the lower mounts will result in disaster

To avoid damage to the lower mounts, my plan to was to mount the lower ends using a large stainless steel washers that have a rubber "insert". This way the stress of the mounting bolt is divided to a larger area and the rubber may help absorb some of the vibrations. This may be a completely faulty logic, but I gave it a go anyway.

Stainless steel washers and a rubber mat with self adhesive back

self made "vibration damping" washers (holes not punched yet)

As I knew about the weak spot of the rack (the lower mounting points) beforehand 

( more here )  I had time to source the extra bolts and washers needed. The lower mounting holes need special attention, because using bolts that are too long will damage the rear swing. I used 50 mm long bolts, the RR provided 19 mm spacers and 3 washers + rubber washer.

The improved mounting solution

I added a third washer as the rubber flattened so much after tightening the bolt that the bolt was starting to protrude from the other side. It was only a couple of mm, but I wanted none of that. That yellow stuff is the adhesive from the rubber pushing out under pressure.

The final result looks sturdier to me

 

The Nomadic rack required the 3 small rear screws to be loosened as the RR bolts would not fit through otherwise.

My improved mounting plan is below, but I need to find the parts for that first

UPDATE [5.3.2015]

I accidentally found the missing hardware for the lower mounts. The local auto/bike parts store had a bag of "headlight mounting spacers" that have spacers almost exactly like the ones I was planning on having made. Had to buy two bags to get 4 spacers of the appropriate size, but still a big win. The spacers are chrome plated aluminum.

UPDATE [6.3.2015]

The final solution. I replaced the RR spacers with larger ones and secured the bolts with steel wire to prevent losing the hardware if the bolts come loose at some point. I'm done fiddling with the lower mounts. If they break they break.

The safety wiring needs to be sorted. This is not how it should look. 

New farkles - Rally Raid products soft luggage racks

Not my bike or my picture

Last summer I came to the conclusion that in order to travel comfortably (not constantly fiddling with luggage during fill ups etc.) I need luggage racks. My preferred option were the so called Wolfman racks, but apparently they are no longer available. I looked through offerings from KTM, Touratech and the like, but found them to be both ugly and of wrongly shaped for my plans.

The Rally Raid soft luggage racks seemed to be the best available alternative and I made the order a while ago. It was also important that the RR racks and my Nomadic rear rack would fir together which they do judging from the pictures found at ADVrider.com. I haven't actually received the goods or installed them yet, but both of those things should happen at the end of the month.

In the meanwhile I got a heads up from The Rolling Hobo that the RR racks have a weak spot at the lowest mounting bolt. His rack fractured from both sides during the Eastern Dirt ride. You can see pics from the failure at the week 3 entry of his blog. The plan is to tackle the issue with large spacers and see if that is enough to prevent them from breaking. I'll post more once I get the racks mounted.

KTM large rear bag [613.12.928.000] for 690 Enduro R - review

I was able to get some KTM luggage (tank bag and rear bag) very cheap so I didn't go with the Giant Loop, Wolfman etc. alternatives even though they are very likely better products. I have found very little information on both the KTM large rear bag or the tank bag on the net. Especially pictures of the bags mounted seem to be surprisingly scarce. With this in mind I took a few pictures so people considering the KTM bags could get a better idea how they fit and what can be fitted in them.

Overall impressions

The bag seems to be relatively well made although manufactured in Pakistan or somewhere similar no doubt. The fact that the bag is not water proof is a bit of downer, but I knew that going in. The bottom of the bag is rubberized and the shape of the bottom seems to fit the Nomadic rack pretty well. There is ofcourse some overhang on the sides which may be a concern if the bag gets shifted too close to the exhaust. Naturally the bag also covers the fuel cap, but due to the quick release buckles (or what ever they are called) the front end can be lifted out of the way pretty swiftly. Mounting a rotopax between the bag and Nomadic rack would likely eliminate the pipe burn threat so I will have to look into that. The only problem with that is that the rotopax mount can not be quickly detached which means that the Rotopax canister would always need to be mounted on the bike in order to use the the rear bag.

Mounting

The bag was mounted on a Nomadic rear rack which I installed a little while ago. The four buckles are placed on the four corners of the bag and while not optimal I was able to tie down the bag quite securely. I used the separate pieces of nylon straps that were provided with the bag. The 4 straps have a loop on the other end, so it gives you some options when mounting the bag.

Included accessories

The bag came with 4 separate nylon straps, 2 short straps with plastic loops on the other end, a "triangle strap" for carrying the bag on your back backpack style and a rain cover. The bag also included a sheet of clear self adhesive film that I assume is for protcting the paint on the parts that the bag comes in contact with.

* I'm only assuming the long strap is for the backpack carry and I don't have a clue what the short straps are for. No instructions came with the bag.

Available space

For testing purposes I packed in a pair of jeans and a pair of hiking boots and... Well that was pretty much it. The main compartment was full. I did not use the little extra space that can be utilized by unzipping one of zippers and thus allowing the bag to grow in height. By doing so, it does make some more room, but not much. The side pockets were left empty, but are likely handy on trips although not very spacious. You can easily pack in enough for a nice day trip assuming you don't have to prepare for a variety of weather conditions, but making a weekend trip with this bag alone is pushing it.

Conclusion

Can I recommend the bag? No, not at this point, but then again I wouldn't recommend against getting one either. Time will tell how it holds up. The man selling points for the bag over any $30 waterproof duffel bag are it's ability to hold it's shape when empty and the buckles on the corners.

UPDATE

I would not recommend mounting this back directly to a Nomadic rack or similar. The bag is wide enough to hang over the sides of the luggage rack and once it's buckled down tight, it's just too close to the hot exhaust. With extended use the bag will probable loosen up a bit more and you will end up with burnt luggage for sure.

In this picture the bag is not even strapped on, and it's already nearly touching the exhaust. Note that there is nothing in the bag either. Not good.